Here and There: Pow Martinez, Maria Taniguchi, Alice and Lucinda, Catalina Africa, Maria Jeona Zoleta, and Melted City

At Blanc Compound's Melted City: Hazel Lee Santino, "Lemert Park", oil on tracing paper on oil on watercolor paper

The past two weeks saw a flurry of shows opening in Manila, and I’ve spent the last few days catching up:

Pow Martinez, Cyborg Scallops

We’ve all gotten used to the impudence that Pow Martinez displays in his work, but these four large paintings he exhibits in SLab posses just a bit more of that confidence. I loved his bright colors, and as always, enjoyed his humor. Pow has always given off such a laid back vibe that intense is not a word you associate with him or his pieces. He wouldn’t have been able to keep up with his demanding exhibit schedule, though, without some singularity of purpose. And it shows.

Cyborg Scallops runs from 15 March to 14 April 2012 at SLab, 2F YMC Bldg. 2, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Phone (632) 816-0044 or visit www.slab.silverlensphoto.com

Pow Martinez, "Flower Girl", oil on canvas, 54x72 in.

Pow Martinez, "Regular Guy", oil on canvas, 54x72in.

Pow Martinez, "Swim Team (Blue)", oil on canvas, 96x120 in.

Pow Martinez, "Cyclops Weapon", oil on canvas, 54x72in.

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Maria Taniguchi, Untitled (Celestial Motors)

Witness Maria Taniguchi’s ode to the jeepney, a video she produced for the End Frame Video Art Project of the non-profit Visual Pond.

Annoying fixtures of our city streets, jeepneys embody everything deficient in our mass transportation system. In Maria’s hands, however, this particular jeepney, just off the assembly line at the Celestial Motors plant in Laguna, receives star treatment. The film follows its every line and curve: its gleaming chrome body, the blinking blue lights on its dashboard, the faux leather tufted ceiling, the Mercedes Benz logo on its hood, and the Hyundai one on its rear. I was almost impressed.

Untitled (Celestial Motors) runs from 15 March to 14 April 2012 at 20Square, inside SLab, 2F YMC Bldg. 2, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Phone (632) 816-0044 or visit www.slab.silverlensphoto.com

Video still

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Readymade Chinagirls: Alice and Lucinda, Catalina Africa and Maria Jeona Zoleta

Yasmin Sison and Lena Cobanbang revive Alice and Lucinda, their quirky alter egos from the late 1990s, the personas they assumed for collaborative works. They meet their match with the equally unconventional duo of Catalina Africa and Maria Jeona Zoleta. Alice and Lucinda take over MO’s main exhibit space with three videos that play simultaneously in a deliberately D-I-Y setting. One screen has been set amidst a mound of newspapers covered in cellophane.

Catalina and Jeona have fun in the Project Room, turning it into a raunchy girl’s bedroom, all pink, purple, and naughty.

It looks like a slumber party going on over at MO Space. Movies: check. Clothes for dress up: check. Photos for scrapbook: check.

Readymade China Girls: Alice and Lucinda, Catalina Africa and Maria Jeona runs from 20 March to 15 April 2012 at MO Space, 3F, MO Design Bldg., B2 Bonifacio High Street, Taguig. Phone (632) 856-2748 or visit www.mo-space.net

For more on Alice and Lucinda, visit www.facebook.com/alice-and-lucinda

Alice and Lucinda aka Lena Cobangbang and Yasmin Sison with Haraya Ching

Stills of past work

Detail

Video screen amongst a mound of newspapers for the D-I-Y look

Catalina Africa and Maria Jeona at The Project Room

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Melted City

Is Manila having a love fest with works on paper? Well it’s about time! The best pieces in town these days have been done on paper, and the ones installed for Melted City are no exception. Ten artists from North America, Japan, and the Philippines come together in a show curated by US-based Jordin Isip and our own Louie Cordero.

The exhibit offers fresh takes on painting and drawing on paper. At least I thought them different from what I’m used to from local artists. To me the exhibit conveyed a sense of discovery, of coming across good work simply presented. I found myself drawn to the small pieces of Hazel Lee Santino, a New Yorker from Queens still completing her undergraduate studies in Parsons. Her paintings are in layers, oil on tracing paper against oil paintings on watercolor paper.

I also liked the works of Robert Gutierrez, clustered subjects painted using acrylic and gouache that seem as if they had been collaged. Filipino-born, his pieces can be found in the collections of the New Museum and the Berkley Art Museum. The psychedelic stripes on Hiro Kurata’s Portrait of A Slugger make for another eye-catching piece.

Melted City with Victor Balanon, Patrick Cruz, Robert Gutierrez, Hiro Kurata, Rob Leacock, Matt Leines, Jacob Lindo, Yuji Maruyama, Hazel Lee Santino, and Paula Searing runs from 24 March to 14 April 2012 at Blanc Compound, 359 Shaw Blvd. Interior, Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City. Phone (63920) 9276436 or visit www.blanc.ph or www.facebook.com/blancgallery