Reflections from his boyhood in the sleepy town of Roxas City, Capiz inspired painter and Guerilla Advertising founder Julien Tan’s latest exhibit titled “Beyond Beliefs.” His work explores childhood memories, personal events, and cultural relationships through painting, drawing, and cryptic text. Tan’s approach is unintentional, like following the randomness of children at play. There are glimpses of childlike strokes, recreating fragments of memories from bygone years.
“Freedom to express thoughts is key to my process. I want to create art that is spontaneous and effortless, innocent and free. I want people to see art that unfastens and unlearns the rigidity of adultness, and one that harkens back to the wonders of childhood… how a child sees the world,” says Tan.
Tan earned a BFA in Visual Communication from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts and a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from Asian Institute of Management. He has over 30 years of experience in the advertising field and his paintings have been exhibited in noted galleries in Manila.
[Catch “Beyond Beliefs” on its last three days. Show ends June 15, 2022 at the 4th level of East Wing Shangri-la Plaza.]
Returning Director of the Instituto Cervantes Javier Galvan is holding his first solo exhibition and it’s called Otras Realidades (Other Realities). Consisting of photographs and paintings, it revolves around the theme of other worlds and realms that are “more sensed than perceived.” According to art writer Cid Reyes, “Galvan’s photographs are pure illusion of another reality, otherworldly, immaterial, sometimes ethereal and lyrical.” Meanwhile, his cloud paintings were influenced by Betsy Westendorp who donated to the Instituto a large painting of clouds during Galvan’s first tenure at the Spanish cultural agency. According to Reyes, the Westendorp work was “painted as a lament and a memorial piece for her eldest daughter Isabel, who died in Madrid while Westendorp was in Manila.”
[Otras Realidades is ongoing until June 20 at Leon Gallery International, G/F Corinthian Plaza, 121 Paseo de Roxas Street, Makati City.]
Blooms abound in “Allegories of Silence: The Enthralling Language of Flowers”, an exhibition curated by Jay Nathan Jore which opened Saturday, June 11. The exhibition explores the genre of still life painting and its development within the history of academism in Philippine art. Taking inspiration from two still life paintings by Cebuano master realist Martino Abellana, the exhibition also hopes to examine the place of still life in the development of “Bisaya Realism.” More than a simplistic depiction of everyday objects, or mere painting exercise to hone masterful techniques, Cebuano still life compositions are said to reveal the interrelation of spaces personal and social. Featured artists are Jonathan Abellana, Miko Acaso, Mark Acaso, Ariel Caratao, Ramon de adios, Luther Galicano, JM Llanos, Renulo Pautan, and Ma. Rowena Vios.
[The show runs until July 3 at Florentino’s Art Gallery in Cebu (KM 33 Transcentral Highway, Brgy. Gaas, Balamban). Gallery is open only Fridays, Sundays and holidays, from 10:30AM to 8PM.]
Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/art/06/13/22/art-hop-what-to-see-at-shangri-la-leon-florentinos