Exhibitions

One of the most important visual art festivals in the country is returning to Makati’s Rockwell Center. This year’s Focus on the Arts entitled Strokes and Silhouettes, will be held throughout August at Power Plant Mall. Ever since it started, the event has become a platform for leading and emerging artists to exhibit their works in an accessible location. Focus on the Arts has offered the public an ideal opportunity to survey works by renowned Masters, be re-acquainted with top painters and sculptors, as well as discover the practices of new contemporary artists. Held at the North Court and Concourse levels of Power Plant Mall, the location has proven to be an ideal space for hosting the exhibits, giving the entire event the character of a public arts festival.

One of the unique and popular aspects of this festival is its’ changing exhibitions. Every week of August will feature new exhibits that highlight specific artists, themes, or mediums. This gives the event a dynamic character, and the public will be able to study a good representation of the best of Philippine visual art, without interrupting their activities at one of the top high-end shopping centers in the country.

Focus on the Arts: “Strokes and Silhouettes” will be held from Monday, 7 August 2017 to Thursday, 31 August 2017. The North Court of Power Plant Mall will be dedicated to specific artists in solo or group exhibitions, while the Concourse level will feature exhibits on themes and subjects, with a special solo exhibit to be held in the middle of the event calendar.

The inaugural week, which opens this Monday, 7 August 2017, and runs until Saturday, 12 August 2017, will feature a group exhibition of works by contemporary artists Vincent de Pio, Anton del Castillo, and Ram Mallari at the North Court, and a display of works by emerging Abstractionists such as Caress Banson, Aldrino Abes, Jeff Dahilan, Jomar Delluba, Marco Coching, Milmar Onal, Nelson Castillo, and Mischa at the Concourse Level. The following week, from Sunday, 13 August 2017 to Saturday, 19 August 2017 will feature at the North Court a collaborative exhibition between two of the best genre artists in the country today: sculptor Michael Cacnio and painter Dominic Rubio, while the Concourse Level will feature the best of Philippine Genre Art. Abstraction’s biggest names will exhibit at the North Court from Sunday, 20 August 2017 to Friday, 25 August 2017, with Edwin Wilwayco, Alab Pagarigan, and Camille Ver exhibiting together in a special three-man show, while at the Concourse Level will see functional sculptures of Ram Mallari. The closing week, from Saturday, 26 August 2017 to Thursday, 31 August 2017, will feature a solo exhibition by artist Roel Obemio at the North Court, and a special exhibition featuring the best of the festival at the Concourse Level.

Power Plant Mall is located at Rockwell Center in Makati City. The exhibition represents Rockwell’s extended partnership with Galerie Joaquin, organizer of the exhibitions and festival. You may reach Galerie Joaquin at (632) 723-9418 for information on any of the artists or exhibitions.

This coming week’s exhibition, opening on Monday, 7 August 2017, features a trio of the country’s best contemporary artists - Vincent de Pio, Anton Del Castillo, and Ram Mallari – in an exhibition entitled “Mimic” at the North Court. “Mimic” takes its name from mimesis, a theoretical concept that states that art should strive to mimic the real world. The three artists in the exhibition use mimetic theory as a platform to explore their own individual practices.

An artist known for using feelings of nostalgia, childhood, and lost innocence in his work, Anton Del Castillo was trained at the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines before embarking in a practice that includes painting and sculpture. He has exhibited extensively throughout Asia and the US, and has garnered multiple awards for his practice, including the 2014 Schoeni Prize of the Sovereign Asian Art Competition in Hong Kong, and the 2014 Jurors Choice Award and Philippines Arts Award. Also trained in UP, Vincent de Pio is known for his figurations of the female form, and his new series of unique paintings of Japanese historical scenes juxtaposed with images from J-Pop culture on large folded origami paper. He has exhibited extensively around Asia and North America, and has recently garnered acclaim for his participation at Galerie Stephanie’s booth at Art Fair Philippines 2017 in February. Ram Mallari, on the other hand, is a sculptor of pop cultural imagery, mainly drawn from science fiction, film, and comics. Mallari was recently on the cover of Hong Kong-based World Sculpture News Magazine.

These three artists will exhibit representational art at the North Court, while a selection of some of the best new abstractionists in the country will exhibit at the Concourse, in an exhibition called Emerging Abstraction. These new artists demonstrate the continued relevance of abstraction in visual art as a fantastic counterpoint to the Mimic exhibition in the North Court.

Exhibit Dates:

North Court
August 7 – 12: Mimic: Vincent de Pio, Anton del Castillo, Ram Mallari
August 13 – 19: Silhouettes of Enduring Traditions: Michael Cacnio and Dominic Rubio
August 20 – 25: Four Points, Four Visions: Raul Isidro, Alab Pagarigan, Camille Ver, Edwin Wilwayco
August 26 – 31: My Journey: Roel Obemio

Concourse
August 7 – 12: Emerging Abstracts feat: Abes, Banson, Castillo, Coching, Delluba, Dahilan, Mischa, Onal, Villamor
August 13 – 19: Nostalgie: Richard Arimado, Averil Paras, Aljo Pingol, Benjie Mallari
August 20 – 25: Functional Futurism: Ram Mallari
August 26 – 31: The Best of Strokes and Silhouettes: Masters Only (Alcuaz, Sanso, Organo, Orlina)