Victorio Edades, The Builders, 1928
What a pleasure to drive down to the bay area on Sunday afternoons, when Manila’s streets decongest of jeepneys, buses, FXs, and
Solomon Saprid, Penitensiya
pedestrians. What a treat to check out the Cultural Center of the Philippines, an unheralded venue of contemporary exhibits, usually by young visual artists. What a thrill to head down specifically to catch Suddenly Turning Visible: The Collection at The Center.
As part of the Cultural Center’s 40th anniversary, the show brings out selected pieces from the CCP’s collection of more than 1000 artworks. Don’t miss this chance to see important pieces from Philippine art
Cesar Legaspi, Games for Three
history: The Builders from the 1928 exhibit of Victorio Edades at the Philippine Colombian, Lee Aguinaldo figurative works on canvas, Fernando Amorsolo’s fallen warship lit by a Manila Bay sunset, Solomon Saprid’s Penitensiya.
David Cortez Medalla, Parables of Friendship
Arturo Luz, Nightglow, 1960
Danny Dalena, Komedya Sa Pakil, 1990
Bencab, Ang Tao, 1972
I love the works from the 60s and the 70s that look just as relevant today: Nightglow by Arturo Luz from 1960, Ang Kiukok’s Untitled (Junkscape) from 1975, and Galo Ocampo’s Talaba 1 from 1979. My favorite? Santi Bose’s An Afternoon in Sampaloc Lake. How interesting to note the influence of these greats on the works of artists exhibiting today.
Ang Kiukok, Untitled (Junkscape), 1975
Karen Flores now oversees this important collection as head of the CCPs Visual Arts Department, a position held until his death last year by Sid Hildawa.
At the foreground, Napoleon Abueva, Harpoon, with Arturo Luz, Nightglow, and Jose Joya, Dimension of Fear
Santi Bose, An Afternoon in Sampaloc Lake, 1976
Suddenly Turning Visible: The Collection at The Center is on view until 23 April 2009 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (3F).
Jaime De Guzman, Gomburza, 1970
Bencab, Bakla, 1984
Galo Ocampo, Talaba 1, 1979
Lee Aguinaldo, Rembrandt's Delight, 1979
Lee Aguinaldo, Illuminated Interior, 1979
Florencio Concepcion, Spherical Red, 1980
Fernando Zobel, Untitled
Eduardo Castrillo, Epiphyte, 1970
J. Elizalde Navarro, Homage to Botong
HR Ocampo, Homage to Diego Silang
Malang, Church With Yellow Background, 1975 and Angelito Antonio, Anting-Anting, 1971
Snippets from the Manila Art Scene 
Congratulations to Patrick, Karen and Jun and the CCP team for a wonderful and focused show. Maganda.
cool works
does this show even had a catalogue? i just feel kids today dont have a sense of their own art history because of this lack.
the only thing that makes me come to ccp is to see jaime de guzman’s paintings which looked more like a 70s death metal album cover, not your typical shchmaltzy SR agit prop. it might be interesting to trace the roots of “low brow” art in manila through these de guzman pieces but it might be too presumptuous since ive yet to know more also about de guzman’s other works which im trying to looking for. where are the books for such? is he even still alive? and does he even listen to metal or even read the swamp thing?
the fact that the de guzman pieces were made in the 70s is awesome since it still looks very contemporary with its “dating jeprox” that is also quite reminiscent of some of romeo lee’s paintings. as compared to the works of say, hr ocampo, which has a very dated, textbook feel.
I saw recent work by Jaime de Guzman at the Ateneo Art Auction (held in October 2009), and felt very disappointed. They were two pieces made just for the auction and they looked more like Amorsolo’s than Jaime de Guzman’s. Pastoral scenes, one with a rural damsel, if I remember right. Too bad. Perhaps his reality is different now. I believe he lives in Quezon.