January 15 – February 22, 2020
Opening reception
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 | 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Alliance française de Manille
209 Nicanor Garcia Street, Bel-Air II, 1209 Makati
Alliance Française de Manille presents a solo exhibition featuring the works of Allan Cosio, as a tribute to Alliance Française de Manille’s centennial celebrations (2020). Cosio’s large-scale nature paintings will be up at the AFM Gallery.
RSVP is required. Please send it to tzapanta@alliance.ph
About the Exhibit
Cosio’s series on nature-inspired paintings started in the early 2000’s. Here are reactions from critics:
“Art beyond pure optics. Allan Cosio presents crowdpleasing landscapes that sustain the trajectory of his audacious art.” – Lito B. Zulueta
“Cosio’s abstractions of landscapes, through veering edgily into poetic realism, provide us with the texture and temper of the seasons – gripped by the sensations of nature, man is reduced to a state of a rapture.” – Cid Reyes
“Here is another case of convergence of abstraction and figuration. Almost inevitably, the twain do meet in the work of Allan Cosio…..This is art that looks young, therefore joyous. The artist may render a pile of snow and we’d still be seeing springtime.” – Constantino C. Tejero
“Allan Cosio splashes on canvas his recollections of mountain sojourns and there configures vigorous scenes of wild and weary nature.” – Patrick Flores
“The artist’s works resonate with his vision of the planet constantly imperiled by the poisons of industrialized society.” – Justino Dormiendo
“The artist paints not what he sees, but the feelings aroused in him.” – Paul B. Zafaralla
“He possesses the energy, the perseverance and the necessary technical prowess to realize an abstract art of richness and complexity.” – Alice Guillermo
About the artist
Cosio’s works have earned him grants from the British Council and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation of New York, an award from the City of Manila for painting and sculpture, and the rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
He has won Grand Prizes for five consecutive years in the annual competitions of the Art Association of the Philippines, of which he became president. In 1986, his “Art for Peace” trilogy won a major prize among 1,200 entries at the International Competition in Baghdad.
