What does hell mean in relation to heaven and the earth? Why do we visualize hell when our lives have been dominated by Christian values, believing that one’s life on earth must lead us to heaven? Does heaven continue to hold a profound meaning despite how life on earth has been mostly described as hell? ...
Category: Visual Arts
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Antipas Delotavo’s juxtaposition of worlds
Social realist Antipas Delotavo came back to his birthplace Iloilo City for his 20th solo show titled “Iloilo Variants.” Curated by Jose “Bogie” Tence Ruiz, himself a well-known social realist and Delotavo’s longtime friend, “Iloilo Variants” was launched as a two-tiered art event, with a vernissage on July 27 that unveiled the oil-on-canvas pieces (the oldest dated 2014...
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Wood sculptors highlight an uncommon and vanishing resource
ILOILO CITY—Ilonggo artists made big waves in the 2023 iteration of the Philippine Art Awards. Of the five winners from the Visayas, four are Iloilo-based, including the brothers Tyrone Dave and Jun Orland Espinosa. Tyrone’s work, Family Tree (5 x 6 feet, inlay on wood), is an ode. “The importance of the family is the main...
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Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel exhibit opens in Manila
The painted scenes on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have fascinated me since I received the book “Michelangelo & the Pope’s Ceiling” more than a decade ago. A gift from my then future wife, the 384-page paperback by Ross King recounts the four extraordinary years–from 1508 to 1512—that the genius Michelangelo spent producing...
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Artist paints tribute to heroes in time for Independence Day
The artist Juanito Torres completed a 58-by-85-inch artwork titled “Parade of Heroes” in time for the Philippines’ celebration of its 125th Independence Day on June 12. The painting shows a gathering of heroes led by Dr. Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio in a parade, waving small Philippine flags. It was unveiled in Salcedo Auctions’ “Finer...
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Sisterhood produces sculpture of connections
To mark its 90 years as a sorority of empowered women, the University of the Philippines’ Sigma Delta Phi (SDP) pooled its talents and resources in partnering with the state university to bring into sculptural form the characteristics that make the Filipino woman and the connections that she makes possible. Envisioned as a work by...
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Sanso’s Brittany is a show of friendships, gratitude
France’s Brittany has inspired many artists like Paul Gauguin, Macario Vitalis and The Nabis painters, but none could possibly be as inextricably linked to the long, rugged coastline of its northernmost region as Juvenal Sanso. For Sanso, a world-renowned painter who was born in Spain but made the Philippines his adoptive country, Brittany is more...
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CCP’s ‘Pasinaya’ breaks away from old notions and pandemic isolation
A wristband worth P50 allows a person to experience all the performances, workshops, art exhibits, and film showings being offered on Feb. 3-5 at the “Pasinaya 2023 Open House Festival” of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). The festival, now on its 18th year, has “Piglas Sining” as its theme—a breaking free from the...
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Life as a journey on an iconic two-wheeler
For artist Dominic Rubio, the Vespa, Italy’s iconic scooter, goes beyond being a mode of transport: It is the chariot of the refined, the favored vehicle of a gentleman who manifests an embodiment of the Renaissance. The joy of voyage and bonds formed is a recurring theme in “Dominic Rubio: Life is A Journey,” a...
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Advocacy merch and the ‘latag’ economy
With the unfolding and evolving drama on Twitter comes the predictable worry that dialogue—whether mindless or profound and operating in so-called real time in a space that one has gotten used to—has been interrupted. For frequent Twitter users, the basic question boils down to this: How can they now make known their thoughts and opinions, as well...