LONDON CALLING ] Help Tate get a taste of Green Papaya, or the other way around

Green Papaya Art Projects, the artist-run initiative/artspace of Norberto “Peewee” Roldan located at T.Gener Street near Kamuning, has been selected to participate in the No Soul for Sale (NSFS) Festival at the Tate Modern in London. NSFS: Festival of the Independents is a gathering of about 50 independent spaces and artist-run initiatives from around the world. Without government and corporate funding, it’s a long shot for Green Papaya to bring contemporary art to such an important global event. Your contribution of P1000 will not only get you a shirt and a bag (by Ireland-based artist Conrad Velasco) but it will help the good people of Papaya from Kamuning, Quezon City to Bankside, London where the festival will be held.

To reserve, please text 09189457387 and 09175326598.

MODERN LOVE ] Tomorrow night, Paulino Que is bringing out the jewels from his palace

Image courtesy of Finale Art File.

Finale Art File is proud to showcase “Meaning To Be Modern”, a selection of Philippine paintings from 1907 to 1959. The exhibition presents a vital part of art patron Paulino Que’s vast collection of Philippine art and antiquities. It focuses on the early periods of Philippine modern art, spanning the initial phases of the movement with Victorio Edades, his precursors Juan Arellano and Diosdado Lorenzo, and peers Galo Ocampo and Carlos Francisco, as well as the developments thereafter: the Thirteen Moderns, incipient and late neorealism, and abstraction on the cusp of the Sixties.

Image courtesy of Finale Art File.

This collection is exceptional and exemplary, surveying the watersheds of Philippine modern art, from the early part of the 20th century to the Sixties. The Fifties may be considered the high point of the process of modernity in Philippine art, preceded by years of debates with the Amorsolo conservative school of romantic realism, experimentation with a range of styles from the school of Paris, and the formation of a distinct visual idiom of modern art that was cosmopolitan and uniquely Filipino.

Image courtesy of Finale Art File.

Aside from the art works, this collection also brings to light the significance of the Paulino Que collection, which is one of the most indispensable in private auspices and could rival the combined treasures of public institutions of modern art collection such as the National Museum, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Ateneo Art Gallery, and the Vargas Museum. Featuring 36 artists and 80 works, it promises to be an event in itself, a rare occasion in which a private collection becomes public discourse as students, scholars, and supporters of Philippine art gain access to it and hopefully engage it with the same discernment that went into its shaping.


The exhibition will run from March 6 to 31, 2010 at Finale Art File, Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, (enter Gate 1), 2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City. Student tours are welcome. Should you request a guided tour, call 8132310 or email finale@pldtdsl.net. Admission is free. Finale Art File is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 7pm.

FRESH PAPAYA ] A favorite space undergoes a little retweaking

Post-reopening guests, artists Patricia Eustaquio, MM Yu and Nona Garcia.

Of the local galleries, Green Papaya holds a distinguished spot. It can be outrageously intellectual one moment, say, in exploring the interrelationship between performance and dialogue (“The snobbish tone of a roundtable discussion belies the possibility of taking something much seriously than how it already appears to be because surely there is nothing as tedious than witnessing steadfast attempts of repeating patterns to the point of their own exhaustion.” Whew, ka-exhaust.) Or when talking about the annual Serial Killers group show (“Serial Killers is a response to parallel notions of seriality, non-seriality, or counter-seriality.”). Still, from that high up, nowhere in the art scene is the atmosphere most grounded than at the rough-around-the-edges halls of this space near the corner of T. Gener Street and Kamuning Road in Quezon City.

Here, far from the polished, finished walls of the spaces everywhere else, despite the occasional presence of collectors and other demigods, the artist surveys the new works of their colleagues, then parties about unencumbered, owning the space like home. Maybe it’s the artists who run it. Maybe it’s the San Miguel. The thing is, no matter the culprit, Green Papaya is—to use a not-very-cool description—fun. And now that the space is on its third incarnation—as a full-fledged bar but with art on the side—the interiors remain possessed of its original resolve: to carry the best and, ugh, wasak in contemporary art, and to give the community an all-embracing second space to come home to.JG

The ground floor space is the bar and art shop (selling small, old works by the likes of Maria Taniguchi and Nona Garcia), the second floor has been turned into a studio and living space for artist and gallery owner Norberto "Peewee" Roldan. Clockwise from top left: the bar had been moved further to the front and serves, the last time we were there, red wine, vodka, Johnnie Walker and beer, of course; works by New York-based artist Gaston Damag unearthed from the Papaya archives; more works by Damag who recently had a show of installations at sLab; and lightboxes by Nona Garcia.


Green Papaya Art Projects is located near the corner of T.Gener Street and Kamuning in Quezon City. It's open from 4pm onwards Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.


Photographs by Rico Quimbo.

ARTIST STATEMENT ] Argie Bandoy will give you a topic. 14 topics. Discuss.

Argie Bandoy, 2010. Image courtesy of Nova Gallery.

1. Painting is overrated nowadays.
2. Painting is Brash and brute and dirty.
3. A Bad painting is a good painting.
4. Painting by manhandling the paint.
5. A good painting only exists in the imagination.
6. Painting always asks for more.
7. Painting is superficial.
8. Painting demands the painter’s flesh and blood.
9. A painter is a delusional being.
10. A Painting always contradicts the painter.
11. Aiming for Beauty produces unpleasant results.
12. Repulsive is better than playing nice.
13. Bad humor is always the best.
14. Painting is a cerebral activity.

Artist Argie Bandoy will show his new collection of works entitled “A discourse on bad taste and guilty pleasures” this Friday, March 5 (will run up to the 25th) at the Nova Gallery, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City. For more information call 392-7797 or send an electronic mail to gallerynova@gmail.com.

And since we're on the discussion of discussions, what do you think of this?

THE WEEKEND IDEA ] If you're not watching The Backstreet Boys

The invite to Manila Transitio 1945 via celdrantours.blogspot.com.

In February of 1945, the City of Manila was completely destroyed in a battle between the United States Armed Forces and the Japanese Imperial Army. An estimated 120,000 people were lost and our beloved City of Manila was never the same again.

Tomorrow February 27th, To mark the 56th Anniversary of the Battle of Manila,Intramuros Administration and Carlos Celdran, will present the 2nd TRANSITIO MANILA 1945. This art event hopes to become an annual commemoration/memorial where we as Manilenos may reflect upon the passing of this event in our history. The evening will start with a sunset fundraiser tour of Intramuros at 6:30. Art installations and performances will follow at the Fort Santiago at 8:30pm. The evening will be highlighted by the release of spirit balloons by the gates of Fort Santiago. A reasonably priced buffet and refreshment will be available. Picnic baskets are allowed.

EVENINGS ACTIVITIES AND COSTS:

TOUR
6:30PM
I will be holding a SPECIAL sunset tour of Intramuros. It will be a bigger show than the usual. The tour will be followed by a special party at Fort Santiago. Ticket holders to the tour will enter the party/picnic for free and recieve a free glass of wine. Tour starts at 6:30PM - Please arrive earlier than that. Tour ends at 8:30PM
Php1,000.00.

Assembly point is Plaza Roma in front of Manila Cathedral.
Proceeds will go towards the procurement of scooter bikes for the Intramuros Kabayan Security Force (An NGO).

MANILA TRANSITIO 1945 ART EVENT
8:30PM
Gates open by 7:30PM
The evening proper will start with readings about the Liberation of Manila curated by Mabi David and a performance by Donna Miranda, it will be followed by music by Junjie Lerma, Caliph8, and P.G. in the gardens fronting the moat. Flamenco music by Yerbaguena will follow. There will be an exhibition of art installations by Denis Lagdameo, Dranreb Belleza, Reg Yuson, Tad Ermitano & Team Manila. Current artists in residence at the Living Room Vince Galvez and Alex Felipe of Kapisanan Toronto will also present a video work specially made for the evening. The evening will be capped by the release of spirit balloons at the gates of Fort Santiago (video above).

Feel free to pack your own picnic basket and set up a blanket in the grass to watch the performances. A reasonably priced buffet (Php450.00) by Ilustrado Restaurant will be available for those who do not bring their own food. Vuqo Vodka will be available and a wine bar by PREMIER WINES & SPIRITS. www.sexandsensibilities.com and Frenzy Condoms also supports the event.

Entrance to this event only is Php250.00 with a free drink.

Text 920 9092021 to make reservations (Lesley)
or email celdrantours@hotmail.com

Please indicate on text whether you are reserving
for TOUR alone or TOUR/PARTY or PARTY only.

Stall map of Art in the Park in Salcedo Village.

Or take a stroll at Art in the Park this Saturday 27 February 2010 at the Jaime Velasquez Park at Salcedo Village, Makati City from 2PM - 10PM.

NOVA Gallery shall be participating this year taking with works by Norma Belleza, Jayson Oliveria, Trek Valdizno, William Gaudinez, Nunelucio Alvarado, Raul Agner, Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi and a lot more.

WHERE WILD THINGS ARE ] Mark Justiniani explores unfamiliar territory

Justiniani's studies for Malikmata.

Celebrated painter, Mark Orozco Justiniani, veers his latest work away from the medium he has long been associated with and instead takes it to the world of sculpture where corners and frames cannot bind. This world, entitled Malikmata, is one where night and day converge, and folklore and reality abandon their distinction.

Justiniani’s keen interest in Filipino society and tradition takes the sculptural route to present Filipino folklore in a form that is multi-dimensional, concrete and tangible. Not only do the eyes find the splendor of the earth as the sun sets and shadows creep in; this in-between too awakens the other four senses, and at the same time stirs the imagination. Meant to heighten every sensation, Malikmata, Justiniani explains, involves a lot of ‘ “looking through” with peepholes and lenses with several angles and different vantage points’. With viewers’ participation, the world Justiniani creates is sculptural commentary infused with physical interaction.

Two more studies for Malikmata.

Malikmata opens tonight, February 19, with two other exhibitions at Silverlens.

THE COLLECTOR ] Charlie Cojuangco on his thrill-gotten wealth

Ang Bagong Herusalem, Alfredo Esquillo, from the personal collection of Carlos Cojuangco.

Do you remember what drew you first to collecting art?
Its colors and textures.

What was your first acquisition?
A Norma Belleza acquired in 1995. It’s a market/fiesta scene with vendors.

If you take a survey of your entire collection, would you be able to say if there is a common thread to them? Is there a particular style, school, you're attracted to?
I don’t limit myself or the collection to specific genres. What’s important is that one feels a connection to the artwork; if it appeals to the senses and tickles the intellect.

Has your taste in art/or what you look for in art changed over the years?
Yes, from flowers and landscapes to videos and installations.

Showing your personal collection, does this entail an initial sort of hesitation? Being a very private person, and art being a very personal inclination, do you feel at all that you are showing a bit of your private self to the public?
The reluctance comes from being compared to other collections’ particularly important, significant and interesting artworks and the criticisms. But I am confident that the exhibit will stand up to the critiques.

In this opening exhibition, you have chosen to show works that mirror or give commentary to Philippine society. Why have you chosen this particular group of your collection as an exhibition?
Because this field has captured my attention the most aside from the artistic and usual reasons, they document periods and events in our country (history).

You are officially opening Nova this January, what makes it different you think from all other art spaces?
We have yet to show that we are different in the way we work, although architecturally we want the audience (client) to feel at home and at ease.


First Hanging, pieces from the personal collection of Carlos Cojuangco is on show at the Nova Gallery, La Fuerza Compound, Pasong Tamo, Makati City.

BOOM! SPLAT! POW! ] The comics timing of Dina Gadia

“I love the raw feel of collage and the idea of making/composing something out of what already is existing,” says 23-year old artist Dina Gadia whose juxtapositions of personal drawings and cut-out images from comic books have earned a quiet following in the art circle. While, like every kid, she was exposed to comic books when she was younger, it was her boyfriend, the artist Allan Balisi, who gave her a pretty serious crash course on the slam-pow-splat world of Marvel et al. “He's the one really collecting comics and comix. I still have a lot to learn (to) catch up. I'm fascinated with how the creators of comics draw and tell stories, lalo na pag nalaman kung kelan ginawa yun, parang, ‘Ay ang galing, 1940s pa pala to?!’” Dina only started growing her own collection recently when she started working.

For Dina, the comic books are both medium and inspiration. “I use the artworks or images of previous generations as conceptual and formal techniques in order to create a new one by making fun of the images, twisting it and injecting humorous juxtapositions," she says. "To be ugly in some way. Like a cult film, I choose my work to remain in the 'so bad it’s good' variety. I want it raw, bad, and tough yet funny.”

A graduate of the Fine Arts course at the Far Eastern University (her major is Advertising). Dina is originally from Pangasinan. She grew up with her aunt, and once in a while gets to visit her family who lives just a boat ride away. “Real quiet place. Ang source ng tubig ay nanggagaling sa balon, livelihood ay farming at fishing, simpleng mga tao, cell phone ang latest technology. In other words, hindi pa sya masyadong civilized.” She now lives in Manila and just recently got her own studio space. “Madaming monsters sa studio ko. Andyan si King Kong, Godzilla, Homer Simpson at mga crustacean na kalaban ni Ultraman, cheap Halloween masks, toys, books at mags. Medyo makalat pa.”



Easily, one imagines the characters in Dina’s studio showing up in her works for the "Paper Panic" show (it’s a two-man-show with Mark Salvatus) which opens this Wednesday at 20Square. She started working on this exhibition since early December. “I work on my stuff pag-uwi galing trabaho at weekends.” She says the images come from books, comics, magazines. It breaks her heart, of course, when she has to cut up an image from a beloved comic book for a work. “Nakakapanghinayang pa rin lalo na minsan pag magaganda ang images. Nagiging attached kasi ako sa mga ganung bagay. Tinatago ko yung mga gusto kong images. Pag kailangan ko talaga gamitin, I take a picture of it at save na lang sa computer.”JG

CD PAINTS, JUAN SHOOTS ] The FINAL last art post for the year

I know I said two posts ago that that was my last art post for the year. But how can I refuse this? Talk about art imitating, well, ME. Kidding. Painter Christina Dy and photographer Juan Caguicla stir the idea of the diptych a little in their January 2010 show at Silverlens (opens on the 13th). "The STEREO I series is a collaboration between me and photographer Juan Caguicla," says CD (she's the one artist who gets away with being called by her initials). "He photographed me (so that's my hand there on the left side) and I drew him (that's his hand on the right), and we put our works together to make up two sides of an altogether new thing." Guess which is whose.

SATURDAY FUN MACHINE ] Eleven shows, seven spaces, one Sabado

I did a quick tour of the shows last Saturday and saw 11 shows in one day--with an opening right smack in the middle--can you believe it? Of course, you can. I began at the Drawing Room just to take pictures of Kawayan's show (I had seen it two Saturdays ago), and then made my way to Finale where Liv and M.M. are having their solo exhibitions at the Tall and Upstairs Gallery, respectively, and where there was a group show at the Video Room called Saturday Fun Machine. I took the jeep towards the other side of Pasong Tamo and snuck into Manila Contemporary where there was this Tutok SoENA going on, a group show with perhaps a hundred artists whose works were somehow discussing the state of Philippine education. I'm not a fan of themes, or a fan of "art for social change" but from among the plethora of works (arranged like there was some school art contest), we like Wesley Valenzuela's lightbox above.



Just a few steps away, there was the Silverlens group of galleries. There was a film showing of some Werner Herzog film at Slab in the same space where GRP's boat sits. Luis Lorenzana's googly-eyed people are sleepless at 20square, and over at the main space, Silverlens, is the Singapore International Photography Festival where, apart from the works by Vee Speers, we like the works of Luiz Gonzales Palma, an Argentinian who, through his cinematic photographs, reinterprets the myth of the Anunciation.





At the Saturday Fun Machine show, which I saw very quickly when it opened a few days back, my favorite is this piece by Eugene Jarque.



And my friends' favorite was Mariano Ching's (pyrograph and acrylic on wood).



And the coolest is Louie Cordero's video work of clips from unidentified Pinoy B movies in which he super-imposed Nardong Tae-style animation.

"Saturday Fun Machine was a run of cartoon and cartoon related shows on Saturday during the 80’s. This was the time before Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, Internet and DVD. This was a much awaited day for a generation of children as this was the only time that shows geared for this age group was shown the whole morning. Saturday was also the time to peruse our comics from Archie to Zuma and for a generation of youth that would grow up to be visual artists, it was a time to draw and dream. This exhibit features artists that grew up in that generation and the generations that came after it that were greatly influenced by comics and cartoons in their art making process." Or so says the show's accompanying text.

The night we were at Finale for the opening, somebody has brought up the Green Papaya show that opened the Saturday of the Syquia bloc party. We heard our friend Paul Mondok did quite a stunt. In the group show Serial Killers, his contribution was you might call an art-slash-prank: water leaked from the second floor of Green Papaya creating a puddle on the ground floor exhibit area, and threatening to soak some of the works on display. Paul punched a small hole on the wooden floor and put a pail of water that caused the dripping. Donna so loved the work she wanted to buy it. The idea as piece of art, I guess. But what of its resale value?



The evening I saw the show, there were musical performances. That's the No To Hangover! crowd that night outside Papaya, lit by Chabet's "Plan B," his contribution to the group show.



Clockwise from topmost left: works from Gail and Marija Vicente; MM Yu; Lani Maestro; and Ringo Bonoan. Maestro asks "What is the color of forgetting?;" and Ringgo framed the last pages of five or six novels.



Gary Ross Pastrana's old books; and a sign by the door. I'm not quite sure if that note is part of the show but it seemed like it was when, for awhile, a beautiful, smoky-eyed babe sat below it, slumped on the floor, her back to the wall, a San Miguel Pale in hand. She mostly kept to herself that night, her eyes transfixed at some place other than what was in front of her.



That Saturday we also show Reg Yuson's show at Mos, swung by the new space of Charlie Cojuangco called NOVA at the La Fuerza compound, and was even at the opening of a group show participated in by Popo San Pascual at Le Souffle. This should be the last art post for the year. I don't think there will be shows opening from now until January 1. Although Blanc might still spring a surprise. Hehe. I have no idea how many shows I went to this year. To be sure there was some pretty good work, and lots of the same-old-same-old, and lots of really cute stuff. We've made this observation before, about the popularity of cartoony images in contemporary art, this clearly contagious fascination for cute, and it is being echoed by the Vanity Fair essay on the "tsunami of cute" in its December 2009 issue--although its context is American popular culture. We like cute, with or without the irony. But we like to take our cute with a bit of edge. Just like the Christmas greeting above from Jason Oliveria, a candycane fashioned from a crowbar. 'Happy holidays,' it sweetly greets us, 'and keep your eye out for what just might break your back.'

EITHER/OR ] MM Yu's sari-sari store memories are happy/sad

The artist bought all of her plastic dolls and toy bikes from Divisoria, which she used to visit a lot when she was younger.

MM Yu's new works at the Finale Art File continues her fascination for creating bold-colored montages that look either like living memoirs or blownup scrapbooks. Her works often stir nostalgia or spark an urge to rush home and make your own photowall. The effect of her new show is, of course, closer to the former, what with its wealth of plastic toys from childhood, pages from a Chinese calendar, pick-up sticks and play money. Its like a happy perya at first glance, and you remember the first time you won something you like from the sari-sari store pabunot. And then your eyes are led to those paint-covered plastic dolls, and suddenly 'playtime' has become a different game altogether.Jerome Gomez

Divi-bought toys mix with Made-in-China trinkets and pages from her childhood: torn strips from books supposed to teach her how to read Chinese, a picture of a bowl of soup (whose taste she never liked) from her mom's recipe book, and various symbols supposed to bring luck.

The works, according to the artist, say a lot about our world of mass production and over-consumption, "what we need, what we don't need, what we believe (symbols) will bring to us."

The Philippine peso has gone cute in MM's work (right). She painted the plastic coins and achieved a polka dot pattern against an MMDA pink background.

INDIVISIBLE DIFFERENCES ] Gary Ross Pastrana divides and conquers

Who ships a boat from Kyoto to Manila? Gary Ross Pastrana.

You'd think he could just easily bring home a parasol or a waving gold cat for a souvenir but no, he wanted a boat. Well, not the Willie Revillame type of boat, because GRP (we'd like to see if calling an artist by his initials will catch on) is not the Willie Revillame type of guy. He's shy and quiet and as the works in his recent show Indivisibilis hint, he knows how to cut through the heart with a little more—no, with a ton more—sensitivity. Okay, that's it for the nonsense Willie comparison.



The thing is you walk into the sLab space from now up to the 9th of January and you could get your heart broken. It's a lot of things, really. First, it's THAT boat. Its being swept out of its cradling home and now lying on an unsympathetic cement floor. Its the artist transporting that boat. Its the journey its been through and what it meant: from Kyoto where it was cut into parts, put in boxes and then shipped to Korea for the Busan Biennale—to be dismantled again, put in boxes and sent here where the artist reunites with it, in pieces, so he could painstakingly reassemble the boat himself.

And its not just that boat.



Its those two gold rings. Borrowed from the artist's mother and brought to a goldsmith who was told to melt them and make a miniature sword. The sword was then used to cut a small incision on the artist's arm. The sword then returns to the goldsmith who is instructed to melt the gold again and attempt to recreate the two original rings.

Its the whole silliness of it--the sawing and the splitting into pieces only to be put back together. The sadness of that silliness. And also the loving dedication, the unstinting humility to each object's rebuilding. No matter that in every cutting and splitting, it sheds its flesh a little, possibly getting lighter each time, smaller even, never quite the same.

A waving cat would have been the easy Kyoto memento. But aren't souvenirs supposed to break your heart just a little?

--Jerome Gomez

CONQUISTADOR ] Charlie Cojuangco's art space is ready for battle

Charlie Cojuangco's much-awaited artspace NOVA (Negros Occidental Visual Arts) Manila officially opens in January 2010 but its introductory show, Anton del Castillo's Conquistador, began last November 25 and will end December 22. NOVA is located at the La Fuerza Compound, Pasong Tamo, Makati,

JUKEBOX HIT ] Don't think twice, it's alright

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright, mixed media on digital print on canvas, 194x153cm., 2009

KAWAYAN DE GUIA echoes the work he presented earlier this year as one of CCP’s 13 Artists Awardees with Katas ng Jeepney, fusing the iconic homegrown vehicle with the near-extinct beer garden fixture, the jukebox. It’s a pity the show ended last weekend at the Drawing Room because y’all had to be there to feel its trippy energy and ‘70s rock & roll bravado. Unless the works pictured here are enough to turn you on.


Lilindol Muna Bago Puputok, mixed media, 2009; Alaskado, mixed media on digital print on canvas, 194x143cm, 2009

From Padma Perez’s notes on the show, we learn that Kawayan found out about a number of decaying jukeboxes from a group of Baguio woodcarvers. These men, whose first job in the summer capital (they had come from Ifugao) is to collect the coins from these jukeboxes and deliver them to a certain Mr. Takay, the city’s Jukebox Kingpin, led the artist to Takay’s son. In the ‘90s, when karaoke began to take the rarefied spot of jukeboxes among the local joints, the latter joined the sing-along bandwagon and retired his father’s beloved kitschy music machines.


UFO Alien Jeepney, mixed media, 2009; and detail

Having acquired six jukeboxes, the next step for Kawayan now is to find someone who could possibly bring his new babies back to life. Asking around led the artist to one Roger Berdun, a jukebox repairman in Angeles, Pampanga. Berdun made the trip to Baguio, and like a trained surgeon, knew at once what would revive the machines. For days, the guy worked on cleaning, dismantling and rebuilding the machines. Five out of the six were successfully granted their new leases on life, and eventually found their ways to Jun Villalon’s Drawing Room. Not before Kawayan, of course, tinkered with the design, painted on them, layered it with pastiches of Pinoy-born and American-bred nostalgia—and really made them his own.


Lilindol Muna Bago Puputok, mixed media on digital print on canvas, 191x139, 2009; The True Nature of Things, detail, mixed media on digital print on canvas, 194x153cm, 2009


State of the Nation, mixed media on digital print on canvas, 191x139cms, 2009; Rock n Roll, mixed media with neon, 2009.

THE POLISHED SET ] Last chance to see Reg Yuson's show at Mos today

"Wow," the eminent stylist declared as we went inside the empty Mos Gallery last night. "Wow," he repeated. We just came from an art opening at a nearby restaurant and the works there may have been underwhelming for him. But Reg Yuson's works are quite a quiet spectacle.

Ronald Achacoso explains: "Reg Yuson features ten medium sized square panels lacquered with layers of high grade automotive paint that create highly reflective surfaces predominantly rendered in black offset by a few red pieces. These minimalist constructs are hybrid fusions of painting and sculpture, whereas the works themselves are wall bound two dimensional surfaces, it’s execution requires the rigorous process that sculpture entails."



Here's what we think. Choosing only to work on shapes, fiberglass and automative paint, the results are simple, exact, perfect. It says, also, 'This is it, whether you like it or not, I ain't touching it. I'm done.'

We hear ya. We love.

Mos is located at the 3rd Level of Bo Concept at Bonifacio High Street. And for more of Reg Yuson's works, it's those giant public sculptures outside at the High Street grounds.

LIV TO TELL ] Liv Vinluan on her first one-woman show

"Emotion is a big thing for me in my works," says Liv. "I constantly ask myself' how would it be like to be in their shoes, and try to draw from that and develop an idea." He Spoke, And It Was Written In The Sky, 2009, 5 ft by 7ft, oil on canvas

We saw Liv Vinluan defend her graduating thesis last March at the UPFA, and tonight she holds court at the Tall Gallery of Finale Art File for her first solo show. "It is extremely nerve-racking to be on your own," Liv tells us. "Before this it was usually a group show, and I guess, you have a bit more space to relax and just let it be. But this was very different. I was on my own and the space wasn't just some space--it's (Finale) a huge, wide, tall place! I had to tell myself, 'Ok, this ain't a joke.'" The exhibit, called "No Earthly Lord Will Bleed You Dry," includes the works from her thesis and new ones that carry on the theme of history and devastation.

How does she know if a piece is done/when she's done with a piece? "When I want to move on to making the next one." Quite The Beast Beauty's Become", 2009, 6 ft by 4 ft, oil on canvas


The last six months was spent working on the show, preceded by a month spent just "lolling about" thinking of what she wanted to say and how to say it. She knew she still wanted it to echo the motif of the works she showed the defense panel last March. The Ondoy tragedy which happened halfway through completing the works, had a huge impact on the artist. "After that, you just really get a really clearer sense of things. Art-wise, ideas were clearer too. I knew now that I wanted to delve more into catastrophe, what people do to get through and survive--and how far one goes to survive. Most of the time we forget who we are, and we become animals along the way."

"Ninety-percent of the time really, the works are about other people, and what they've been through." My Faith Was Never Yours (from the artist's thesis, Sin Verguenzas), 9 ft by 6 ft, oil on canvas


Liv Vinluan's No Earthly Lord Will Bleed You Dry is curated by Leo Abaya, and will be on show at the Tall Gallery of the Finale Art File in Pasong Tamo, Makati until December 31.