Elmer Borlongan's first solo exhibit in Paris

Bravo to Elmer Borlongan's first solo exhibit in Paris, "When Time Stood Still".

The exhibit presented 15 paintings and monotypes.

Béatrice de Rochebouet wrote, "Produced during the Covid years, his new series draws on his past experiences and observations but is more introspective. What is important to each of us after the pandemic we experienced? What is the meaning of life from now on," these are all questions that led Elmer Borlongan, 55 years old, with a voluntary face animated by a bright smile, to push his work further... The colors are dark like the power of the darkness of the tormented landscapes of Evrard Munch, the distorted figures like the tortured bodies of Egon Shiele that the triumphant suffering metamorphoses into pure beauty." 

his muse, Plet Bolipata-Borlongan

Elmer with Jonatthan Matti

Friends and art collectors joined the artist at the exhibit opening on October 20:

Ricky Yusay, moi, Bea Garcia, Edouard Garcia and Gai Olivares

Elmer with H.E. Juvener M. Mahilum-West, Philippine Ambassador to France

Moi with art patrons Hetty and Paulino Que, Lori Juvida and Bobby Gopiao.

Asia Now Parisi Art Fair exhibitor Vinyl on Vinyl with artists

The exhibit will run until November 20, 2022 at Galerie Géraldine Banier, located at Saint-Germain-des-Prés   at 54, rue Jacob Paris.

There's hope for Autism!

I remember way back in the mid-1990s when my sister Chato was worried about her daughter. Mrs. Ladron of the toddler school where my niece was enrolled in, found her behavior way too rowdy and too independent for a three year old and recommended that she goes to Cupertino Center instead. At that time, there was only one school for special children and most of the students were autistic.

My niece was enrolled for 3 months or so. until my sister pulled her out when she started copying her classmates and was banging her head against the wall, desk or floor.  Autistic children would display certain behaviors and head banging is the most common. Chato took her  to Berkeley where she, after several tests, was diagnosed with ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It was fairly novel then and since the symptoms were quite similar with autism, the two conditions more often than not, caused confusion and even misdiagnosis.

J.A.  next to his stamp
(photo from facebook.com/artofjatan)

Mayo Clinic defines autism as a "spectrum disorder that affects a child's ability to communicate and interact with others."  According to CDC, autism is now more prevalent than childhood cancer. The rate is rather alarming in the United States, with stats indicating one in 88 children diagnosed with autism versus 16 in 100,000 children with cancer.  In the Philippines, the incidence is still low.  Autismpinoy said that at least one in 150 children is autistic.

That's why I was happy to hear that Jose Antonio "J.A." Tan is back in Manila to open his second one-man exhibit called "On and On... Step by Step" on August 21. He's the inspiration to those with autism and/or other development disabilities.

Like my niece, J.A. was 3 years old when he was diagnosed with autism. His was high functioning autism which literally means he is higher functioning than others with the same affliction.

At 5 years old, he started painting and from then on, has managed to overcome his challenges through his art.  He said "I have come to the realization that I have always used art as a way of  helping myself bring out my thoughts, feelings and ideas. I consider it an integral part of my existence as each work is a personal journey of myself with myself, and myself with the world, bringing a feeling of peace and happiness since things become clearer to me through the images and visual pictures before me."

"Victory" (Photo from straight.com)

Now 25-years old, he has already accomplished quite a lot - -  He graduated from Emily Carr University of Art in 2010, followed by a one-man show in Manila (his first), then participated in group shows in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Last year, his  painting "Victory" (left) was chosen from over 200 submissions to be part of the eight stamp collection of the United Nations Postal Administration's Autism Awareness Campaign. His artwork was issued as a stamp on April 22, 2012. Note that the print is part of the exhibition in Manila.

To those who want to meet the artist who braved all odds, the opening reception  is on August 21 from 6:30 to 9:30pm.  The exhibit will run until September 3, 2013 at the Artist Space, ground floor of the Ayala Museum.

All bundled up in Shanghai this Christmas holiday!

too early for snow

This Christmas break it was a toss up between Osaka and Shanghai and since Osaka was already fully booked, we ended up in Shanghai where it was freezing at minus 3 degrees!!!  Brrrrrr!!

Shanghai is a modern metropolis, the largest of the People's Republic of China with a population of 22 million people (note that Manila has 1.6 million).  Because it is located at the heart of the Yangtze River delta, it has established itself as an important sea port and is now considered the biggest commercial and financial center in China.

My sister Chato who frequents China a lot, practically planned everything from the accommodations (the boutique Philip Stark-designed Jia Hotel on Nanjing Road), sight seeing, shopping, where to eat and the walks. Mind you, they were looooong walks.

siblings Ricky, Chato and Roca with nephews Enzo and Clark

Our first day stop was the Shanghai Art Museum to check out the works of ancient and contemporary works. Then a walk down the longest shopping area called Nanjing Road, a 6-km stretch filled with shops and pedestrians. On the way to the Bund, we were lucky to spot one of the venues of the ongoing Shanghai Biennale.

The Bund felt so much like Paris with its 4-km long row buildings dating back the colonial era. Directly across the river is  the famous 'Pudong', a former swampland and now houses the most modern architectural buildings - the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai tower.

There are two ways to get to Pudong, either through the underground walkway or go through the Light and Sound tunnel show.

hot Xiaolong bao at Yuyuan Garden

I just love our hotel's location! As Chato said, its all about location, location, location. We just walked everywhere.

The next day we set off to to Qi Tan Di and Yuyuan Garden, a 2-hectare garden built during the Ming Dynasty. It was packed with locals and they were making a beeline for the dimsum at Nanxiang Steamed Bun restaurant. Of course we followed suit and ordered four huge servings of hot steaming xiaolong boa!

Next stop was Dontai  Road market to check out the antiques. We were the only braved souls out that day because it was raining! Luckily though the shopkeepers were more than happy to bargain with us.  And finally, our last stop was the art and trendy art studios at Taikang Lu.  It was too cold to head out so we ended having Italian dinner in our  hotel.  And  later, checked out the night life with pinoy advertising executive Jeffrey.

at the tea house

Enzo in a Mao-inspired trapper hat

ersatz trinkets at Dongtai market

The walkway in Shanghai

It was a sunny day and Chato decided that we walk all the way to the  French concession . Aptly called, it was  established in April 1849 to create a territory for a French settlement. The concession lasted from 1849 until 1946, when the French Vichy government turned over the area.

This is one of the most beautiful places in Shanghai with its Eucalyptus trees. Do walk and arm yourself with a guidebook!  The Tudor mansions have been home to notable Chinese historical figures - like the Chinese Republic founder Sun Yat-sen, Mao's second in command Zhou Enlai and the British Morris estate (founder of China Daily News).

at the French Concession with Jeffrey 

After walking and shopping, we ended up eating in Lost Heaven for its excellent Yunnanese cuisine. Then more shopping and had our pre-New Year dinner at Mr and Mrs Bund one of the modern eatery places by Paul Pairert.

Our last day was a quick stop at the Modern Contemporary Museum to check out Qui Jie's large scale works on pencil and paper.

Despite the distance from the city, Chato insisted that we board the Maglev train from Longyang Road station to Pudong International Airrport. Well, I must agree that it's worth seeing. It is the first and only operational high-speech magnetic levitation train in the world. It only took us 7-minutes to the airport.

Roca dwarfed by Qui Jie's works

Must do:
1. Eat - Mao's favorite Hongshao Rou aka braised pork in Xin Ji Shi, Yunnanese cuisine in Lost Heaven in Gaoyou Lu, thinly sliced pork in South Beauty, Din Tai Fung for xiaolong bao and trendy places like Mr. and Mrs. Bund.
2. Arts - the Shanghai Art Museum for its permanent collection and check out the shows at the Modern Contermporary Museum. We were able to catch Qui Jie's large scale works on pencil and paper.
3. Shopping - my best bet are the shops at the French Concession, for trinkets and whatnots at Taikung Lu and for pure mongolian cashmere at Taboacity Fengxiang.

Claudio Bravo in Manila until October 20

After 44 years, the Manila paintings of Chilean national artist Claudio Bravo can now be viewed at the Metropolitan Museum Manila until October 20, 2012.

Trust me, the exhibit is such a rare treat! The 35 portraits have remained in private collections throughout these years and the first and last time these portraits were seen was way back in 1968, during a 10-day exhibit at the Luz Gallery.

Mr. and Mrs. Zobel next to their Bravo painting (original in Spain)

Bravo was born on November 8, 1936 in Valparaiso, Chile and relocated to Madrid in 1961 where he was a celebrated  portrait artist sought after by royalty.

As the story goes, in Madrid in 1965, businessman Jaime Zobel de Ayala saw the portrait that Bravo did of his uncle  the artist Fernando Zobel and commissioned Bravo to paint him and his wife as well (the portrait is behind Mr. and Mrs. Zobel, left photo).

Back in Manila, upon seeing Zobel's portrait on a Christmas card, then First Lady Imelda Marcos loved it and invited Bravo to come visit. However, it was only in 1968 that Bravo was able to make the trip to the Philippines. He came together with the Spanish royals who were invited to the Ruby wedding anniversary of Eugenio and Pacita Lopez. He then stayed on for six months doing commissioned portraits for Manila's society.

After his sojourn in Manila, he was catapulted into international recognition. His first exhibit in New York in 1970 was critically successful. It was reviewed by the New York Times as an "art dealer's dream" and marked Bravo as a hyperrealist artist.

Baby Araneta-Fores 

If you have a chance, take a close look at the portraits and you will see his technical genius in action. The portraits are so life-like, they look like photographs. The proportions between the body, limbs and hands are in perfect symmetry. Gaita Fores said that her mom Baby Araneta-Fores (right photo) didn't even know that she had a slight bump on her forehead until she saw the portrait done by Bravo. That's how perfect his portraits are.

In a video interview, Bravo recalled his experience in Manila: "I think the Philippine portraits are, perhaps, my most lucid paintings, because it was a different race, beautiful! .. The Philippines was the tropics, a different vision of the world and light. There I began to use more 'electric' colors and enjoy color."

Curator Tats Manahan said that Bravo's stay had a great impact on his later works, noting the boldness of color as seen in his portraits and the use of light. She said "he was practicing on everything here for the paintings that eventually made him famous. That's what makes his stay here [in Manila] important." She added "It's an honor and we should be proud to be Filipinos that we inspired somebody as good as Bravo."


These Manila portraits are actually important in Bravo's career. These were his last big body of work before he concentrated on doing still life objects like his famous crumpled paper and packages; and figurative works.

Here's some of the portraits with the sitters (or children and grandchildren):

Cedie Vargas next to Pacita Lopez, her grandmother's portrait 

Berta Feliciano next to her mom's portrait, Chita Lopez-Taylor

Amb. Mercedes Tuason next to her portrait

Techie Ysmael-Bilbao next to her mom's portrait, Chona Kasten

Lia next to her mom's portrait, Tingting Cojuangco

Check out Beat exhibit @ Lopez Museum

Ernest's "Hidalgo, the super multi-dimensional time bandit"

If you want something fresh and different, visit the Lopez Museum at the ground floor of Benpres Building on Exchange Road and check out its current exhibit called Beat.

Husband and wife Chit and Eileen Ramirez curated the exhibit playing with the double entendre of Beat - which can be interpreted as defeat (verb) or rhythm and movement (music).  The exhibit features commissioned works from two contemporary artists Nikki Luna and Ernest Concepcion, juxtaposed against 19th and 20th century masters from Lopez Museum's private collection particularly that of Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo.

Chit said [watch Cityscape clip below] "we wanted to engage the audience to think about what Beat is for them. It is a nice discourse how people would view old masters' works and the contemporary works."  Eileen explains in her curatorial notes  "...By staying on the present tense rather than as the more definitive 'beaten', this exhibition also conscripts the energies of artists Nikki Luna and Ernest Concepcion to effect stagings of confrontation with the difficult the resistant and even the impossible."

Nikki's "Precious and Fertile" installation 

And so Nikki presents her advocacy, her concern for the plight of the farmers of Hacienda Luisita and the various issues faced by indigenous people in their ancestral lands. She said "art should talk about what's happening especially those who are not able to articulate their problem and issues that are usually ignored." For her Precious and Fertile installation, china bone pipes hang atop a mound of soil with a portion of a video documentary on Hacienda Luisita projected on the wall. And for Azucera,  she shaped sugar into diamond resins to represent the value of sugar as produced by farmers.

Spotted Ernest drawing in one of the galleries

Ernest, on the other hand, is creating an epic piece in his Hidalgo, the super mutli-dimensional time bandit installation. He said "I wanted to challenge what the museum has to offer... kind of an action-reaction dynamic."  His artwork is a work-in-progress, spilling out unto the other parts of the museum including the main hallway, unto walls which hang the permanent collection of the museum.

Chit said that at one point their works will connect because of what Ernest is doing. He is hopeful that this will come in to fruition at the end of the six months that Ernest is in Manila (he is based in New York) or at the end of the exhibition run in October. So, if you're lucky like me, you may catch Ernest in action.  

Don't miss Myra Beltran's Mi Ultimo Adios (excerpt from Itim Asu, running time of 5:07) and go all the way down to the Library and view the studies of Hidalgo. The museum is open everyday from 8am to 5pm except Sundays. Tip - do ask for a guided tour and check out their note cards and notebooks for only P100! 

Claro Ramirez's Wanted: Tubero

Kudos to Claro "Chitz" Ramirez's 10th solo exhibition called Wanted: Tubero, which is now ongoing at Finale's video room until October 27, 2011. This is his mini version of what will be exhibited at the Jakarta Biennale this December 2011.

The installation features television monitors depicting works of other artists and including Chitz's; that are connected with the PVC pipes. Wanted Tubero "emphasizes the imporance of engagement, participation and community." Hence, visitors are invited to connect and join the PVC pipes. The involvment process will be documented and become a part of the evolving work.

The show, curated by Clarissa Chikiamco, is the third offering of End Frame Video Art Project 3, a project of the non-profit organization "Visual Pond."  The project focuses on the video art practices of selected contemporary artists in the Philippines.  Prior to Chitz, Tad Ermitaño and Manny Montelibano were featured; and will be followed by Kiri Dalena, Yason Banal, Kaloy Olavides and Maria Taniguchi.

Chitz is a consultant for artistic direction of exhibitions and new media projects for the Lopez Memorial Museum since 2005. He was awarded the Cultural Center of the Philippines thirteen Artists Award in 2000. A graduate of UP Diliman and UST, he has exhibited internationally, through grants and invitations in Korea, China, Denmark, Spain, Poland, Romania and USA. Aside from Jakarta, he is the Philippine curator for the Goethe Institut's international project Riverscapes in Flux 2011-12 (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines).

X marks the spot for Zero In

Well, you won't see the X unless you go to the upper level of SM Mall of Asia (main entrance area). X is the symbol for the Roman numeral ten and thus, aptly adopted to represent the tenth anniversary of Zero In. 

Zero In is the annual collaboration of five private museums in Metro Manila - these are, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ayala Museum, Bahay Tsinoy, Lopez Museum and Museo Pambata. 

Since 2001, the five museums have been working together, sharing resources, mounting annual multi-museum exhibitions and including lectures and workshops to reach out and make art more engaging and relevant.

This year, Zero In is quite ambitious and is breaking barriers by literally bringing art closer to the public through a mall exhibit dubbed Open Call Arts Festival. The exhibit is more like a teaser showcasing different forms of art forms: cuisine (Ateneo), Japanese manga and cosplay (Ayala), visual (Bahay Tsinoy), sound art (Lopez) and dance (Museo Pambata).  The event is open to the public free of charge and will run until September 24.

Here's what to expect at the mall:

 Carell Belandres  playing  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman from Ninomiya Tomoko’s Nodame Cantabile, a manga about a gifted pianist

Nyko Maca leading dance of Gumboot group of Museo Pambata Child Advocates

Ateneo's interactive food game called Crafty Critters Munch Up

Tad Ermitaño checking out his sound installation artwork  

Eric Ambata's sound art called Lethe shared via QR code capture

Escola de Samba de Manila performing Afro-Brasilian drums and dance

and here's the Zero In gang at the opening

If you do visit, please check out the trees and touch the planter box. Yes, the metallic planter box! It is part of the sound art installation. You will be amazed with the sounds that will come out.

This Saturday, September 24 - catch the following performances:
1pm - Performance by sound artists E.X.I.S.T.  which stands for Experimentation In Sound Art Tradition: Gentle Universe, Caliph8, Manner Villariba, Elemento and Toshiyuki Seido
2pm - Piano performance of Carell Belandres of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman" from Ninomiya Tomoko's Nodame Cantabile, a manga about a gifted pianist
3pm - Performance by sound artist E.X.I.S.T.
6pm - Gunboot dance of Museo Pambata's child advocates with Nyko Maca

Open Call art festival is just one of the many projects lined up by Zero In this year.  Ongoing onsite at each five museums are exhibitions featuring each genre - in Ateneo (until December 22), an interactive food-themed game called Crafty Critters Munch Up  that takes off from its permanent collection; Ayala Museum (until October 2), the world of manga in Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Comics Today; Bahay Tsinoy (until October 23), an art installation by Con Cabrera called Kasama; Lopez Museum (until April 3, 2012), performances and sound/media art installations in Reverb; and, Museo Pambata (until October 6) , performances by Gunboot and Batang RO alongside an exhibiton of National Artist for Dance Ramon Obusan's memorabilia entitled Sayaw!.

Voters Ed: Salingpusa artists interpret Mabini's Decalogue

Kudos to Gigo Alampay of the Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (Canvas) for mounting Dekalogo before elections to remind us of our national hero Apolinario Mabini's ten precepts which reads more like commandments called The True Decalogue .

The exhibit features ten Salingpusa artists to represent one commandment - Elmer Borlogan, Manny Garibay, Anthony Palomo, Karen Flores, Jose Santos III, Cris Villanueva, Jim Orencio, Tammy Tan, Neil Manalo, and Ferdie Montemayor.

The choice of Salingpusa is quite apt, the origin of the group quoting from Ronald Hilario: "Easel painting, in the form of large-scale canvases and the social-realist mode of commentary made a comeback in the early 90's with the popularity of Grupong Salingpusa. A collective of young and student artists, the group's initial objective was to break into the field of art discourse which was dominated by a constellation of individual senior artists. They succeeded in getting the art world's attention by introducing the novel method of interactive mural painting. Salingpusa members are known to create large murals in minutes a kind of performance in its own right. Their works are characterized by the representation of negative social emotions such as dread, isolation and disconnectedness in highly surreal urban environments."

Here's Mabini's 10 commandments for Filipinos which was originally written in Spanish and written to accompany his greatest work, the first Philippine Republic Constitution.

"THE TRUE DECALOGUE"
by Apolinario Mabini

by Neil Manalo. First. Thou shalt love God and thy honor above all things: God as the fountain of all truth, of all justice and of all activity; and thy honor, the only power which will oblige thee to be faithful, just and industrious.

[by Anthony Palomo] Second. Thou shalt worship God in the form which thy conscience may deem most righteous and worthy: for in thy conscience, which condemns thy evil deeds and praises thy good ones, speaks thy God.

[by Tammy Tan] Third. Thou shalt cultivate the special gifts which God has granted thee, working and studying according to thy ability, never leaving the path of righteousness and justice, in order to attain thy own perfection, by means whereof thou shalt contribute to the progress of humanity; thus; thou shalt fulfill the mission to which God has appointed thee in this life and by so doing, thou shalt be honored, and being honored, thou shalt glorify thy God.

by Manny Garibay. Fourth. Thou shalt love thy country after God and thy honor and more than thyself: for she is the only Paradise which God has given thee in this life, the only patrimony of thy race, the only inheritance of thy ancestors and the only hope of thy posterity; because of her, thou hast life, love and interests, happiness, honor and God.

by Ferdie Montemayor. Fifth. Thou shalt strive for the happiness of thy country before thy own, making of her the kingdom of reason, of justice and of labor: for if she be happy, thou, together with thy family, shalt likewise be happy.

[by Cris Villanueva, Jr.] Sixth. Thou shalt strive for the independence of thy country: for only thou canst have any real interest in her advancement and exaltation, because her independence constitutes thy own liberty; her advancement, thy perfection; and her exaltation, thy own glory and immortality.

Eclipse by Karen Flores. Seventh. Thou shalt not recognize in thy country the authority of any person who has not been elected by thee and thy countrymen; for authority emanates from God, and as God speaks in the conscience of every man, the person designated and proclaimed by the conscience of a whole people is the only one who can use true authority.

Sulong sa isip at gawa by Jim Orencio. Eighth. Thou shalt strive for a Republic and never for a monarchy in thy country: for the latter exalts one or several families and founds a dynasty; the former makes a people noble and worthy through reason, great through liberty, and prosperous and brilliant through labor.

No Tresspassing by John Santos. Ninth. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: for God has imposed upon him, as well as upon thee, the obligation to help thee and not to do unto thee what he would not have thee do unto him; but if thy neighbor, failing in this sacred duty, attempt against thy life, thy liberty and thy interests, then thou shalt destroy and annihilate him for the supreme law of self-preservation prevails.

Kapit Bisig by Emong Borlongan. Tenth. Thou shalt consider thy countryman more than thy neighbor; thou shalt see him thy friend, thy brother or at least thy comrade, with whom thou art bound by one fate, by the same joys and sorrows and by common aspirations and interests.

Therefore, as long as national frontiers subsist, raised and maintained by the selfishness of race and of family, with thy countryman alone shalt thou unite in a perfect solidarity of purpose and interest, in order to have force, not only to resist the common enemy but also to attain all the aims of human life.


The adjacent exhibit Everyday Filipino Heroes present works of emerging and senior artists "send a collective message about the role of the electorate in free elections, one that is critical and discerning and therefore heroic, never needing to be taken by saviors and messiahs of change." Both exhibits are ongoing at the Vargas Museum in University of the Philippines, Diliman campus until May 31, 2010.

What makes this event unique are the collaterals meant to engage the public. The campus oval is lined with banners representing each Everyday Hero artist while ten 'vote wisely' posters representing the ten dekalogo and artists available online for free. For more info, call Vargas Museum at 928-19-27 or Canvas' Gigo Alampay at (0917) 890-6160.