Circle

ISANG Tomasino ang pinarangalan sa katatapos na Ateneo Art Awards (AAA) 2010 na ginanap noong ika-12 ng Agosto sa Grand Atrium ng Shangri-La Plaza sa Mandaluyong.

Si Mark Salvatus, nagtapos ng kursong Advertising Arts sa College of Fine Arts and Design noong 2003, ay isa sa mga nanalo sa AAA 2010, kasama ang dalawang kapwa alagad ng sining na sina Leslie de Chavez at Pow Martinez. Siya ay pinarangalan para sa kaniyang “Secret Garden,” isang obra na itinampok sa Sangduan 5: Daloy ng Dunong sa Pambansang Museo. Ito ay gawa sa bote ng softdrinks na ginupit upang magmukhang halaman at inilagay sa look ng pader upang makita sa pamamagitan ng isang bintana.

UPANG ipakita sa publiko ang kariktan ng papel, pitong alagad ng sining ang nagsama-sama sa exhibit na pinamagatang Pumapapel: Art in Paper na nag-umpisa noong ika-13 ng Hulyo at tatagal hanggang Nobyembre 16 sa Yuchengco Museum.

Bumida ang dalawang Tomasinong artist na nagtapos ng Advertising mula sa dating College of Architecture and Fine Arts na sina Tony Gonzales at Tes Pasola na piniling gamitin ang papel bilang materyal sa kanilang sining.

Kasama ng dalawa ang printmaker na si Pandy Aviado, iskultor na si Impy Pilapil, Joey Cobcobo, Wataru Sakuma at Asao Shimura at ang walong mag-aaral ng School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA).

VETERAN directors went indie in the 2010 Cinemalaya. For its sixth year, the annual festival of independent films introduced another competitive category, the Directors’ Showcase, featuring established directors. As in the New Breed, finalists in the Directors’ Showcase were given P500,000 to start of their movie projects, which should not exceed the three-million-peso ceiling for all Cinemalaya full-length productions. The result was indie cinema with sleek looks and glossy marketing.

Vision from the veterans

“Two Funerals” follows the tale of a mother journeying to recover the remains of her daughter who dies in a terrible accident.

TOWARD the last months of his life, the actor Juan Marasigan Feleo, popularly known as “Johnny Delgado,” turned to painting to satisfy his craving for self-expression. The visual arts also offered him a form of therapy in his struggle with cancer of the lymph node.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), with Pixel Grain, held an exhibit to pay tribute to the actor-visual artist.

“Maskarang Totoo: the Works of Juan Feleo” was displayed July 10 to 20 at the CCP’s Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino Hallway. The event was on the sidelights of the recently concluded Cinemalaya Festival, where the actor was a member of the screening committee.

THOMASIAN directorial flare was all over the 2010 Cinemalaya as veteran filmmaker Gil M. Portes and relative newbie Rommel “Milo” Tolentino were named best directors in the Director’s Showcase and Short Film category, respectively.

Portes won for his film “Two Funerals” which also got the runner-up Special Jury Prize.

THOMASIAN visual artists set the agenda for the new administration through Pitong Salita: Paalala sa Bagong Administrasyon, an exhibit at the Sining Kamalig of the Gateway Mall in Quezon City last June 7 to 30.

Dominique Alfonso, Kevin Fernandez, Luis Hernandez, Darylle Cajucom, Jay Jamoralin, JR Urao, and Michael Zacari showcased their visual flair to depict social and political concerns that should preoccupy the new administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Enrico Manlapaz was the curator.

UST College of Fine Arts and Design graduates Jamoralin and Fernandez employed comic styles and rich symbolisms to portray social and political ills in the Philippines.

ANDRES Barrioquinto signals a shift in his trademark portraiture in Squalor of the Mind, running at the West Gallery on West Avenue, QC until July 17.

From cartoonish, nearly gothic close-ups of people, Barrioquinto’s portraits have become lifelike, almost photographic. And from the usual browns and neutral colors, the color palette has become more diverse, even bright and pulsating.

Which should not mean that the gothic mood has been discarded. The collection still reeks of dark pessimism. Although his art has become more photographic, Barrioquinto’s style remains expressionistic, his graphic and pictorial strengths serving to serve the ends of psychological depictions of alienation and estrangement.

THE YELLOW crowd trooped to the Quirino Grandstand last June 30 to witness the inauguration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. But somewhere in Makati, an art show was painting the town in triumphant yellow.

Yellow Paintings, a tribute exhibit to the late former President Corazon Aquino and a celebration of her son’s electoral victory, had opened at the Tower Club in collaboration with Galleria Nicolas last June 25 and ran until July 8.

Curated by art historian and UST Architecture graduate Reuben Ramos Cañete, the exhibit of paintings and sculptures was originaly shown during the People Power Revolution anniversary last February.

IN THE third installment of Disney Pixar’s Toy Story, Andy is already 17 years old and is about to enter college life. He now drives his own car and is seemingly anatomically attached to his electronic gadgets no longer the adorable critter who gets ecstatic over trips to the pizza parlors and playing with toys.

WITH ITS vast waters, diverse mountain ranges and wide variety of flora, China’s Yangtze River boasts of the most breathtaking daybreaks in Asia. Reminiscent of dawn breaking quietly along the river, the works displayed at James Onglepho’s 29th solo exhibit were as awe-inspiring as any sunrise.

Presenting the latest batch of his lotus flower and landscape pieces, the artist, together with some of his collectors, opened the show at the Asia Art Gallery last April 24.

Since his first exhibit in 1959, this contemporary Filipino master had always captivated his audience with still-life works that reflected his Chinese heritage. Lotus flowers and landscapes have become his preferred subject in the world of realism, making this his mark in the local art scene.