Leeroy New's interventions on the CCP's main staircase
I decided to come early this time around, and felt amply rewarded for my efforts. There is much to recommend the 2012 Thirteen Artists Awards exhibit, and I wanted the opportunity to savor it on my own pace. Continue reading
Arturo Sanchez, Jr., "Caught In A Time Warp", collage on convex mirror, detail
What a difference a week makes! Hard to believe, as we bask in today’s sunshine, how torrents of water engulfed our fair metropolis just seven days ago. While mundane matters deservedly took a back seat to stories of despair, hope, and good samaritanship, these exhibits prove that art can still offer some solace for the soul. Catch them while you can— while the good weather lasts: Continue reading
Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz
In Simple Depictions, which opened this week at the Alliance Francaise de Manille’s Total Gallery, Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz both exhibit small paintings. All of Rodel’s works, save for one piece, are acrylic on paper pieces. He continues with his series of landscapes and vignettes of everyday life from around their Bulacan home. 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
Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz introduce their paintings to a new audience through a joint exhibit that opened last week in
Rodel Tapaya, "Top Secret"
Jakarta. Looking Back allows both of them to continue exploring their different takes on the concept of memories. Rodel looks back at folk tales that have been passed down through oral tradition. He once again immortalizes them through his painted narratives. His fantastic characters and wonderful colors bring these stories to life, beautifully compressed in one frame. Continue reading
Rodel Tapaya, "Espiya ni Pedroso"
The first day of the week brought in the sunshine, a welcome balm to a city reeling from images of misery and destruction. Later in the day the rains may start pouring again, pounding relentlessly on bodies and belongings that haven’t recovered, still not inured to another onslaught. I thought to seize the best of the day, to take a few hours break from dismal reality. I headed north, and after
Rodel Tapaya, "Tumana"
seeing Boston Gallery’s current exhibit, knew I had made the right choice. Continue reading
Un/Fold Marina Cruz Exhibit Installation
One year after winning the 2008 Ateneo Art Awards, Poklong Anading and Marina Cruz Garcia bring us two shows, both coming off from their respective residency grants from the Common Room Networks Foundation in Bandung, Indonesia and the La Trobe University Visual Arts Center in Sydney.
Living Room
Marina Cruz Garcia likes to dig deep into memories. Whether she embroiders mementoes, impastoes on canvas, or moulds with resin, her pieces hearken back to personal remembrances of her family’s history. In this exhibit, OPEN HOUSE, at The Drawing Room, she takes us on an intimate tour as she revisits an ancestral home now bereft of 
people, but still filled with objects that recount their presence.
Each painting highlights a particular space in the house, giving us viewers a sense of what was. Here in the garden, children used to run and play. In the bedroom, a lady would preen on the old-fashioned vanity. There, the family broke bread, perhaps after having said grace. At the entrance, a menagerie waddled in and out under the watchful eyes of Sta Ana.
Dining Room
The enchantment of these paintings, to me at least, lies with the color palette that Marina adopts. To my mind, these rich autumn shades of deep brown, brick, and rust, injected with that bolt of blue and moss green, echo back to the works of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts artisans of the turn of the last century. Her use of flat planes and determinedly skewed perspectives give the pieces that edge that stop them from sinking into sappy sentimentality.
When Marina reminisces, she does so in such an interesting and arresting
Bedroom
fashion, she can’t help but draw us in, allowing us the privilege of walking back to the past with her.
Open House with Marina Cruz Garcia is at The Drawing Room from 22 November to 15 December 2008 Ph: (632)897-6690 www.drawingroomgallery.com
Entrance
Sonia and Helen by Marina Cruz
UNCOMMON GROUNDS, RODEL TAPAYA AND MARINA CRUZ GARCIA
After getting married late last year, Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz Garcia began 2008 with a solo show each, spent three months in Vermont on residency grants, had a joint homecoming show on their return, secured the Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards Grand Prize and the Ateneo Art Awards for her, a solo show in Singapore for him. That doesn’t even cover everything. How then can they manage to keep their works interesting and keep the art-collector- who’s-seen-it-all interested?
In this exhibit of small works, they show us that by fearlessly stretching the
Tulad ng Dati by Rodel Tapaya
boundaries of their media, they not only offer refreshing alternatives, they keep us hankering for more. Marina takes off from her winning Philip Morris piece and continues her foray with embroidery on printed canvas to exquisite fruition.
Miguel by Marina Cruz
Rodel experiments painting on one side of transparent acrylic sheets, his images meant to be viewed from its reverse side. The idea for this process came about after seeing the amalgam of colors created on the underside of his palette. The result? A contemporary, striking, and altogether novel dimension to his pieces.
By Rodel Tapaya
Marina and Rodel at West Gallery
Uncommon Grounds, West Gallery Megamall from 13 to 25 November 2008. www.westgallery.org and www.rodeltapaya.com
PUTAJE, SANGVIAJE AT ART INFORMAL
Whenever these guys fron Antipolo journey together, be it a group show in
Joven Mansit Raw Meat
Singapore, in Malaysia, or here in Manila, it results in an intriguing collection of works, a combination of their various styles and strengths. And this exhibit, at the newly-refurbished Art Informal, is no exception. In fact, Putaje may very well describe how it would be if you were to invite these guys over for dinner: you would sit down to a potluck spread of disparate delicacies that somehow come together into one savory meal.
The Sangviaje artists are: John Paul Antido, Edrick Daniel, Dennis Fortoza, Guerrero Habulan, Joven Mansit, Jaypee Samson.
Jaypee Samson Alalay
Putaje is on view at Art Informal from 11 November to 8 December 2008. www.artinformal.com
John Paul Antido Ittadakimasu
Identities by Ronald Ventura
Sometimes, a journey planned spontaneously turns out more interesting than one crafted around a carefully drawn up itinerary. About two weeks ago, this is exactly what happened to me when a last-minute trip to the Lion City yielded a surprising bonanza of memorable exploits.
Turning Back by Ronald Ventura