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ULTRA PLASTIC STYLE NOW!

Dina Gadia

1st Solo Exhibition

April 30, 2009

Hiraya Gallery

530 United Nations Avenue

Ermita, Manila

http://happyaccidents.multiply.com

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PINTO ART GALLERY
29 March – 29 April 2009

Simultaneous art exhibitions at Pinto Art Gallery this March The Silangan Foundation for the Arts, Culture and Ecology presents simultaneous art exhibitions to be unveiled at Pinto Art Gallery. Opens on March 29 at 3pm and runs until April 29, 2009.

Group shows by Leeroy New, Tatong Torres, and Costantino Zicarelli, two one-man shows by Kirby Roxas and Cris Villanueva Jr., and March Show is a first part series of group exhibits of Philippine contemporary artists at Pinto’s Silangan Studio Gallery.

Pinto’s Main Gallery features Leeroy New, Tatong Torres, and Costantino Zicarelli’s recent works.

Pinto’s Upper Gallery unveils Kirby Roxas’ one-man show entitled “settled itinerant”.

On view at Pinto’s Gallery Shop is Cris Villanueva’s one-man exhibition entitled “inordinately ordinary”.

Group exhibition at Silangan Studio Gallery March Show at the Silangan Studio Gallery is a group show of recent works by Leo Abaya, John Paul Antido, Ej Cabangon, Marika Constantino, Ninel Constantino, Marina Cruz, Dansoy Coquilla, Don Dalmacio, Thomas Daquioag, Mael de Guzman, Reynold dela Cruz, Norman Dreo, Reymar Gacutan, Manny Garibay, Dennis Gonzales, Philipp Ines, Erwin Leano, Tony Leano, Stephanie Lopez, Ferdie Montemayor, Reynald ‘Bon’ Mujeres, Andy Orencio, Jim Orencio, Vicente Pado Jr., Anthony Palomo, Mikel Parial, Sam Penaso, Elmer Roslin, Carlo Saavedra, Konn Salao, Jerson Samson, Arturo Sanchez Jr., Victor Santos, Frederick Sausa, Tammy Tan, and Rodel Tapaya.

Pinto Art Gallery is a member of the Silangan Foundation for the Arts, Culture and Ecology. It is located at #1 Sierra Madre St. Grandheights, Antipolo, Rizal. For inquiries you may email us at silangangardens@yahoo.com or call us at (632) 6971015.

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RAMON DIAZ’S PASSAGEMAKERS:
An artist and a salvaged sailboat’s twin sojourn

What history lay hidden behind an old sailboat? What shores had it docked on? What dramas had taken place aboard its deck? What tempests of nature had it endured? These must have been playing inside the mind of painter Ramon Diaz when he saved a sunken 29-foot, three-ton sloop full keel when the Manila Yacht Club brought it out of the water three years ago. “There was already too much damaged to be restored, but too memorable to be discarded,” he noted. Crafted in a manner reminiscent of the European way of building boats in the 30s and 40s, the Imelda 1 (the name traced by its former owner Eddie Go of the Makati Stock Exchange in the 50s and who traced it back to its earliest owner Miguel Magsaysay of the Magsaysay Lines fame) was said to have sailed from Europe to Guam then to Manila.

Thus, in a creative decision borne not simply out of nostalgia, but a keen appreciation of history intersecting with his well-known, ongoing romance with the sea, Diaz began work on his first collection of sculptures from parts of that salvaged vessel. Passagemakers is the much-awaited sequel to his September 2007 RIBS painting exhibition where he highlighted a single piece constructed from the ship’s wooden ribs and deck plank.

Passagemakers reflects Diaz’s passion for sailing as well as his continuing journey as an artist. It references the metamorphosis of a seemingly mundane material, such as this sailboat, into a series of well-thought uvres that reveals the artist’s vision and figuratively conveys his personae. Diaz steps back in time appreciating the salvageable past and moves forward expressing social concern for the environment by using recyclable materials and making a statement against the present cultural predisposition towards disposability of old and seemingly useless things that, in the right hands, can still be imbued with beauty and significance. Diaz believes in reusing these disposables, these objets trouv (found objects) the way he once did in Banak House — his beach house in Calatagan, Batangas — with the about-to-be-burned ruins of Aringay Church in La Union. To borrow from Surrealist leader Andr Breton, in raising the dignity of an object with a utilitarian function to a work of art, Diaz’s genius eased the passage of a wrecked ship to a provocative mixed media series through his inspired choice of elements.

Rather than presenting us with glossy-finished and high-stylized pieces, he has retained the natural look of the boat with the weather-beaten look of the planks blending well with the painted-on and assembled elements that is suffused with symbolism. The interplay of allusions drawn from Diaz’s knowledge of Philippine history and sailing lore surfaces in pieces such as Calculated Risk, where an abacus was incorporated in a part of the boat, evoking ancient Chinese sailors who ply junk boats along the shores of Manila Bay. Antigua with its inked scenes of Spanish conquistadores, sabers, pistols and other battle symbols in between a dangling sarimanok brass figure from the Muslim South and a crucified Christ’s head painted on a conch shell depicts the long-standing conflict between the two cultures. Guiding Eyes highlights a pair of dark eyes painted on both sides of the bow or the front part of the boat, seemingly watchful and wise.

Aside from his successful RIBS and Celestial Horses exhibit in the country, his Nishikigoi (koi or carp) series was featured during a highly successful solo show at the Steuben Glass in New York in 2007. Diaz pursued advanced studies in Europe and continues to reinvent new materials and approaches, stretching himself beyond the realm of paper and pallette. This is his 24th exhibit since he started painting in the early ’90s. There was serendipity in finding that salvaged sailboat as it led to a new vista and perhaps an altogether new direction for his creativity. To extend the metaphor further, with this new collection, Diaz proves anew that indeed he has earned his right to passage into the art world’s appreciative embrace.

Galleria Duemila is located at 210 Loring Street, Pasay City. The show runs until March 30. For more information, please contact 831-9990 and telefax 833-9815, e-mail: duemila@mydestiny.net or visit www.galleriaduemila.com.

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Reflections on the Art of Betsy Westendorp Brias
by Cid Reyes

Reflecting on the art of Betsy Westendorp Brias, it is irresistible to allude to her Dutch ancestry (her fathers family migrated from the Netherlands to Spain), and therefore the few women artists from ancient Holland, whose fierce artistic independence allowed them to create their own private visions despite the demands of domesticity. Interestingly, three women Dutch painters, namely Maria von Oosterwyck (1630-1693), Clara Peeters (1594-c.1657) and Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) were excellent flower painters who included their self-portraits in their floral still lifes. How could one interpret such a practice? Was this a form of vanity? Ironically it harps on the Latin word vanitas, another term for still life paintings which, featuring symbolic objects such as skulls, hourglasses, mirrors, butterflies and flowers, suggest the mortal nature of man.

More interestingly during the last years of her life, Rusych, not content with painting her self-portrait on her works, took to writing her age, 83, on her canvases on the year of her works creation.

While never vain about her age, Westendorp, who at the present age of 81, continues to paint with as much passion and energy as she did decades ago. In the perfection of ones art, an artists allotted time on earth is hardly a fleeting moment in the face of eternity. One recalls the words of the 19th century artist Katsushika Hokusai, who prefigures such rare humility.

I have been in love with painting ever since I became conscious of it at the age of six. I drew some pictures which I thought fairly good when I was 50, but really nothing I did before the age of 70 was of any value at all.

At 73, I have at least caught every aspect of nature  birds, fish, animals, insects, trees, grasses, etc.

When I am 80, I shall have developed still further and will really master the secrets of art at 90.

When I reach 100, my art will be truly sublime and my final goal will be attained around the age of 110, when every line and dot I draw will be imbued with life.

Like the other masters of Philippine art — National Artist Arturo Luz, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Malang, Juvenal Sanso — who are all in the autumn of their long lives, the octogenarian Westendorp, a Filipino by marriage to the late businessman Antonio Brias, continues to challenge her own aesthetic achievements. By her own admission, in one interview, Westendorp confides, My greatest reward is working.

While a great many floral still lifes have been created from the golden age of Dutch flower painting in the 17th century to the Renaissance in the floral works of the Impressionists in the 19th century, the most significant distinction lies between those flowers cut from their natural, brought indoors and arranged in abundance, overflowing vases, baskets and bowls, and those flowers blooming in the bounty of nature, nestled by the very landscape that gave existence to them.

Most of Westendorps floral paintings subscribe to this pastoral depiction of nature. Not only are the flowers depicted in the natural cycle of the seasons but also the atmosphere of the environment. In this regard, Westendorp follows the footsteps of the greatest Impressionist Claude Monet. Indeed, the delightful appreciation of Westendorps landscapes and floral paintings can be gleaned from the works of Monet himself. I know only that I do what I think best to express what I experience in front of natureMy only virtue is to have painted directly in front of nature while trying to render the impressions made on me by the most fleeting effects.

Whether consciously or not, Westendorp now displays in her Reflections show, the canonical trademarks of Impressionism  the flecks of multi-colored pigments transforming into a vibrant and rhythmical surface, itself dissolving into a misty atmosphere.

In Westendorps large body of floral works, the viewer is plunged headlong into the pleasure and ecstasy of flower painting, as though one had been turned into a voluptuary of nature in all her beauty. With what thrilling ebullience does Westendorp transform barks of hydrangeas, plump in their spherical shapes and lush with their multitude of whorled petals, into a lavish feast subtly modulated colors. Called the milflores for their thousand blooms, the hydrangeas provide the artist with a subject with which she can animate and elaborate space. In these flower paintings, nature herself has provided the perfect massing of clustered petals. All that these images needed were the discerning eyes of Westendorp, in order to place them in the exact immediacy of viewers glance. How insightful then were the words of one French critic, a contemporary of Monet, to have declared, the hatred of some position is the characteristic sign of Impressionism; it rejects all intellectual and subjective organization, and will accept only the free arrangements of nature. Certainly, Westendorp knows better than to intrude into natures own spatial harmonies, but still, it is the artists controlling eye that will isolate or frame her chosen viewpoint.

While the hydrangeas provided Westendorp with the richness of foliage, it is the orchid — with its wild delicacy — that has become the starting point for a Westendorp trademark style: the cascading motion of a sloping directional movement. These orchidaceous ensemble of crisply applied violet colors merge into a fusion with the open space that renders these hues more luminous. It is as if Westendorp had obeyed Monets admonition: Paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives its own impression of the scene before you. Thus the orchid paintings depict a descending shower of petals, studded with a stream of white pigments, with a flourish of brushstrokes that seize the delightful tints of greens, oranges, creams, pinks, lilacs and mauves. Seen against a clear, blue sky that filters through the interstices of frail stems, one senses a gentle breeze that tenderly caresses the scene.

Throughout the centuries, flower painting has obsessed many artists. Westendorp is no exception. As the French artist Renoir told his friend: Painting flowers is a form of mental relaxation. I do not need this concentration that I need when I am faced with a model. When I am painting flowers I can experiment boldly with tones and values without worrying about destroying the whole painting.

On his deathbed, J.M.W. Turner, the greatest artist Britain has produced, was recorded as having said: The sun is god. In his canvases, landscapes turned into a sublime experience. For sheer atmospheric breadth, Turners works had no equal, inspiring generations of artists who sought inspiration in his miraculous handling of light. Awesome and overwhelming, nature showed its divine reflection on sea and land. A critic described his works as tours de force that show how nearly the gross materials of the palette can be made to emulate the source of light

In like manner, Westendorp herself captures the suns majesty. That the artist has devoted numerous canvases reflecting the Philippine sun through her penthouse studio facing the wide expanse of Manila Bay is inestimable honor. In these so-called solarscapes — or atmosferigrafias — the Philippine sun is a pulsating presence, peering gloriously and pervasively through masses of clouds, flooding the sea with an almost blinding brilliance, sweeping the water surface with glaring intensity. In some canvases, the viewer can still see a glimmer of the horizon, linking sea and sky, in a fierce fusion of reflected hues — bright blues tinged with salmons and a mist of orange brilliance. The shimmering sea seems as if inflamed by heat haze.

In many canvases, Westendorp gives full vent to an atmospheric interplay of blues, whites and oranges, playing off against each other, reducing the image into sheer abstraction, dissolving the curling cloud forms into a virtual blaze of colors. It is in these canvases of sensitively observed sunlight that Westendorp is most Turner-esque. Contours of forms have given way to a softened passage of colors and tones. Viewed from a distance, these solarscapes nonetheless speak of her intimate relationship with nature. Again, Monet: My only virtue is to have painted directly in front of nature, while trying to render my impressions in front of the most fugitive effects.

Arguably, Westendorp is better known for her portraits of royalty and nobility. Illustrious personages and celebrities from various fields have also found their elegant likeness in her numerous canvases. Family member and friends, of course, have been captured for their portraits. In Westendorps art of portraiture, not only the verisimilitude of usage but, most importantly, that elusive character, became central to the whole endeavor. Mostly the subject is portrayed against a vast and empty space, where he or she radiates from the center of the void. Westendorp strives to capture the depth of expression  the soul  of the subject. There is psychological communication between artist and sitter. No wonder portraiture has been defined as visual biography.

But of what interest to us are the portraits of other people whom we dont ever personally known? The British art critic Alistair Smith responds, When we examine the sitter, we will ourselves to understand his thoughts and experience his emotions, so that we almost feel them. In fact, our minds and feelings are altered by the portrayed person  for a moment he seems to dominate us, to be more alive than we.

Westendorp creates portraits where the viewer is animated by the sheer existence of the individual portrayed. Beyond preserving the image of a person after death, Westendorp portraits are a reminder of the inevitable passage of life and the imperative need to celebrate the present.

“Reflections” is on view at the Mandarin Oriental Suites at Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City until March 23.

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Press Release

Mark Valenzuela
PLATOON OF STRANGERS

Platoon of Strangers, Mark Valenzuela’s second one-man show at Galleria Duemila, will be open to the public from April 4-27.

The show features Valenzuela’s recent paintings and modular installations of terracotta. Constructing individual yet obscured human heads, the artist engages the theme of conformity as a form and expression of social alienation. The works reflect on how individuals within society or specific social formations end up becoming strangers to one another.

To consciously emphasize the conceptual contrasts between society and the individual, Valenzuela juxtaposes the military term platoon (referring to a subdivision of a company of soldiers and connoting a body of people working together towards a specific mission), with the term stranger, which denotes a person unfamiliar or external to one’s own social circles, a persona non grata to our being as the artist terms it. Valenzuela poses the question of whether we indeed know or understand the people and individuals whom we deal with on a daily basis, in various circles and formations within which our lives revolve in.

The artist utilizes the traditional and non-industrial medium of terracotta to reflect on the ironic phenomenon of alienation within contemporary society, where wayward industrialization, widening social disparity and globalization has created diverse situations where groups of people co-exist without knowing each other fully as the artist observes. The repeated production of terracotta heads reinforces the concept of the social machine churning out more members. The symbolic covering up of their faces denotes the act of turning the familiar into the unknown. What is being obscured are faces, the stamp of individuality and knowing on each person.

Mark Valenzuelas first one-man show, entitled War Zone, was held at Galleria Duemila in 2007. The artist participated in 19 group shows since 2002. He is the recipient of a Sinugdanan grant from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and has been short-listed for the 2008 Ateneo Art Awards. His collection of works may be viewed at Galleria Duemila.

Platoon of Strangers opens on April 4 with cocktails at 4 pm at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City. For inquiries, contact 831-9990, telefax 833-9815, email: duemila@mydestiny.net, website: www.galleriaduemila.com.

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