The Ateneo Art Awards goes to Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - In partnership with the Casa Gorordo Museum of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc, the Ateneo Art Gallery is presenting “Zones of Influence : Exhibitions in response to the international studio residency grants of 2008 Ateneo Art Awards winners” at the Casa Gorordo Museum, 35 Lopez Jaena Street, Cebu City.  The exhibition will be opened on March 1 at 4pm by Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, President of the Ateneo de Manila University and Mr. Roberto Aboitiz, President of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.

The partnership evolved from the desire of the Ateneo Art Gallery and RAFI to foster greater appreciation and encourage dialogue about the arts.

The exhibits of 2008 Ateneo Art Award winners Poklong Anading, Marina Cruz and Kawayan de Guia are a reprise of the return shows that they mounted at the Ateneo Art Gallery in response to their experiences in Bandung, Indonesia, Bendigo, Australia, and New York, US respectively. The artists were given free rein in producing their shows, with no restrictions as to medium, subject matter or scale.

Common to all three artists is that their individual bodies of work span several media – painting, sculpture, photography, assemblage, video.  They do not confine themselves to a  specific medium; rather the medium follows the idea that they are working on.  With all three artists,  the works that they were awarded for are in a different medium from the  works that they are showing in this exhibition.  Although the three shows were conceptualized independently of each other, in bringing them together there emerges a common thread that runs through their work. That is the ability to see in the quotidian, even mundane objects and scenes, opportunities for reflection or questioning and in these find the  material for their art. For Marina Cruz, it is the dresses of her mother and aunt, for  Poklong Anading it is a toy boat and for Kawayan de Guia, it is the roadside landscape.

It is fitting that contemporary works of this nature be shown at Casa Gorordo, a museum that has given value to local  heritage by exhibiting objects of everyday life from the turn of the century.

Casa Gorordo is the official hub in the Visayas of the 2010 Ateneo Art Awards. Nomination forms will be available during the last week of April 2010. Deadline for submission of nominations is May 31, 2010.

For more information please contact the Ateneo Art Gallery at (02) 4266488 or Casa Gorordo at (32) 2555645.