In Simple Depictions, which opened this week at the Alliance Francaise de Manille’s Total Gallery, Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz both exhibit small paintings.  All of Rodel’s works, save for one piece, are acrylic on paper pieces.  He  continues with his series of landscapes and vignettes of everyday life from around their Bulacan home.

Marina, on the other hand, does a series of doll portraits.  She took images from a catalogue of dolls from all over the world and painted them.  Perhaps fresh from her own experience, she skimmed through a book of baby names for just the right name for each of her portraits.  Marina collaborated with woodcarvers from Betis, Pampanga to complete her works with an appropriate frame.  She then had embroiderers from Bulacan sew each doll’s name beneath their images.  This current crop of pieces bring back to mind Marina’s solo exhibit, Dollhouse, at Art Informal in 2007.  Even then, she evinced this fascination for the secret life of dolls—one that every little girl playing with dolls partakes of.

Simple Depictions runs from 25 November to 16 December 2010 at Alliance Francaise de Manille, 209 Nicanor Garcia St. (Reposo), Bel Air 2, Makati City. Phone (632)895-7585 or visit http://www.alliance.ph