Victor Puruganan holds 1st solo show in ARTablado
OVER the years, Ilocos Norte-born Victor Puruganan has created a body of work that can fill up his house and makeshift studio several times over and yet it took him this long to stage his very first official solo art exhibition. He is an artist who can do portraits with ease, abstracts that excite visually, and is unafraid to shift from one medium to another may it be oil, acrylic, ceramics or glass. The seventh of nine children of Victorina Sales Puruganan and the late Ricarte Puruganan, one of the 13 Moderns of Philippine Art, Victor Puruganan has had to scratch and claw his way through life and carve a path all his own. Puruganan took an Associate Fine Arts degree at the City College of San Francisco in the early 1980s and worked in a hotel creating artworks that would impress not just his superiors and colleagues but guests as well, would continue creating artworks — mostly commissioned — after that, but he would often be flying back and forth from the US and the Philippines, limiting his time and ability to fully establish his artistic base. In his ongoing exhibit titled “Alter Ego” at ARTablado in Robinsons Galleria, Mr. Puruganan finally shows what he is all about. Although the works on display are mostly recent, they show the current evolution of his art. “Alter Ego”is on exhibition until Dec. 15 at the Level 3 of Robinsons Galleria.
Christmas concert at the museum
THE YUCHENGCO Museum celebrates the season with Kundiman & Carols: A Night with Krissan Manikan-Tan, on Dec. 16, 7 p.m. The show also features pianist Belinda Salazar. For ticket reservations, contact 8889-1234 or e-mail yspace@yuchengcomuseum.org. The Yuchengco Musuem is located at RCBC Plaza, corner Ayala Ave. and Senator Gil J. Puyat Ave., Makati City.
Celeste Lecaroz holds solo show
“SEASONS OF GRACE,” presented by Arte Bettina, is a solo exhibition of works by Celeste Lecaroz. It is currently on view until Dec. 16 at the ArtistSpace, at the Ground Level, Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Ave. corner De La Rosa St., Greenbelt Park, Makati City. For this exhibit, she took inspiration from the lessons we can learn from nature and how we mirror its cycles unconsciously. The exhibition showcases paintings and furniture with images inspired by bird watching — a hobby Ms. Lecaroz started at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. For queries on the exhibition, call Camille Camara at 0917-115-0504 or e-mail atinfo@artebettina.com.
Handel’s Messiah at CCP
THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) celebrates the Christmas season with a performance of Handel’s Messiah, featuring the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Madrigal Singers, on Dec. 16, 8 p.m., at the Main Theater. For tickets call the CCP Box Office at 8832-3704, 8832-1125 local 1409; TicketWorld at 0917-550-6997 (Globe), 0999-954-5922 (Smart), or visit https://bit.ly/PPOMetamorphosisConcert4.
Romeo Gutierrez holds 40th solo show at ARTablado Antipolo
HAVING 40 one-man shows is no small feat. To continuously create works that excite both the artist and the audience requires a lot of patience, determination, and imagination. Romeo Gutierrez has all of that and probably more. An Outstanding University of Santo Tomas Atelier Alumni (2016), Bakusi Foundation Outstanding Art Educator (2016), and one of the NCCA’s Ten Outstanding Visual Artist of the Philippines (1994), he is also a former professor at the Fine Arts Department of the College of Holy Spirit and former board director and vice-president of Art Association of the Philippines and is currently the vice-president of the UST Alumni Association. His 40th solo exhibition, “Themes and Variations,” at ARTablado at the Upper Ground Floor, North Wing of Robinsons Antipolo, features his more recent works that continue to explore themes of mother and child, family, and landscapes in his signature “figurative abstraction” style. Here, he melds together cubism, abstraction, and representation in seamless fashion. “Themes and Variations” will be on display until Jan. 2, 2023.
Two shows at Silverlens
SILVERLENS Manila is holding two exhibits, Gregory Halili’s “Heavenly Bodies”andCatalina Africa’s “Shrine in the Shape of a Shadow,” both on which are currently on view until Jan. 7, 2023. In his new works, Mr. Halili’s inspiration is recognizable to comprehend at once: Comets, those celestial bodies with a nucleus consisting of ice, gas and dust. Each of the works in “Heavenly Bodies” is a universe that is constantly in shapeshifting mode, inviting the viewer to come up close and discover for themselves the objects Mr. Halili has assembled. Classical images are mixed with Filipino objects: tourist art woodcarvings, fragments from old santos, metal work from carrozas, glass lamps — all evoking a sense of nostalgia for the religious processions Mr. Halili witnessed as a boy growing up. Catalina Africa’s new solo exhibition is a spatial visualization of an environment expressed in painting. Silverlens is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 2263 Don Chino Roces Ave. Extension, Makati City.
CCP’s Binurda show welcomes the holidays
THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) celebrates the Yuletide season with Binurda, façade décors that explore the embroidery heritage in the Philippines, highlighting the warp of cultural traditions interwoven with the weft of the Filipino people’s stories. It will be launched on Dec. 15, 5:30 p.m., with a holiday concert, featuring performances by Bayanihan, The National Dance Company of the Philippines, the Nightingales, the Male Ensemble of the Philippines (MEP), and surprise performers. Conceptualized by CCP Production Design and Technical Division chief Ricardo Eric Cruz and his team, the Christmas façade décor features callado, the intricate embroidery and needlework detailing on piña jusi textile. Through creative metalwork characterizing the pulling and tying of the warp and weft, the CCP’s travertine façade turns into a fabric embroidered with a distinct Sampaguita motif, complemented with other Philippine flora and fauna patterns and indigenous geometry designs. The tone-on-tone design of the CCP holiday decoration provides an understated elegance to the façade during the day, and seamlessly transitions to a dazzling light spectacle at night. The launching concert, directed by Dexter Santos, is divided into different suites — the Tanglaw Ng Hiraya, Pagmamapa sa Padron at Pinagmulan, Pagtatahi ng Ugnayan, Pagbubuhol at Pagbibigkis, and Paglaladlad at Pagdiriwang. Each suite features varying music genres that encompass different periods and milieu. The Binurda concert and lighting event is open to the public. The façade decorations will be on view until January 2023.
World Vision PHL marks 65th year with a book
IN any given year, World Vision Philippine helps 1.5 million of the most vulnerable children. Through the years since its founding in 1957, many former sponsor children have turned to help their communities and nation, becoming policemen, teachers, nurses, business owners, professionals, amazing parents and grandparents. To mark its 65th anniversary, World Vision compiled a book entitled The Day My Life Changed with inspiring stories of sponsor children and how their sponsors helped them transform their lives. Award-winning broadcast journalist and World Vision sponsor, Karen Davila, writes in the foreword on how her life changed ever since becoming a sponsor and how she actively helped in transforming the organization to help more of the most vulnerable to get their opportunity. “Thanks to our supporters so many of our children have been able to write their own life story. I am passionate to see many more stories of transformation being written by our sponsors and their sponsor children,” said Rommel Fuerte, World Vision Philippines’ National Director, who has himself sponsored a child with World Vision for over 25 years. “We hope that through this book, we find reflected in these pages God’s wonderful plan for our lives, enclosed with a prayer for our hearts the will to make it so,” he added. To purchase the book, visit www.worldvision.org.ph or follow World Vision’s official social media pages /worldvisionph on Facebook, @worldvisionphl on Instagram, and @worldvisionph on Twitter.
55th National Students Art Competition winners
PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp.’s 55th National Students Art Competition (NSAC) culminated in a showcase of the young artists’ vision for the future and how their creativity brings diverse people together. Out of the more than 1,000 students who joined nationwide, three young artists won in each of the artistic categories: Digital Fine Arts, Sculpture, Watercolor, and Oil and Acrylic. The first-place winners in all categories were awarded P60,000 each, while the second-place winners and third-place winners individually received P40,000 and P30,000 respectively. The NSAC Awardees for Digital Fine Arts are: 1st place, Akong Makita. Akong Masulti. Akong Mabuhat by Earl Marie Pabinguit from Cebu Technological University; 2nd place, The Avenue by Louise Gabrielle Abing from Mindanao State University – General Santos; 3rd place, Perception by Xymon Cadric Calayag from Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology. The NSAC Awardees for Sculpture are: 1st place, Generational String by Mherlo Mahinay from the University of the Philippines – Diliman; 2nd place, Ang Paglayag Ni Juan by Luke Eidref Agapito Berja from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines; 3rd place, Hangang Pampang by John Romer Pavilando from Tarlac State University. The NSAC Awardees for Watercolor are: 1st place, Pag-asa, Dalangin at Pangarap by John Michael Flores Ramos from Tarlac State University; 2nd place, Mulat at Nagmamasid by Shara Mae Chan from De La Salle University – Manila; 3rd place, Keep The Fire Burning by Khaila Mae Faustor from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The NSAC Awardees for Oil and Acrylic are: 1st place, Upturned Façade by Densen James Almeda from the University of the Philippines – Cebu; 2nd place, Bahay-Bahayan by Marko Sarmiento from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines; 3rd place, A Glimpse of Hope and Life by Clark Myer Arquio from University of the Philippines – Cebu. To learn more about future Shell NSAC and related events, visit: https://shell.com.ph/juanartnation.
NCCA’s Heneral Tuna fan art tilt winners
THE NATIONAL Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) marked Filipino Values Month by holding the Heneral Tuna Fan Art Contest, featuring artworks done through traditional (such as painting or drawing) and digital methods. Each piece portrayed the seven Filipino values that were featured in the Heneral Tuna animated series.The contest was open to young artists aged 13 to 21; were given a free hand to interpret the values in their own style. Topping the Traditional category was Glenn Gonzales, 20, from Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, with his entry titled Ang Unang Hapunan. The watercolor painting depicts the injured Heneral Tuna enjoying a meal on Earth with the family and neighbors who took him in. Second place is Jacky Ratio, a senior high school student from Naga City, who highlighted the value of pakikipagkapwa in her painting made with colored pens and markers. Third place winner was Emmanuel Genesis Bano, another high school student from Quezon, Isabela province, whose creation made of colored pencils and markers show Heneral Tuna looking in at the values the Earthlings have taught him. Navotas City’s Zaldy Salas, Jr. won first place in the Digital Art category with his digital painting of the general on his back, looking in awe at the caring and selfless Filipinos he encountered in Barangay Hiraya. In second place was Jonuel Corazon Villante, also senior high school student from Naga City, for her animé-inspired interpretation of love for the family. Third place went to Marvin Enila from Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte. The first-place winners in each category received P10,000, while the second and third place winners each received P7,500 and P5,000 respectively. The fan art contest was conducted from Oct. 10 to Nov. 18, and received more than 250 entries.
