Elmer Borlongan, "Laklak", 1994
Kim Atienza inadvertently set me on the road to art addiction. In 2003, one of the pieces from his collection, Alfredo Esquillo Jr.’s Mamakinley, held me in thrall at the Whitney Museum. The quest to learn more about an artist I hadn’t heard of till then lured me into the world of contemporary Philippine art. I’ve been fixated ever since. Continue reading
Three years ago, Ambeth Ocampo arranged for the
Kim Atienza and Ayala Museum's Ken Esguerra with Jojo Legaspi's "St Thelma"
Board of Trustees of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines to view Paulino and Hetty Que’s collection of Philippine art and historical objets. Ambeth, perhaps only half-kidding, dubbed the occasion the tour of the”… real National Gallery”. As he took us through the assembly of works, from Juan Luna’s canvases, to Fabian dela Rosa’s landscapes, then onto the Amorsolos, and the Thirteen Moderns, from the Ben Cabs to the Ang Kiukoks, we realized what Ambeth meant. The staggering display covered the whole gamut of Philippine art history from Damian Domingo’s Academia de Dibujo to the 1980s. Continue reading
The year starts off with great news for us art lovers—- our favorite Filipino artists have been invited to a show that travels to Milan and Beijing. Southeast is B(l)ooming opens on Febuary 11, with a special client preview sometime January, at the Marella Gallery in Milan. The show brings together the current crop of contemporary art darlings that dominate both the auction and gallery circuits of Southeast Asia. Continue reading