~manila, you're not that ugly

I wasn’t planning on buying art when I set out for SMX last Sunday, but wowowee, seeing so much beautiful colors on canvas just couldn’t stop me from (literally) reaching for the paintings that jumped at me!  Art gallery owners were friendly too, which was nice and encouraging, especially for an art newbie like me.

My philosophy? Good art is like wine. You like what you like.

My top picks:

Rovi Salegumba’s 4 works each depicting the seasons: spring, fall, winter, summer
Oil on canvas, 2010

I’m a yellow and sun girl, so was partial to the sun:

Would’ve been great to have the complete 4 but the red piece was taken by the time I got to the Tala Gallery booth!

Next was Carlo Ongchangco’s surreal balloon piece from the Village Art Gallery. One look, even from afar, and I knew it was a homage to Alice in Wonderland– when I saw the title up close, had a self-satisfied smirk on my face (very bad, I know)

“Follow Fish, Find Alice”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 36×48

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What a beautiful introduction to Onib Olmedo.

My knowledge of Filipino art is shameful, so it took Crisi’s strong arm to finally put me face-to-face with an Onib painting last Thursday. Crisi has been raving about this Onib piece for so long, always telling me to drop by the art galleries in Shangri-la to look for it. Wasn’t a coincidence that when we passed by last Thursday, we met not just the gallery owner of Artistree, but the owner of the Onib painting himself, Vic Salta.

The painting wasn’t on display, but Vic was gracious enough to take the painting out of storage for us to take a peep, and later on take our pic with it, such a joy!

Two BIG THANK YOUs, for the beautiful art, and for the random kindness!

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If Mr. Salta hasn’t put it back in storage, Onib Olmedo’s Tamed Horses can be viewed at the Artistree Gallery, Shangri-la Plaza.

Was surprised to see a Hermes painting while going up the escalator in Shangri-la Mall yesterday…

Turns out there’s an art exhibit of the Saturday Group of Artists until July 26 (two Mondays from now). What a lovely pick-me-upper in the middle of a mall!

Was also so happy to see this piece by Migs Villanueva, who was such a patient writing mentor for our group of fiction-writing babies in 2005…(indulge me– I wrote a piece that got published then!).  Migs invited us to her first (?) painting exhibit a few years after that, but it was a nice surprise yesterday to see that she’s still at it, and exploring new themes:

There was also a Blanco! I didn’t recognize the first name from the Blanco kids I saw in the Angono museum, maybe it’s by one of the grandkids?

Lovely fantastical images…

Am glad that Filipino art is made more accessible to Pinoys today, most of whom find more reason to frequent malls than museums…

Coming in a few weeks is the 2nd Annual Manila Art Fair, which is a bigger (and hopefully just as successful) sequel to last year’s Manila Art09 “Asia’s Latest Contemporary Art Fair”!  Yahooo, excited for that!!

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Art at the Shang is an exhibition of the Saturday Group of Artists at the Grand Atrium, Shangri-la Plaza. It runs from July 14 to 26, 2010.

Confession: I had no idea who Blanco was, nor was I familiar with his works, before I went to Angono last week.   The little that I knew of him was that he had a lot of talented children, and they painted as a family.

But wow oh wow, I was really floored when I visited his home in Angono! Tucked away in the middle of the Rizal province are paintings of a genius family– think Von Trapps for painting! Such an amazing, amazing place, full of love that is still palpable, to this day, even to the most ignorant of visitors.

The Blanco Family Museum displays the family’s most treasured works, ranging from those done by each family member as far back as 4 years of age until about the mid-twenties. All seven children are gifted painters, and Loring Blanco, their mother, joined in the painting party at age 48. Dad Pitok Blanco set up the museum to prevent the usual occurrence of artists’ families not having their works as keepsakes. None of the paintings on display are for sale.

Painted by their youngest, Peter Paul, at age 4:

Age 6:

A portrait of Peter Paul done by his older sister, Gay Blanco, at age 8:

A beautiful capture of a scene she must’ve seen often, using oil pastel on wood, age 7:

Already playing with lights and shadows at age 14:

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Angono has always been on my travel wish list. So glad finally I made it there–and on an impromptu trip at that!

With just crammed online research the night before, my best friend and I drove to Angono, Rizal to visit the art galleries of Nemiranda and the Blanco family Thursday morning last week.   We got there a little past noon, and after lunch at Balaw-Balaw Restaurant, we went down the street to the Nemiranda Museum and Angono School for the Arts.

We found a gate that said “entrance fee”, and after a few unanswered knocks, we decided to go inside. It took us a while to realize we made a mistake and entered through the back door (which explained the construction mess!).

If we just walked a little, we would’ve gone in by the real entrance, which was around the corner.

Nemi Miranda is a painter and sculptor, and his cement sculptures were inviting, and lyrical if that’s an apt word, as if they’re part of an epic or myth.  Very reminiscent of Hermes Alegre’s diwata muses (Hermes is one of my Pinoy favorite painters–my first purchased artwork is by him!)…

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Read about “Looking for Juan”, an outdoor poster campaign featuring artists with their ideas on what it is to be a Filipino (inspired by a project of a New York-based environmentalist organization), in the Inquirer’s Philippine identity in paintings, sculptures:

The project was organized by the Center for Arts, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development (Canvas), a non-profit organization working for the advancement of Filipino arts and culture and local artists.

For this project, Canvas invited artist groups and individual artists and graphic designers to create artworks on the theme, and writers were also invited to express in 30 words or less what they think it is to be a Filipino.

The artworks and texts submitted by the participants were exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and were then printed on large tarpaulins which were then showcased at the UP Diliman Oval.

The tarps were put up until July 11 only, too bad I didn’t find out about it sooner (the inquirer site has a video showing some of the works).

Will be on the lookout for April next year, when “Canvas hopes to launch its ‘non-partisan but political’ campaign and help voters choose wisely.”

On the side, this reminded me of a project I once thought up– creating “good vibes” posters everywhere, to encourage good citizenry and discipline and just positivity in general:

We should have designated “national vision boards” lining our main streets, with only one purpose: to inspire. Think EDSA with orderly traffic, Buendia with no jaywalkers, C5 with no ugly pink barricades. The visuals should be immediate or applicable instantly… like images of drivers smiling behind the wheel posted in spots prone to accidents or rude driving (bottlenecks, major intersections with no traffic lights, etc), or pictures of people lining up without fuss plastered outside MRT ticket booths.

(first posted in a billboard i don’t mind seeing everyday, april2008)

Would be nice to revive this, or jumpstart it, and what apt timing, given the coming elections…

First heard about an art fair in Manila–the first of its kind– from Mr. Rio Ambrosio and his wife Annie, amiable owners of Artes Orientes gallery where I bought a painting last week.

Always always I get giddy when I visit galleries–just the proximity to creative babies is enough to inspire and refill the well..so imagine my glee being in a roomful (tentful!) of paintings and art from a good number of Philippine artists! Wowoweeee (such joy calls for a leap, a dance!)!!

Sharing below the pieces that most tugged at the heart:
Movement of Nature by Abd Racid Yusof – they make you sway, right? they take you to the river, you can hear it gushing!

Had to stop and ask for the artist’s name when I saw these… so evocative, of childhood (lost?) or a pause, to think, to ponder, to pout and stare… by Marcel Antonio. Left work was sold for 230k if I remember right.

These pieces by Rom Villaseran won me over at first glance… wow. Talked to the gallery rep, his process requires him to sand the canvas, paint (he uses acryclics), then sand, then paint. Does this almost 30 times, to come up with such a smooth finish. Beautiful, fantastical images.. a book/portfolio of his works describes them as “replete with shadowy, mythological figures, celestial beings and denizens of the netherworld.” One favorite had a giant blue squid in outer space (reminded me of SilverHawks the cartoons) with a cheeky menacing look (was not on exhibit, saw it in the book/folio). Will certainly watch out for Foreplay, his upcoming exhibit at the WhiteWall Gallery on August 28-September 9.

Hayyy….

I love paintings! I want to to paint!!!

Manila Art09 “Asia’s Latest Contemporary Art Fair”
NBC Tent, July 17-19, 2009
P200 entrance fee

More pics of paintings from the fair at Inspiration everywhere at the Manila Art Fair.

Sharing with you “Felina”, my new Hermes Alegre painting, yey! I fell in love with the piece the first time i saw it (about two months ago). I remember it being about poster size, but wow when I saw it again, framed it’s about 1/2 illustration size! Took it home last night (my first ever purchased artwork!). Kept staring at it in my room, fell in love with it all over again.

Today when I woke up, felina was staring back at me, and just felt a gush of energy pass onto me, urging me, “hey get up and create beautiful things!”

What joy, right?

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Hermes Alegre is one of my favorite painters. He paints mostly women in nature, with a diwata feel to them.. his wife, who is a beautiful Bayanihan dancer, is his muse…He currently resides in Daet, Camarines Norte, which is my dad’s hometown

“Felina”
24″ x 17 1/2″
Acrylic on Paper
December 2008

My newest project: getting intimate with geniuses.

Creative genius is redundant, but I use it anyway to focus on the geniuses of the arts and anything that explicitly solves problems (because that’s what creative work does).

Saw a BBC documentary last Friday: “Art that shook the world” which was (unexpectedly) about The Beach Boys and their 1960s album, Pet Sounds. Amazing docu, opened my eyes to the beauty and weight of music, and the immediacy + possibility great music could evoke (I never really paid attention before)…

Also last weekend, finally started watching the TED talks (see previous post), and got introduced to even more geniuses, among them 29-year-old Jonathan Harris, who has inspired me on so many levels (to revive painting, documenting, and the thrust for the personal, plus pursue my deepest curiosities to the hilt, to push push push NOW!). Visit his site, please. So much joy and playfulness in his work, with equal heart and intellect.

I’ve just finished reading “Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt”, an amazing book by Anne Rice, which has been sitting in my room for almost a year. I think perfect timing for me to have opened it just now…because there’s already a follow up, released just last March Believe me, you’ll know what a relief that sequel is once you’ve read the book yourself– I literally forced myself to put the book down several times because I didnt want it to end!

Anyhooo, you know how I’m such a C.S. Lewis and Tolkien fan, and they were both devout Catholics who wrote widely acclaimed stories with strong Catholic leanings.. Would like to share with you, as my friends who are also “seeking”, that this book by Anne Rice is of such stature— but this time, with no symbols! It’s literally a Christ novel, and what a heartfelt, sincere work of love for Jesus, written by a great fantasy novelist who happens to be an OC history buff and a returning Catholic… It is still fiction, but it fleshes out the life of Jesus during the “missing years” (i.e. when he was a kid), giving us an insight on how Jewish life really was back then: how people thought in general, how everyday life was, how they reacted to news of the Messiah, how it was like in Jesus’ family, who did he grow up with, etc.:

This book seeks to present a realistic fictional portrait of Our Lord in Time. It is rooted in the faith that the Creator of the Universe became human in the person of Jesus Christ and “dwelt among us.” The magnificent mystery of the Incarnation is accepted and affirmed as fact. Scripture is the inspiration for the emotions and powers of the Child Jesus as they are envisioned here. History as well as the gospels is the source for this picture of a world in which Our Lord might have lived, as a little boy, in war and in peace, from day to day.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam. July 12, 2006

We all know Anne Rice as the author of The Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, etc.–>yes, the tom cruise movie). she grew up Catholic, but at 18, she left the world of God, hounded by questions her faith couldnt answer, and became an atheist. She married stan rice, also an atheist and a writer. For about thirty years she went on her spiritual quest, mingled with other atheists and ventured into “dark literature”, only to return to Jesus Christ in 1998. In her own words:

In 2002, I consecrated my work to Jesus Christ. This did not involve a denunciation of works that reflected the journey. It was rather a statement that from then on I would write directly for Jesus Christ. I would write works about salvation, as opposed to alienation; I would write books about reconciliation in Christ, rather than books about the struggle for answers in a post World War II seemingly atheistic world.

Galing, galing lang. It made me want to read up on the Bible and Jesus and anything I could get my hands on. In her footnotes, Anne Rice kept talking about the “questions” that kept tugging at her heart, the deep kind that dont just go away, and that level of honesty lent so much credibility to her work for me, showing that her conversion was painful and hard-earned and not without wrong turns along the way…

Best part, like I said, is there’s a sequel, “Christ the Lord: Road to Cana”… this time, she tackles Jesus at 30, right after his Baptism until the Wedding at Cana..

Super recommended reading… it will make you want to read the bible, and dig deeper into who Jesus really was, and is, to you )