Kiri Dalena And Our Disordered State of Affairs

Events seem to conspire to continue weaving a thread through Kiri Dalena’s works.  In her piece for the show Keeping The Faith, exhibited at the Lopez Museum in late 2008, and for which she won the 2009 Ateneo Art Awards, she recreated a student uprising of the early 1970s.  At the foot of a barricade made from school desks, she displayed two figures lying curled up on their sides, their arms shielding their heads to protect themselves.  This work was Kiri’s response to the voluminous material in the museum’s collection documenting the disappearances of activists during Martial Law.  She cast the two figures in unfired clay, and by the end of the show’s run, they had disintegrated into disjointed parts;  just two more nameless victims of political violence.                       

In October 2009, Kiri resurrected these two figures for the Sungduan exhibit at the National Museum.  For Found Figures In Stones Translated by Pakil Carvers, she sought out wood carvers from her family’s Laguna hometown.  They recreated her cowering forms from the original clay remains. The parts come together like a Lego toy, mimicking the displaced state that they had been “found” after the Lopez Museum show.

This month, Kiri revives these figures once more.

The Present Disorder Is The Order of the Future, Kiri’s current show at MOs Space in Bonifacio High Street, gives us a haunting multi-media commentary on the state of the nation.  Also an activist and a noted documentary filmmaker, she addresses atrocities, acts of injustice, and political issues that have continued to plague us through various regime changes.

On the gallery’s far wall, Kiri mounts 24 marble slabs.  She lines them up in a grid, like lapidas in an ossuary.  Each slab is engraved with documented protest slogans and placard texts that she has encountered in the course of her political involvement.  They range from the humorously frustrated (Patay Na Kami Wala Pang Nangyayari) to the scathing (Once A Tuta Always A Tuta).

On the gallery’s concrete floor, Kiri scatters the dismembered chunks of her two figures, the wooden bits from her Sungduan piece and newly-cast replicas in marble.  Projected from above are outtakes from two of  her documentaries,  one on the  Ampatuan Massacre and another on the violent dispersion of informal settlers.  The films emit eerie, kinetic shadows on the scattered fragments, and provides the show’s sole source of light.

Kiri does not seem to refer to any particular incident in this piece.  But with body parts strewn across the floor, the horrific massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao does come to mind. Or  the detritus of  a site suddenly evicted of its residents.  That she does not point to any specific event actually makes her message more sobering.  Nefariousness has become so commonplace that we can attach it as a tag to any number of occurences.  And this being an election year, a presidential election that already seems full of controversies, it seems almost a certainty that Kiri’s figures, in some form or another, will turn up again.

The Present Disorder Is The Order Of The Future runs from 30 January to 7 March 2010 at MOs Space, 3F MOs Design Building, B2 Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City.  Phone (632) 856-2748 or visit http://www.mo-space.net

Impy Pilapil Makes Waves

Impy Pilapil, "Wave I"

In her exhibit notes, Impy Pilapil shares a memory from childhood, of a few stolen hours spent basking in the sea, of her yearning for the feel of waves.  For her current exhibit at Avellana Art Gallery, she translates her girlish longings into two towering pieces, works from New Zealand armorwood, resin, and metal.

Detail, Wave I

With Wave I and Wave II, which stand tall as tsunamis, she captures the surf as it swells and crests and undulates in a never-ending rhythm.  The grain of the light-colored wood mirrors the ripples on the ocean’s surface, broken now and again —by long metal rods,  or twisting acrylic patterns, even by an actual surfboard embedded on one side.

Impy Pilapil, "Wave II"

Like the sea, Impy’s pieces  impress with their vastness.  And just like the sea, they mesmerize as well, soothing and calming with their quiet beauty.

Detail, Wave II

Impy Pilapil New Works runs until 13 February 2010 at Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 FB Harrison St., Pasay City, Phone (632) 833-8357.

Detail, Wave II

Dex Fernandez and His Incredible Low Brows

Dex Fernandex, "Untitled 6"

For those willing to brave the winter winds and record temperature drops of New York in January, Robert Williams‘ exhibit of paintings and sculpture, Conceptual Realism, runs until the third week of the month.  For the rest of us, the James Kalm Report of artist Loren Munk provides a great taste of this show on YouTube.   Later this  year, Williams, founder of Juxtapoz magazine, will exhibit more of his work at the Whitney Biennial.

At roughly the same time that Williams’ show opened in November 2009,  fashionista favorite W came out with its art issue.  They devoted a two-page spread to Williams’ former colleague, artist R. Crumb,  featuring his illustrations, specially created for the magazine, amongst splashes on the latest from Miu Miu and Jil Sander.  The accessibility now accorded to both Williams and Crumb offer positive proof that an art movement that had collectively been dismissed with the label Low Brow has been elevated to the status of the mainstream.

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 5", a high priestess comfortable in her own skin

Here in Manila, while we have been slow on the uptake, purveyors of this crass, perhaps even gross, representations of  the excrement of life, rendered in the manner of comic-book drawings, have had their own successes.  We have seen this especially in the last half-decade.  Late last year, Robert Langenegger had his Paris come out.  Louie Cordero, who has shown in New York, contiues to make waves with his current Hong Kong exhibit at Osage, the gallery that represents him in the former Crown Colony.  And now, enter Dex Fernandez with -+*.

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 3", the non-believer who mocks faith symbols. Letters at back DILLIGAF stand for "Do I Look Like I Give A Fuck?"

In this first solo exhibit, mounted  at Pablo in Taguig, Dex uses photos of his friends and family as the base of his fascinating mixed media pieces.  He prints the photos on archival paper and adds textures and layers to striking fruition.  Dex piles on images in acrylic, ink,  or embroidery, and also cuts patterns through the paper.  His pieces resemble the pages of a much-doodled, R-rated scrapbook.  Dont’ expect to see them on the walls of the squeamish.

Dex lets loose on what he calls ” the little monsters we’ve been keeping inside ourselves” bringing to the fore some of the good, most of the bad, and a whopping amount of the ugly and vulgar.  These manipulations serve as frank commentaries on either his subjects’ characteristics (he labels his father an impotent machine and  gently mocks his mother’s  need for false teeth), their emotional states (two women falling, reflecting on  wasted youth), or their political and religious views (a fool giving Catholic  icons the finger).

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 4". Characters translate to "She's wearing a nice dress"

Congratulations to Dex for this awesome debut! With his fifteen compelling pieces, he proves that definitely, even here in Manila, Low Brow has  risen to high art.

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 10", symbols of freedom and liberty are stamped onto this image

Dex Fernandex, "Untitled 7", reflections on wasted youth and life's fluctuations

-+* Dex Fernandez First Solo Exhibit runs from 20 January to 24 February 2010 at PABLO Fort, Unit C-11 South of Market Condominium, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.  Phone (632) 986-3887 or visit http://www.pablogalleries.com

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 12"

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 8"

All smiles from the man of the hour!

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 13"

Dex Fernandez, "Untitled 1" and "Untitled 2", Dex's parents

Gaston Damag’s Synthetic Reliquaries

Gaston Damag grew up around bululs.  Raised in  a family of craftsmen, he even admits to having parlayed his woodcarving skills into creating reproductions for tourists in search of these antique rice gods.  Today, even as he constantly exhibits in France and in other European locales, his Ifugao roots resonate very vividly in his art installations and performance pieces.  His artistic psyche is inextricably linked to the world of the Cordilleras.       

In this show at SLab, Gaston reworks pieces originally done for a Parisian museum.   Instead of using wood, he casts his bululs in resin polyester to irreverent proportions.  He brings these symbols of tradition and ancestry to the modern age, juxtaposing them against steel scaffoldings, fluorescent bulbs, and electrical drills.  He forces us to examine, as he probably does himself, how this change in context and medium affects how we look at a figure so associated with rice rituals and ancient beliefs.  Does it retain its mystique?

This is Gaston’s first major show in the Philippines, and for that reason alone, this show is worth visiting.  It brings something different to our art scene, and I can imagine, incurs varied reactions from viewers.  Alongside this, the Silverlens group brings us two other exceptional exhibits:  Stereo I, collaborative works by Christina Dy and Juan Cagicula and Paper Panic, works on paper from Dina Gadia and Mark Salvatus.

Thank you to Rachel Rillo for these photos.  My amateur attempts would not have done justice to Gaston’s pieces.

Synthetic Reliquaries runs from 13 January to 13 February 2010 at SLab, 2F YMC Bldg, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City.  Phone (632) 816-0044 or visit http://www.slab.silverlensphoto.com

Today and Tomorrow: A Selection From The Charlie Cojuangco Collection

Antipas Delotavo, "Sandaan Taon, Panels 1 to 5"

What a great way for the art scene to start the year!  Charlie Cojuangco hangs selected pieces from his art collection. As far as I know, this marks the first time his paintings have been shown publicly.   The show also serves as the formal opening of his space, Nova Gallery.  Charlie has been actively collecting art from the mid-1990s.  The works on view reflect his partiality towards figurative paintings, most of them by  noted socio-realists.

Nona Garcia, "See Saw"

Biboy Delotavo’s stunning obra maestra of five panels, Sandaan Taon, and Nona Garcia’s 2000 ASEAN Art Awards Grand Prize winner See Saw would rank among the most important pieces on display.  Although with significant works by Santi Bose, Kawayan de Guia, Peewee Roldan, Bogie Ruiz, Alfredo Esquillo Jr.,  and Charlie Co, its pretty tough choosing a favorite.  Well if pressed to take one home (ha!), I’d make a beeline for Peewee’s Rituals of Invasion and Resistance. I like this even better than his pieces in the Singapore Art Museum’s collection.

Santiago Bose, "Pusong Malinis"

Thank you Charlie for opening up your collection for art lovers to appreciate and enjoy.  What a treat!

Norberto Roldan, "Rituals of Invasion and Resistance"

Today and Tomorrow, A selection of works from the Carlos Oppen Cojuangco Collection runs from 8 to 25 January 2010 at the Nova Gallery, Warehouse 10A, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City.  Phone (632)392-7797 or email at cocartproject@gmail.com

Kawayan de Guia, "Shoot and Frame" and "Room #3 Santi Bose"

Jose Tence Ruiz, Almusal

Charlie Co and Illac Diaz with Charlie's piece "Economic Halloween"

Alfredo Esquillo Jr., "Ang Bagong Herusalem"

Nunelucio Alvarado, "Padayon Utod"

Dennis Gonzales, "Swallow"

Edgar Tulusan Fernadez, "Dito Sa Lupa"

Melvin Culaba, "Bahay Ni Grandpa"

Neil Doloricon, "The Spoils Belong To The Victors IV"

Norman Dreo, "Lipunan Teknolohiya"

My Favorite Shows of 2009

It turns out, I chose one per quarter.  These are personal favorites, exhibits in commercial spaces I found unforgettable. I don’t  expect universal approval.  Feel free to disagree.   Here goes (in chronological order):

1. Juan Alcazaren/Bernardo Pacquing at Finale Art File, 13 January to 9 Febuary 2009

Juan Alcazaren, "Casting Aspirations"

Juan Alcazaren's paintings with Bernardo Pacquing's hanging sculpture "Perfect Storm"

Working with curator Nilo Ilarde, Johnny Alcazaren and Bernie Pacquing showcased   monumental, site specific sculpture, paintings, and installations that made perfect use of the gallery’s space.  It was a great way to start the year, with art beyond the usual.  Too bad that Manila does not have a contemporary arts museum. This show could then have been acquired in its entirety and we would have had the pleasure of seeing these pieces remounted again and again.

2.  Stormy Weather, Felix Bacolor at MO’s Space, 23 May to 28 June 2009

Simple, creative, fun!

Felix Bacolor, "Stormy Weather"

3.  Butterfly’s Tongue, Geraldine Javier at West Gallery, 17 September to 16 October 2009

The Philippine art scene will always have figurative paintings at the top of the commercial heap.  Geraldine Javier proves she’s the best of the best in this genre. In this show,  her larger-than-life canvases incorporated her interest in taxidermy as she embedded preserved insects in glass vitrines onto her oil paintings.   She imbued West Gallery with the gothic ambiance of a Victorian sitting room.

Geraldine Javier, "Temple of My Familiar"

4.  Katas ng Pilipinas God Knows Hudas Not Play, Kawayan De Guia at The Drawing Room, 21 November to 12 December 2009

I ♥ those jukeboxes!

Kawayan de Guia, "Rock And Roll Jukebox"

By all means, list your own favorites.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jose John Santos III’s {UN}Common Sense

John Santos goes UnCommon

Yes, it’s true.  Jose John Santos III takes a leap, makes a volte-face, and gets rough.  In this show, we’re in for a surprise.

Jose John Santos III, "Inside Out"

With his small, spare frame and self-effacing manner, you at first don’t notice the intensity in John’s eyes.  But get him started on his art, on this new direction he has shifted it to, and it’s his eyes that engage you, even without him directly looking at you.  They turn incandescent brown as he speaks about his plans.  His measured words wrap you up in discussion. You forget that somewhere in this metropolis, a political wedding dominates the airwaves, along with the threat of another typhoon barreling towards Manila.

Jose John Santos III, "Relief"

That he can hold audiences in thrall counts as a given to the hundred art freaks, give or take a few, in the waiting list for his paintings.  We all know that perfectly finished, hyperrealistic, painstakingly detailed figures spring from his canvases. The pull of his pieces comes from the unexpectedness—even absurdity—of his images. John’s genius lies in his ability to inject the off tangent into what first appears to be innocuous tableaux.  Even he has admitted the comparison to Rene Magritte.  But then that simplifies his art too much.

In the magnificent piece, Behind The Scenes, from the collection of art aficionado Paulino Que, he turns an airport waiting area into a lounge populated by such disparate characters as a sheep atop a high chair, a man with a head of a horse, another with a box as its head. As Riel Hilario, former curator of Boston Gallery puts it, ”… what [has been] fascinating about John’s work throughout these years is its sheer inscrutability, owing surely to a calculated effort to throw viewers off, even as the works are handsomely crafted — which pulls viewer’s attention back to the work again and again resulting in a tug-of-war between our aesthetic judgment and reason.”  We have always delighted in unraveling John’s codes, in finding the meaning in the alternate reality of his narratives.

John, however, chooses to keep us off-balanced and intrigued.  For (Un)Common, his current show at Art Informal, he abandons what has been tantamount to a signature style and goes back to an earlier sensibility.

John installed an assemblage of objects used as subjects for his paintings at the gallery's entrance wall

Jose John Santos III, "Weather Vane"

“I guess I had always tried to make paint become what it isn’t, to not retain any of the paint’s qualities.  In this show, I wanted to feel the tangibility of paint, its sensuality, to leave traces of paint’s magic”, John explains.

He rediscovers his fascination for still lifes and mixed media assemblages. Each of his nine canvases depicts banal objects—trucks, paintbrushes, plastic bags, masking tape— integrated with actual objects.   No human figures, no narratives, no symbolisms, no double entendres.  He alters even his brush strokes, eschewing the fine finish for the coarse and abrupt.   What stays consistent is his deliberate, academic, even scientific, approach to constructing his pieces.  You can bet that John leaves nothing to chance in his craftsmanship, ensuring his works will stand the test of time.

(Un)Common plays on his immortalization of the common, everyday scraps that he chooses as the subjects of this show’s paintings. He experiments even with the sizes of his canvases:  five of them stand at six feet by nine inches, like long rifle boxes crammed full of an artist’s knick knacks. (Un)Common also refers to this move of confidence he makes as an artist, his veer towards his untested ground, his challenge to his creativity.

Jose John Santos III, "Clamped" and "Rolled Up"

How will his collectors react to this latest development in the art of John Santos?  Perhaps that’s the only part of this process that stays predictable.  They will love it.

{Un}Common runs from 19 December 2009 to 9 January 2010. at Art Informal, 277 Connecticut St., Greenhills East, Mandaluyong City. Phone:  63(2) 725 8518 or visit  http://www.artinformal.com

Exhibit installation view

Note:  I reworked this post from an article that appears in the December 2009 issue of Rogue Magazine and the December 18, 2009 issue of Business Mirror

Tina Fernandez and Nathan Atienza

They Definitely Have K: Kidlat Tahimik, Kidlat, Kawayan, Kabunyan, and Katrin De Guia

"Ay Apo! May BambooKam Indigenous Film Crew!" Installation by Kidlat Tahimik

I could not believe that in the most unexpected place at the heart of Makati I would stumble onto a really beguiling show.  A friend

Installation detail, BambooKam bulol

told me that Ricco Renzo Gallery at the LRI Plaza in Reposo St. had small pieces that I may find interesting.  Without expecting much, and seeing that I had actually completed the Christmas shopping, I decided to drop by on my way home.  Nestled above the cafe on the ground floor, and squeezed in beside a private meeting room and a display case for Hunter Douglas window blinds, you find K+kkk+K=K ayos, a show featuring the talented De Guia family.

Installation detail with life-size rattan figures by Rogelio Giraroy, a blind Ifugao sculptor

Is there anyone in this clan who did not inherit a creative gene?  The show is anchored on a wonderful installation by Kidlat Tahimik called Ay Apo! may BambooKam Indigenous Film Crew! Ever the indie

Installation detail, bahag by Rommel Pidazo from recycled objects

filmmaker, he makes a stand against  formulaic Hollywood blockbusters.  The kind produced using cameras that get smaller and smaller as techonology advances.  He offers  the bamboo camera as an award for film makers that share his spirit.  This piece simulates the set of a Kidlat Tahimik production. He creates this installation working with indigenous artists from the Cordilleras:  Rogelio Giraroy, Rommel Pidazo, Tim-manem, Donata Himiwat,  Jason Domling, and Kabunyan de Guia.

Kabunyan’s digital prints on mosaic hang on the walls.  He does them in organic shapes, like the broken bits we see displayed in antiquity museums.  The colors and patterns of the mosaic tiles take off and continue from the colors and content of his prints. Try and spot the orange serpent in his piece Nang dumaan ang orenj na ahas.

I love Tim-manem’s woodcarvings!  I especially adore his Tikbalang-like creature that seems about to scold his companions.  This stands as part of a trio, a small coven positioned around a crystal ball at the installation’s edge.

Digital print on mosaic by Kabunyan de Guia, "Mga Taga Bantay ng Mahiwagang Letra B"

Alongside Kidlat Tahimik’s piece, on two of the other walls, Kawayan de Guia shows small-scale mixed media collages. For this show, he brings out pieces made from his student days.  How interesting that even then, he already showed an affinity for collages put together with that ethnic kitschy look that we have come to associate with his art.  As always, Kawayan’s frames complete his work. He touched on the family’s history for these. He uses wooden frames shaped like houses to remember their home in Baguio that burned down five years ago.  On each roof, a glass-covered receptacle holds ashes gathered after the fire. Each piece, therefore, transforms into a dwelling of his personal memorabilia.

Installation detail

Katrin de Guia, mother of the brood, assembles the most charming sculpture from found objects.  Her exhibit notes describe her pieces as put together from remnants of their house that burned down and bric-a-brac washed into the shore. She has an eyeglass fairy, a sea king and queen, a spirit boat made from driftwood and old spoons, and other delightful knick knacks.

Installation detail

Kawayan de Guia, "Cum + Leave"

Kawayan de Guia, "LSD"

Kidlat de Guia exhibits his black and white travel photographs printed on handmade paper, purposely torn and put together like a jigsaw.  This Kidlat was one of the artists short-listed earlier this year for the Ateneo Art Awards.

Kawayan de Guia, "Why The Temple Had to Shutter"

The show still has a month left before completing its run, so go go go!  What a pity to miss this one!

K+kkk+K=K ayos runs until January 15, 2010 at the Ricco Renzo Gallery, GF LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia (Reposo) St., Bel Air II, Makati.  Phone (632)898-2543 or visit http://www.riccorenzo.com

By Katrin de Guia

Kawayan de Guia, "Recollections"

Kidlat de Guia, "Hong Kong"

More of Kabunyan De Guia's digital prints on mosaics

Kawayan de Guia, "Martyr-doom"

Kabunyan De Guia, "Nang Dumaan Ang Orenj Na Ahas"

Katrin De Guia, "Spirit Boat 1"

Kidlat Tahimik installation detail with a tikbalang-like creature at the center

Boxed At Blanc

I expected the usual chock-a-block exhibit of paintings that Manila galleries love to mount every December to wrap up the year.

Ling Quisumbing Ramilo, "Salvavida"

Instead, I walked into an intelligent discourse among women artists that yielded a variety of enjoyable pieces.

Jhoan Medrano, "Common Denominator"

Initially, curators Lisa Chikiamco and Rica Estrada conceived the show as a chain of thoughts and reactions passed down among forty female visual arts practitioners, sort of like an artistic Pass The Message or Telephone Tree. Each artist’s piece had to be her take on her discussion with another artist in a previously-assigned link.  After or while completing her piece, she then engages with the next artist to allow that artist to respond and create her own piece.   In the end,  as deadlines drew nearer, they ended up with four groups engaged in four streams of thought.

To be honest, I think most artists produced works that kept to their usual inclinations rather than addressing the issues raised in their dialogues.  However, as the exhibit installation includes their deliberations transcribed and mounted alongside their

Anna Varona's hanging piece at left

works, we viewers stay engrossed and involved.  I particularly enjoyed seeing work from young artists whom I hardly get to view, like Reine Shih’s Baro of brightly-colored fabric wrapped around a metal grid and Mimi Tecson’s spray-painted assemblage of toys, Of Echoes, Mirrors, and Round Tables.  Anna Varona’s hanging piece fabricated from license plates and blinking lights definitely caught everyone’s attention.  I thought it very well done.  Ling Quisumbing Ramilo did a Sarah Lucas and created art from her half-smoked cigarettes augmented by butts collected from other artists.  Literally a piece to die for.  But then, I always like Ling’s works.  I also enjoyed MM Yu’s lightbox of her photocollage of stuffed toys.

Lea Lim, "Remember"

Boxed has been an annual project of artists Jay Pacena and Buen Calubayan.  All in all, this fourth edition was not a bad way to spend an hour or two. Or in my case, to celebrate getting out of the sickbed.

Exhibit installation view

By Karen Flores

Janet Balbarona, "She Picked The Sweetest One"

By MM Yu

Boxed:  The Start of a Conversation runs from 12 December 2009 until 2 January 2010 at Blanc Compound, 359 Shaw Blvd. Interior, Mandaluyong City.  Phone (632) 752-0032 or visit http://www.blanc.ph

Reine Shih, "Baro"

Mimi Tecson, "Of Echoes, Mirrors, and Roundtables"

Brenda Praico, "In The Waiting Room"

Yasmin Sison Ching, "First Run"

Another installation view

Philippine Art Awards (Metro Manila and Luzon) at the National Museum

Toti Cerda, "Broken Vows'

It’s a great time to swing by the National Museum.  For history buffs, War and Dissent looks at the Philippine-American War from 1898 to 1915 and examines both sides of the conflict in meticulous detail.  For fashionistas, the Slim Retrospective offers a rare glimpse of Salvacion Lim Higgins’ exquisite creations from the 1950s to the 1990s.  And for us art addicts, the Philippine Art Awards exhibit of winners starts today.

Art Sanchez, "Tragic Playground"

To recap, the Philippine Art Awards started 15 years ago under the aegis of Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. Then, the Philippine grand prize winner would compete against other national winners from the ASEAN region.  In 2005, despite the cancellation of the ASEAN Art Awards, Philip Morris opted to continue their sponsorship of the Philippine competition.  Held every other year, the PAA continues to be the most prestigious of the art derbies in the country.  Past winners include Gabby Barredo, Alfredo Esquillo Jr., Kawayan de Guia, Nona Garcia, Joy Mallari, Winner Jumalon,  Ambie Abaño, Marina Cruz.

Detail, Art Sanchez, "Tragic Playground"

As has been the case since 2007, ten winners from four regions will compete for the Grand Prize and five Juror’s Choice prizes.  Today, judges announced the ten winners from Metro Manila and the ten winners from the Luzon Region.  By the first quarter of 2010, the winning works from the Visayas and Mindanao move to Manila, also to the National Museum, for the National Competition.

Dan Raralio, "Brain Drain"

I thought it an exciting development that the competition this year opened up to multi-dimensional pieces.  However, as can be seen from the roster, most artists opted to stick to paintings.  How interesting for the competition should the forthcoming years yield more adventurous work.  The PAA offers a venue for the daring and our artists should rise up to the challenge!

Isidro Santos, "Binigkis"

The 2007-2008 awards produced an outstanding batch of regional and national winners that may prove difficult to match.  I  did spot gems in this group of Metro Manila and Luzon winners. Hopefully, the Visayas and Mindanao winners do not disappoint.

Camille dela Rosa, "Those Who Have Ears Hear, Those Who Have Eyes See"

A formidable panel judged the Metro Manila and Luzon leg of the PAA:  Cedie Vargas of the Lopez Museum, Dean Tina Colayco of the UP College of Fine Arts, Dr. Patrick Flores of the UP Vargas Museum, art critic Cid Reyes, artists Nestor Vinluan and Julie Lluch, and National Artist Ben Cabrera.

Dexter Sy, "Oro, Plata, Mata"

The winners for Metro Manila are Dexter Sy, Joey Cobcobo, Arnel Brillantes, Maximo Balatbat II, Froilan Calayag, Thomas Daquioag, Camille dela Rosa, Jay Pacena, Dan Raralio, and Raffy Napay.

Froilan Calayag, "Mother's Revenge"

The winners for Luzon are Toti Cerda, Art Sanchez, Isidro D. Santos, Reynaldo Samson Jr., Rommel Sampana, Teodorico Cumagun III, Cris Villanueva, Yuan Mo’ro Ocampo, Vincent Paul Padilla, and Augusto Elorpe.

Raffy Napay, "Ang Liwanag at Ang Pakikipaglaban"

You can view the 2009-2010 Philippine Art Awards Metro Manila and Luzon winners at the 4F, Museum of the Filipino People, Agrifina Circle, Manila.  For more information, visit http://www.philippineartawards.org.

Reynaldo Santos Jr., "Sustansiya Ng Langit"

Rommel Sampana, "The Following Program Is Not Suitable For Young Audiences"