January 20 – February 3, 2020
Opening Reception
Monday, January 20, 2020 | 6 PM
Galerie Anna
4/F, The Artwalk, Bldg. A, SM Megamall, EDSA corner Julia Vargas Ave., Mandaluyong City
First of 2020.
Featured works by awarded and international artists:
Otto Neri
Darby Alcoseba
Orley Ypon
Junn Roca
Erwin Mallari
Rellie Liwag
Abel Gatbonton
Maria Francisca Andraianne Juarez
𝙊𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙤𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠
“For five days, eight artists with multiple awards and art mileage between them filled a coaster with painting materials and a documentation crew, and went on a journey that sent them traveling for more than a thousand kilometers. A project about half a year in the making, NORTE: A Plein Air Caravanhas notable artists coming from various locations in its lineup: former US-based Rellie Liwag, now back in Manila; Erwin Mallari from Malabon; Otto Neri from Antipolo; Abel Gatbonton from Mandaluyong;Cebu residents Orley Ypon, Darby Alcoseba and Maria Francisca Andraianne Juarez; and Junn Roca from Southern California.
The caravan was launched in the late hours of January 7, arriving at Vigan City bright and early the next morning. The artists took their places on the famed cobblestoned streets of Calle Crisologo, attracting audiences and passersby. This is the site for Mallari’s dreamy Calle Crisologo (Vigan), a refreshing take on a lone calesa flanked by a row of red awnings fixed on street side shops, and Neri’s legendary time-bending, nurse-kissing sailor layered as fantasy-staged element on theavenue’s contemporary setting in Halik. The next day, the group went to the Pagburnayan, making impromptu live models out of several burnay craftsmen, then on to the rice fields at Bantay-Puspus in the afternoon, inspiring Alcoseba’s sunlight-dappled oil on canvas, A Day at the Farm, and Liwag’s quaint, cheery and charming red-roofed buildings in Bukid sa Vigan.
Upon the invitation of Congressman Eric Singson, the artists filed into hardy 4x4s to get to Candon’s pride, an ecopark currently being developed, and set their easels for a few quick pieces. This spurred Juarez’ oil painting Eco Farm, which shows the rich soil of a dirt path diverging into the trees while serving glimpses of sky. Then, onwards to the original Vitalis resort in Sabangan to take advantage of the sunset.
The last full day was spent driving north to Ilocos Norte, where the artists were treated to the sights of Dr. Joven Cuanang’s Sitio Remedios in Currimao-Gaang. Here is where the artists really made the most of the place, having so many interesting subjects such as the gardens, pool, fountains, chapel, and antique structures. A private beach is immortalized in Gatbonton’s oil on canvas, Baybay sa Sitio, with the azure waves of the shoreline reflecting the bright, cerulean sky. Ypon drew upon the vibrant colors of flowers in Bougainvillea in Bloom, capturing the timelessness of a multilayered stone fountain in the midst of verdant foliage. Roca’s oil on linen panel piece, The Garden’s Pathway to San Miguel Chapelis deemed fit for a pilgrimage with its sundrenched paths, wrought iron street lamps, stout stone buttresses and archangel-guarded niche.
Most of the artists in the exhibition, by their own right, already enjoy some amount of fame: Roca, a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America and Signature Artist member of the California Art Club, has won two Emmys for his work in the animation industry, and has members of the Hollywood elite among his collectors. His work was honored with the Presidents’ Award of Excellence at the Oil Painters of America 26th Annual Juried Exhibition in 2017. Ypon is part of the Art Renewal Center Salon International’s list of ARC Living Masters, having won first place in the figurative category in 2011/2012 and Best In Show in 2012/2013, with a third place standing in 2017/2018. As founder of the Aroma Art Atelier in Cebu City, he has led the way for young Cebuano artists following in his footsteps, with Alcoseba and Juarez receiving Finalist (2019) and Honorable Mention (2018)awards, respectively, in the International ARC Salon Competitions themselves. Liwag is an accredited member of the Art Students League of New York and the Portrait Society of America. Her oil paintings hang in the baptistery of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Bonifacio Global City and St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Quezon City. She has attended workshops in New York, Philadelphia, Burgundy, and Florence. Gatbonton produces works in different mediums and on varying surfaces, from digital art in computers, oil paint on canvas and tattoo ink on human skin. Mallari has been awarded the Grand Prize in the 2014 Kulay sa Tubig Watercolor Competition after being a semifinalist in both MADE Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (2012) and Art of Watercolor, a global watercolor competition (2013). Neri is an active member of the Durian Collective, his thick oil impasto works noted for satirical commentary on local social and political issues. He has recently found a fascination for creating impeccably detailed mosaics out of ceramic tiles, with a recent mixed media work commissioned by the Pinto Museum.
Plein air’s nonpareil appeal to artists are evident in the dynamism and energy captured in the artists’ paintings, with its enduring charm in terms of creative production particularly sought after. The artists agree– it is a wondrous experience all on its own, despite the physically tiring long drive. It gives artists an opportunity to breathe fresh air not relegated to the confines of the four corners of the studio. In open fields, in gardens, and on coastlines, artistic stimulus runs rampant, impelling painters’ brushes to create, ever-adjusting their easels’ placement on the sun’s position as it moves across the sky. NORTE: A Plein Air Caravan is a refreshing take on the challenges of catching visions on canvas, linen or paper, freezing the artist’s impression of a specific space and time’s colors, mood, and light. Fortunately for these contemporary realists, an opportunity of a lifetime presented itself, with the possibility of other travels some other time. Fortunately for us, the art-going audience, we see glimpses of their brilliance, undeniable skill and personal touches shining through each piece. ”
— written by Ms. Kaye Oyek
☎️ For inquiries, call: 09151976955 or 09075502020.
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