Tag Archives: philippine contemporary art


Pow Martinez Destroys Planets

Pow Martinez liberally throws around the word astig.  He uses it nonchalantly, with a casual shrug.

George Condo, the American artist who paints caricature-like figures with pursed lips, bulging eyes, and scrunched up heads?  He’s astig.  Philip Guston and his cartoonish renderings?  Yup, him too.  Ditto the Scottish animator David Shrigley, and provocateur Dash Snow, he of the hedonistic lifestyle who died of an overdose two years ago.  On the local front, the word is reserved for the likes of Manuel Ocampo and Jayson Oliveria, purveyors of chaotic and sexually explicit images. Continue reading →


Reclaiming Esqui

Siyam-Siyam

Siyam-Siyam

I have Alfredo Esquillo Jr. to blame for my art addiction.  In 2003, I stumbled upon his work while viewing The American Effect, an exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York.  That piece, Mamakinley, depicting a bonneted and beribboned William Mckinley cradling a little brown Filipino baby in his claws, stayed rooted in my mind, so

Prodigal Son

Prodigal Son

arresting and powerful it was.  Up til then, my exposure to Philippine art had been that of the so-called masters, the artists of my parents generation.  I did not realize that the art of my own time could be just as compelling. Continue reading →


Art Beijing, 798, and Two Great Restaurants

Possessed of airline miles that had to be redeemed before the month was out, I conceived the idea of flying to Beijing after all the Olympic hoopla had settled.  My friend, Dindin Araneta of Art Cabinet Philippines, signed up to participate in Art Beijing, from September 5 to 9, and I thought it would be interesting to tag along.  Art, history, good friends, the perfect mix for a much-needed respite.  I definitely got more than I bargained for, but Beijing did not disappoint. Continue reading →