I can’t remember the last time Kiko Escora mounted a solo exhibit. We’ve kept up to date with his work largely through The Drawing Room’s participation in art fairs and his own intermittent appearances in group shows around Manila. This one, then, is long overdue. Continue reading
Maya Munoz, "Untitled V"
Maya Muñoz and Kiko Escora enjoy a reputation for consistent work. Their two-person exhibit, Short Frictions, now on its second week at Manila Contemporary, does nothing to dispel this notion. You could even say that Sidd Perez, the exhibit’s curator, succeeds in prodding them slightly from their norm. This has resulted in pieces that do them both credit, Maya more so than Kiko, in my opinion. Continue reading
Damien Hirst, "Transcience Painting"
Skulls and butterflies may as well have been the mantra of ARTHK 10, this year’s edition of the Hong Kong Art Fair. You saw them everywhere, most notably those of the Damien Hirst variety. Continue reading
Kiko Escora, "Bungi"
In the absence of any exhibit notes or artists’ statements, it seems safe to assume that The Death of Death (Is Alive and Kicking) is a group show about death. Simply go by the number of skulls up on the walls of the Art Center at SM Megamall. It would have been nice to understand what went behind the more subtle, less archetypal works. But then again, sometimes a piece should just hit you, make an impact on first impression. After all, art need not always explain the meaning of life. Or in this case, death. 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