Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s Hong Kong Intervention, Alfredo + Isabel Aquilizan’s Address, and Sandra Palomar and Nolet Soliven’s Flesh at UP Vargas

Artists Sandra Palomar and Sun Yuan

I’m a big fan of Chinese artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.  Ever since I saw Angel, a hyper realistic sculpture of a dead angel splayed on the ground, I have sought to keep abreast of their work.  Made from silica gel and fiberglass, the most striking feature possessed by the wrinkled seraphim is a pair of molted wings.  His feathers have withered away, and instead, he is left with wings of flesh and bone; they resemble chicken wings after they’ve been dressed. I saw it when it came up for auction last year.

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"Mabini Art Project: 100 Paintings" Now Belongs to the Ateneo Art Gallery

"Mabini Art Project: Seascape"

It sure feels heartening to witness big business come to the support of the visual arts.  Last weekend, the Ateneo Art Gallery formally unveiled an awesome addition to its already fabulous collection:  Alfredo + Isabel Aquilizan’s Mabini Art Project:  100 PaintingsSecurity Bank acquired the piece for the university museum, a special project to celebrate the bank’s 60th anniversary.  This is not the first time that Security Bank has come out for the arts.  For the past three years, they have been one of major sponsors of Art In The Park, the annual project of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. Continue reading


Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan Take Us To Another Country while Kawayan de Guia Bombs Away (Again!)

"Another Country" installation view

If I had not known any better, I would have reacted just as bewildered as the shoppers strolling down Bonifacio High Street.  A rooster’s intermittent crowing mingled incongruously with the Christmas carols that blared out from the mall’s speakers.  Passers-by jumped up and glanced around to find its source. A misunderstanding had allowed me to view the current exhibit at MO Space a few days early.  So I knew very well that the repeated cock-a-doodle-doos emanated from the building’s third floor, where Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan laid out their latest work. Continue reading