Beyond Printmaking at Avellana Art Gallery

Noell El Farol, "Disposable Anting-Anting", detail

Avellana Art Gallery’s annual printmaking exhibit always provides an opportunity to catch up with the stalwarts of the Philippine Association of Printmakers Inc. You get a mix of the old hands tweaking the tried and tested, along the craft’s younger practitioners introducing some fresh perspectives. Beyond Printmaking lives up to its purpose. It makes us believe in the art form’s vast possibilities, certainly aided by the wonderful way this show has been installed.

In the ground floor, Ambie Abaño and Benjie Torrado Cabrera catch one’s attention first. Ambie has brought out another edition of her rubbercut faces on spandex, Seeing You Seeing Me 3, an iteration of her 2006 Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards winner. Her installation, July, stands across it. Ambie’s second piece hints at a presence, at someone who has just left. We see imprints on a single wooden chair and footprints on the wooden slats beneath. Nearby, Benjie’s etched acrylic panels benefit from the mirrors he has provided as backing; they frame and reflect his engravings and turn them into an infinite swirl of patterns.

A flock of Chong Ardivilla’s printed tees hang from the ceiling in the other side of the room, recalling bats in flight. Inside the ground floor’s red alcove, Anna Austria’s has lit two lanterns made from rice paper printed with female forms.

Pandy Aviado takes over the niche halfway up the stairs to display printed parchment sealed inside clear bottles. He has arranged them to stand before an assemblage of etchings and found objects. In the upstairs hallway, Joey Cobcobo’s woodcuts fill up the walls.

I found the most interesting works in the second floor’s main exhibit area, those of Noell El Farol and Angelo Magno. Noell put together a whole range of pieces. The ones I liked made use of museum postcards that seemed like they had been splattered with paint, an effect achieved through metallic prints. Angelo’s stood out for the innovative way he showcased his rubbercuts, creating free-standing pieces by attaching them onto metal poles supported by wooden shoe lasts.

Also on view: Eugene Jarque’s collage on paper, Drifter and a collaborative piece from Buen Abrigo, Dean Africa, and Antares Gomez Bartolome called Lunan.

Beyond Printmaking runs from 14 April to 15 May 2012 at Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 FB Harrison St., Pasay City. Phone (632) 833-8357 or visit www.facebook.com/ AVELLANA-ART-GALLERY