balete

i'm so glad i made it to twinpopyale's exhibit opening last thursday because it was probably my most favorite exhibit at the ateneo art gallery so far :)

leeroy new's "balete", made of red hose and white plastic ties, creeps up on the rizal library facade like an alien monster. i absolutely love it.





it could eat you up! haha!


and can look quite creepy at night.


i love how its such a refreshing and new concept, how its both "ugly" and pretty at the same time, and how it really engages you - you can't help but stare, come closer and touch it :)

clever :)

you should go see it before its taken down in october!

*oh thanks to cocoy sarmenta for the photos because silly me forgot my camera :P

oh yes, she will be ours!!!!

"castle" by lena cobangbang

kulet... hihihi :)

and the winner is.....

i missed you at this year's ateneo art awards!!!! took photos of the artworks i liked so you could see them too :)

paintings by Pam Yan Santos from the exhibit "Like" at the Blanc compound. there's an "educational" theme to the paintings that seem "unfinished" with instructional texts like "color the picture", "connect the broken lines", and layers of words and numbers in the background....



Allan Balisi's "Mama Explaining Dawn to Me", from the exhibit "Spacing Out" at Blanc compound. i LOVE this painting - i love the colors, the women and their dresses; i love that the hues are somewhat subdued even though it is an oil painting.


CD's loong charcoal on fabric wall from the exhibit "Soaplands" at the CCP. i can just imagine how long this took to make! i love her flowers. i thought this would make a cool black and white tattoo design... hmmm :)



Goldie Poblador's thesis! "The Perfume Bar: Collected Memories and Ephemeral Representations". Such a clever collection! Its an entire perfume bar with the artist's unique handmade bottles and scents, each representing a different scent that evokes a certain memory or emotion - like "city streets" and "wasted youth". You can actually open each bottle and have a whiff. I was too afraid I'd break something though - and i wasn't really that excited to smell "pasig river". Oh and she had perfume boxes to match them too :) clever :)


and the winner (at least one of them) was Patty Eustaquio! yey! for her "Death to the Major Viva Minor" collection at SLAB. LOVED that. the only winner i picked this year :)



they'll be showing more pieces at the Ateneo Art Gallery next week. i can go see it with you if you want :)

un/fold

remember that piece we LOVED (and picked to win!) last year's ateneo art awards?

marina cruz's photograph of this white embroidered dress, which actually won her the award :)


this was her 2006 piece at the gallery called "kambal"...


well she is back at the ateneo gallery for a return exhibit called "un/fold". she photographed old dresses of her mother and her mother's twin sister, wrote notes and stories behind each garment and framed these in old "diploma style" wooden frames. so lovely :)

here are some of my favorite pieces, with some of its handwritten notes :)

"c. 1955, birthday dress, 4 y/old...
march 04/05, birthday of laura and eliza...
mayroon itong kasamang panloob na parang butterfly ang manggas,
(hindi na namin makita ito)..."


you can see the actual twin dresses next to the frame


"c. 1959, grade II...
material: special cloth bought at poblacion market...
embroidery by lola pitang (a distant relative)..."



more twin's dresses


you can actually see, touch and unfold the dresses in the photographs. she placed them in this acrylic closet (which i want to have or make!)...


...that was patterned after this little pink wooden closet (which i also want - haha)


i loved the little polka dot dresses the most :)

"c. 1969, binigay ni Ka Erlinda ang tela noong pasko 1969..."


"c. 1968, used to be lola's dress, repaired/altered to be used as college casual dress....elisa remembers her landlady saying "why you always wear dark clothes?"... "


"sonia's dress, 1961, grade I, studying at Hagonoy Elementary School....
tela: supot ng manok..."


the viva la vida mamas loved this pretty white dress...

"1967, christmas dress when helen was eight years old, grade II....
tinahi ni lola edeng (mother of helen)....
nilagyan nalang ng mga embellishment ni lola pitang (distant relative)..."


i'd REALLY like to have a cluster of these in my room.


i love the pretty little dresses, the nostalgia, the "fashion history" of it all. don't you think it is sooo me? i wonder if she could do this to the special old clothes i've managed to keep throughout these years.

i'm sooo loving marina cruz :)

p.s. here is the artist at the gallery with more of the actual dresses on display.... recognize the display case? (hehehe)...

Oo

"Oo" ("Yes"), selected paintings and projects by Maria Cruz, 1996-2008 at the Ateneo Art Gallery until December 13.


the artist, Maria, who is by the way from Baler (wala lang)


"The title of the exhibition is 'Oo', which means 'yes' in Filipino. By inviting the contemplation of an ambiguous space behind the letters 'Oo' -- I seek to draw out conversation, hopefully as somewhat irrational. Don't we need this kind of conversation in an over-designed and commercial world?"


her works against photographer cocoy sarmenta


painting with coins


i like this kind of japanese-y one


self-portrait


jaime checking out the installation


lots of media last night, actually (or was i just early for once? haha)


into the next hall





with Romeo Lee




met this future artist, Juliao (son of "art god" Manuel Ocampo), who i spent most of the night with. he liked my silver necktie and just started showing me his anime drawings. he even guarded my food and white wine while i checked out the exhibit inside. such an adorable, smart and talented boy!