“Halángdon” at the Fine Arts Gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines-Iloilo showcases the profound and multifaceted legacy of National Artist J. Elizalde Navarro. The exhibit demonstrates Navarro’s experimentation in and mastery of sculpture, painting, and a variety of printmaking methods. It embodies a fusion of his modernist sensibilities and evolving style, conveying themes of...
Category: Visual Arts
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Bringing art from the galleries to the streets of Naga City
PILI, Camarines Sur—People typically go to air-conditioned rooms, enclosed building spaces, and narrow hallways to experience art. One artist, Manuel Dondon Medenilla, has made a dramatic distinction. Medenilla is holding an exhibition of his paintings, acrylic on canvas, on a sidewalk of Magsaysay Avenue in Naga City, to literally bring art closer to other people...
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Rare paintings by Filipino masters on view in Iloilo City
ILOILO CITY—Paintings by Filipino masters from the Lopez Museum and Library are on view at the Museum of Arts and Cultural Heritage of the University of the Philippines (UP) Visayas here, in time for the celebration of National Arts Month this February. The show, “The Patrimony of All: Ang Panublion sang Tanan,” features 16 rare...
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Kikik Kollektive’s Panayanon mural is on view at Queensland art gallery
The Ilonggo art group Kikik Kollektive has notched a milestone at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art of the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) with a mural that shines a light on Panayanon history and culture. Measuring 7.5 meters by 25 meters, the mural titled “Bones of Our Elders” (or “Tul-an...
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The flow from Mount Banahaw to the Venice Biennale
The inactive volcano that is Mount Banahaw functions in our Philippine social life in different ways: a natural fortress against tropical cyclones from the Pacific, the dwelling place of mystical, and a protected forest reserve. This mountain solidifies its enchanting presence in the heart of the Philippine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale with the exhibition Sa...
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Sea people and their buoyant ontology
Who are the sea people? What does it mean for people to embody the vastness of the sea? What happens when the sea’s massiveness measures up with the collectivity of the people? I view these questions as urgent with the return of Jon Cuyson to Vargas Museum of the University of the Philippines Diliman with Taong...
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Grayscale pessimism
If drawings lend themselves to the world as an artistic medium for one to experience discovery, an insight drawn from the radically hopeful imagination of John Berger, the drawings of the artist Lyra Garcellano in her just-concluded show at Finale Art File, titled Land, Labor, Life: Tracing ‘Progress’ in Selected Notes, expresses political despair, which,...
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Discovering Clyfford Still, bold, brave, pioneering abstract expressionist
DENVER, COLORADO—As a fine arts graduate, I must confess that it was my first time to hear Clyfford Still’s name. Yes, I know the stalwarts of the Abstract Expressionist movement from Jackson Pollock to Mark Rothko to Helen Frankenthaler. But Still escaped my radar. And yet here he was, spoken with such ardor and respect...
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A fresh look at Graciano Lopez Jaena’s heroic legacy
ILOILO CITY—On Independence Day on Wednesday (June 12), our thoughts dwell on the valor and dedication of heroes who fought for our freedom. For Ilonggos, among those who stand out is Graciano Lopez Jaena, not just as a revolutionary figure but a beacon of eloquence and intellect as well. As a tribute to the propagandist’s...
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When we melt together
Italian painter Viviana Riccelli, currently based in the magical island of Siquijor, ushers us into Galleria Duemila where her new abstract paintings, collectively titled “Chaos,” are being exhibited until April 13. The exhibition welcomes us with a diptych, The Beginning of a Journey, mixed media on carton board on paper in which the field of...