Rodel Tapaya, "Melu", acrylic on canvas and glass mirror, 49.5x 39.5 inches
When Rodel Tapaya first burst into the scene some six or seven years ago, he did a series of portraits of people in the neighborhood, a group of works he christened Pintados. Using burlap sacks as his ground, he embellished the visages of such characters as the town gossip, the mayor, and the village slacker with patterns taken from the tattooed natives of Pre-Hispanic Philippines. Continue reading
Ramona dela Cruz-Gaston and Froilan Calayag, "The Mad Calendar", oil on canvas, 7ft x 7ft
Now and again, I find myself swinging by Vinyl on Vinyl. I first dropped by their space at The Collective some two years ago when I saw a group of young illustrators, among them Dex Fernandez and Zeus Bascon, hanging work for an exhibit. Owners Gaby dela Merced and Pia Reyes were only too welcoming, happily clueing me in on Manila’s then still new (at least to me) craze for collecting designer toys. Continue reading
Toti Cerda, "Broken Vows'
It’s a great time to swing by the National Museum. For history buffs, War and Dissent looks at the Philippine-American War from 1898 to 1915 and examines both sides of the conflict in meticulous detail. For fashionistas, the Slim Retrospective offers a rare glimpse of Salvacion Lim Higgins’ exquisite creations from the 1950s to the 1990s. And for us art addicts, the Philippine Art Awards exhibit of winners starts today. Continue reading