Mac Valdezco, "Orange 524.558", detail
I know how obsessive Geraldine Javier gets about quality and workmanship. So it hardly comes as a surprise to see whom she invited to join her for her first go at curating an exhibit. Juan Alcazaren, Mac Valdezco, Eugene Jarque, Mike Munoz, and Ryan Villamael all share her reputation for fastidiousness, for fabricating pieces with careful attention to detail. Continue reading
Mac Valdezco and Eugene Jarque call this exhibit Riding In Circle, an awkward title for a wonderful display of their latest work. Unfortunately, the show ends in a few days. This post comes a bit too late, but I thought it a pity to let the show pass and allow
Mac Valdezco, detail, "Mini Rider", monoprint on bed of strings
it to simply disappear, swallowed up by the general chaos of the holidays. Continue reading
Neil Arvin Javier, "It Was So Good", mixed media (collage), 153x183 cm
Alrashdi S. Mohammad, "Expand" and "Active", mixed media, 183x137 cm
With the CCP not exactly in my neighborhood, I debated whether I had the time to swing by Implode, a special exhibit of selected alumni from the Technological University of Philippines College of Architecture and Fine Arts. Luckily, my schedule cooperated, as did the traffic lights on EDSA, and I found myself in the CCP’s third floor gallery in half an hour, right before the show opened. Best of all, save for the artists busy with their last minute arrangements, I had the space all to myself. Continue reading
Hannah Pettyjohn, "DFW RIP (Urban Sprawl)" and "American Mary"
AMERICAN SWEET BY HANNAH PETTYJOHN
A little more than two years ago, half- American Hannah Pettyjohn spent time in Texas to reconnect with her roots. While there, she worked at a geotechnical engineering lab, lived in a white house that looked exactly like all the other houses in the neighborhood, got to know her father’s family, and read David Foster Wallace. Continue reading
Push and Pull by Jose John Santos III
In the great CS Lewis classic, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Professor Kirke’s seemingly run-of-the mill armoire becomes the portal to enchanted, magical Narnia. Upon entering its doors, four children transport from war-ravaged Britain into a world of pathos, quest, achievement, adventure. Continue reading
Pandy Aviado Installation
I always look forward to Albert Avellana’s opening nights. When I finally turn into the gates of 2680 FB Harrison St., I know that I have not only put the bumper to bumper congestion of EDSA behind me, I have also shed off the strain and stress of my mundane workday. Here, where art hardly ever is mainstream, one never gets visually assaulted. Works are appreciated as they should be, never piled one atop the other like a grade school classroom’s bulletin board of perfectly done math tests.
Albert’s gallery provided the perfect setting for Pandy Aviado, Ambie Abano, Joey Cobcobo, Benjie Torrado Cabrera, Evelyn Collantes, Florencio Concepcion, Noell El Farol, and Eugene Jarque to display the versatility of their printmaking. In the red alcove on the first floor, I loved Pandy’s hanging installation of
Ambie
clear bottles (Tanduay Rum?) housing tiny prints on paper. Upstairs, both Ambie and Joey show woodblock prints alongside the actual pieces of carved wood, sculpture onto themselves, used to make the imprints. Ambie Abano’s faces have long been a favorite with me. It’s great when Ambie, who is also the President of the Printmakers Association of the Philippines, gets back to what she does best, displaying the talent that landed her the grand prize at the 2006 Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards. Benjie Cabrera, on the other hand, presented delicately engraved acrylic panels, bent and curved to catch light at just the right angles. Printmaking in a most unusual medium.
Joey Cobcobo
Another great thing about going to Albert’s: once I’ve had my fill of the exhibit currently on display, his backroom, actually two other houses further inside the compound, can be thoroughly explored and sifted through, frequently yielding treasures from exhibits past. Then there is also Eric Paras’ furniture atelier to visit, with his export line of beds, desks, dining sets, and small knick-knacks, perfect for gifts, spread out over three other houses.
Finally, after my sense of sight has been completely nourished, I naturally gravitate to the side garden of the main gallery. Here, weather permitting, I can sit back and enjoy great conversation as I sip perfectly chilled wine, twirl Albert’s pasta around my fork, jazz or classical music softly playing in the background.
Benjie Cabrera Engraving
8 Printmakers was exhibited at Avellana Art Gallery from Sept. 3 to 30, 2008. Avellana Art Gallery is at a compound in 2680 FB Harrison St., Pasay City, phone no:(632)833-8357
Eugene Jarque