Kudos, Edwin Wilwayco!

My friend, artist Edwin Wilwayco, recently mounted two shows titled Luminans and Octo Gravitas at The Gallery of 8 Rockwell building in Makati City.

Edwin’s friends from his Alpha Phi Omega fraternity at the University of the Philippines like John Lesaca (with wife Malou), former Philhealth president and CEO lawyer Alex Padilla and Abel Manliclic were present.

Also at the event to support Edwin were Dr. Marcelito Custodio from New York and Nel Reformina from Davao, art collectors Robbie Santos and Manny Faustino, artists Dominic Rubio, Vincent de Pio, Aileen Lanuza, Jean Marie Syjuco and son Julian and Leon Gallery’s Jaime Ponce de Leon.

After the shows at The Gallery, Edwin’s works were transferred to Galerie Stephanie in Quezon City (Luminans) and Galerie Joaquin in San Juan City (Octo Gravitas) for a simultaneous run.

Edwin, who divides his time between Providence in Rhode Island and the south of Manila, has developed a huge following of collectors and friends in his more than four decades of artistic journey.

Luminans’ pieces were mostly minimalist white, black and gray with accents of color. The Octo Gravitas set, with pieces resembling abstractions of the figure eight, was more colorful. Octo in Latin means eight and gravitas is weight. Both exhibits were critical and commercial successes.

(For more information, visit www.edwinwilwayco.com.)

Love & life, poetry & art

It was a celebration of love and life through poetry and art at the opening of the Hai[na]ku exhibit at S Maison at the Conrad Manila recently.

The exhibit, a joint project of S Maison and National Book Store/Anvil, also coincided with the first anniversary of the book Hai[na]ku and Other Poems by my friend, bestselling author and lifestyle editor Arnel Patawaran. The exhibit  also carried  the sublime poetic visuals by Love Marie “Heart” Ongpauco-Escudero.

Hai[na]ku and Other Poems is a collection of poetry inspired by life’s most engrossing themes: love and pain, solitude and reflection, arrivals and departures, and the tenuous threads that make up everyday life.

National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose was the event’s guest of honor.

During the event, personalities and performers interpreted excerpts from the book. Words Anonymous’ Jihad Mambuay and Louise Meets read the poem The Day After Tomorrow; and  Kooky Tuason, Mary Tengco and Jing Jorge interpreted the poem When Was the Last Time You Saw Her in their own song composition. Daphne Oseña-Paez read the poem The Last Summer Before Extinction; Maja Concio from the Company of Ateneo Dancers performed an interpretative dance of Walkers’ Paradise with a recorded reading by Ultima Todino Martin; and PETA’s Gio Gahol read It’s Not What I Thought, which was a hit with the audience.

Hai[na]ku exhibit is one of the many exciting events of S Maison. *

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)