Exhibitions

In the shifting light of our world, each season arrives and departs with its own voice. The Gifts of the Changing Seasons at Galerie Joaquin brings together four abstract painters—Patrick Esmao, Perfecto Palero Jr., Joan Palero, and Ricky Francisco—to meditate on impermanence, renewal, and the cycles that shape both nature and the self. Using the poetic metaphor of the seasons, the exhibition reflects on the inevitability of change, and on how each phase of life offers its own distinct grace.

Known for his thread-based geometric abstractions of the city, Patrick Esmao interprets Spring as emergence, growth, and the thrilling tremor of beginnings. Focusing on the bright blue sky framed by architectural elements, he gives us a worm’s-eye view of towers converging toward light—a vision of order, fertility, and safety within the modern cityscape, where life can take root anew.

Perfecto Palero Jr. embodies Summer, that radiant height of color, energy, and fullness. His works pulse with warmth and rhythmic vitality, painted in bas-relief so that they hover between sculpture and painting, realism and abstraction. His marbled cliffs and verdant trees, alive with light, celebrate the serene majesty of summer in its prime.

Joan Palero turns to Fall, the season of harvest and transformation. Her abstractions—rendered in blazing reds, oranges, and golds—capture the moment when beauty flares before descent. With her characteristic fluency in color modulation, she presents change not as loss but as resplendence: the sudden burst of color that precedes stillness, the exuberance before surrender.

Ricky Francisco, known for his quiet, meditative color-field paintings, completes the cycle with Winter—the time of stillness, reflection, and quiet endurance. His restrained surfaces transform abstraction into a space for pause and acceptance, suggesting that fields must first lie fallow before they can yield again to Spring. In the hush of his canvases, we find not absence, but preparation—the subtle triumph of rest.

Together, these four artists chart the full arc of change. The gifts of each season are distinct yet fleeting; and it is precisely this impermanence that makes them precious. This exhibition challenged each artist to translate their individual language into a specific seasonal mood—revealing both their versatility and the enduring relevance of abstraction as a mode of renewal.

Visitors are invited to wander through the gallery as though through a year: to sense the shift in light, temperature, energy and emotion; to witness transformation as both external and internal. In doing so, they may recognize that change is but our most constant companion. This turning of time—this endless cycle—is, in itself, the gift.

About the Artists

Patrick Esmao (b. 1986) is a Filipino artist whose practice bridges geometric abstraction and minimalism. A trained draftsman and former educator, he taught for thirteen years before pursuing art full-time in 2021. In just four years, he has mounted six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows and fairs, including ManilArt and MoCAF. Esmao’s technique—metallic threads hand-stitched over acrylic—adds texture, luminosity, and a quiet tension between precision and poetry. His subjects range from cityscapes and landscapes reduced to pure form, to geometric figurations that reinterpret local vendors and myths through modernist structure.

Perfecto “Buboy” Palero Jr. (b. 1980) is a painter based in Morong, Rizal, and the current president of the artist collective MUSTRA. His work, defined by flowing color transitions and abstracted natural forms, bridges luminosity and material tactility. A semi-finalist in the 2010 Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) Awards, Palero has completed major commissions, including a suite of paintings for the Best Western Premier F1 Hotel in Bonifacio Global City. His practice oscillates between earth and atmosphere, realism and abstraction, and the poetic memory of the Philippine landscape.

Joan Palero (b.1982) is a self-taught artist from Morong, Rizal, whose paintings are marked by vivid color, expressive brushwork, and intricate textures. Inspired by nature’s rhythms—the grace of leaves, petals, and waves—her work explores the balance between spontaneity and structure. In blending natural forms with surreal movement, she creates compositions that feel alive: shifting, breathing, and ever-becoming. Her abstractions speak of life’s continuity, where change is constant and growth inevitable.

Ricky Francisco (b. 1978) is a Filipino artist, curator, and museum director whose abstract paintings explore silence, memory, and transcendence. A self-taught painter who began exhibiting professionally in 2021, his practice evolved from decades of curatorial work and philosophical reflection. His color-field abstractions invite quiet contemplation and emotional stillness. Francisco’s works have been exhibited at Galerie Joaquin, Galerie Stephanie, Art Fair Philippines, and MoCAF, and are part of the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art’s permanent museum collection. He was commissioned by Innoland Corporation for a major public artwork for The Altaire in Makati in 2024. His works appear in 6th Dimension: Culture-Driven Nation (Museo de Pacis, 2025).