At last, a Legno exhibit!

An artistic collaboration was born while Secret Fresh Gallery owner Bigboy Cheng and Italian artist Simone Legno were having a good time in some bar not too long ago. Bigboy suggested that Simone should do a “designer toy” for the gallery and start working on pieces for an exhibit.

Bigboy did not really expect much of this until Simone started sending him designs for a proposed sculpture and some paintings he wanted to bring for his Manila show. Bigboy managed a coup by staging Simone Legno’s first fine art exhibit in the world called Dimensions of the Self.

Secret Fresh — known for making “designer toys” including those of National Artist for Visual Arts BenCab, Joy Mallari, Lynyrd Paras, Mark Justiniani, Luis Lorenzana, Andres Barrioquinto and international artists like Emilio Garcia and Ron English — produced 30 limited edition designer toys by Simone that were sold worldwide. Simone’s very first show (of 30 paintings) was sold out in Manila even before the exhibit started.

Bigboy managed to have Simone do his very first painting exhibit (with several more now booked around the world) and also produced Simone’s first ever three-dimensional designer toy called Hot Springs.

Simone, who is behind the world-famous Tokidoki brand, has collaborated with clients like Karl Lagerfeld, LeSportsac, Mattel, Levi’s, Toyota, Microsoft, Volkswagen, Bobrick, Onitsuka Tiger and John Galliano.

On the day of the exhibit, Secret Fresh was packed and a long line of eager fans snaked all the way outside the gallery just to have Simone sign or draw something for them. Simone kindly obliged his fans.

The gallery also sold Tokidoki products, which guests immediately bought and had Simone sign them.

It was a treat for Filipino fans to have such an up-close meeting with the Tokidoki creator at his very first fine art exhibit ever in Manila! What a treat indeed, especially for those who were lucky enough to be able to acquire an original Simone Legno painting!

(Secret Fresh Gallery is located at the ground floor of Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Ave., Greenhills, San Juan City. For inquiries, call 570-9815 local 7.)

When business meets art

Businessmen connect with the arts — be it through arts sponsorships, purchasing an artwork or through owning an art collection.

Take for example the case of the late Jack Nasser, founder of Philexcel, the largest business park at the Clark Freeport, Pampanga, which has over 200 tenants in its 50-hectare complex. Nasser was an avid patron of Mabini Art, the art form developed during the late ‘40s into the ‘70s and sold at the galleries that lined Mabini and M.H. del Pilar streets in the Ermita and Malate districts of post-war Manila.

Nasser’s widow Ariella Nasser-Moskovitz, co-founder and president of Philexcel, organized her husband’s paintings and some pieces of sculpture and housed them at the Philexcel Art Center situated within the business park. Recently, the Jack Nasser Collection, gathered from 60 years of the Nassers’ patronage of Mabini Art, was inaugurated and opened to the public.

Renowned Brazilian pop artist Romero Britto, whose 12 artworks were also prominently displayed at the west wing of the Philexcel Art Center, was the special guest during the event. Britto’s visual expression of hope and happiness — mixing influences from cubism with pop art and graffiti to create an iconic style — is likened to the Filipinos’ cheerful outlook in life.

Guests were treated to a lunch by chef Chris Locher that included roast lamb, smoked salmon, snapper fillet wrapped in vine leaf, Spanish chicken and saffron rice, hickory-smoked tomato soup, dark chocolate walnut cake with cognac fudge and strawberry panna cotta.

Nasser-Moskovitz said, “The Philexcel Art Center aims to become a hub for contemporary art in Central Luzon, where Filipino visual artistic communities can appreciate and share their works with the public. It also offers an art space for all ages to inspire artists to nurture their skills and creativity, and where art enthusiasts can discover and explore their creative potential.”

Flavors of the Philippines

The fourth Festival dela Paella Gigante gathered some of the best chefs in the Philippines to cook the biggest paella in the country for a charitable cause. The festival was organized by Greenbelt, the Sociedad Española de Beneficencia (SEB), LTB Chefs Association and the Spain Tourism Board.

The event also launched the Flavors of the Philippines, a month-long and nationwide series of activities initiated by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) and the  Department of Tourism (DOT) to celebrate the unique and rich cultural heritage of the Filipinos.

Filled with over 600 kilos of various ingredients, the paella was cooked on the spot by some of the country’s most popular chefs like Club Punta Fuego’s Mikkel Arriet, Aracama Filipino Cuisine’s Fernando Aracama, Cirkulo and MilkyWay Restaurants’ J. Gamboa, The Country Club’s Sito Senn, Terry’s Juan Carlos de Terry, Kai and Cerveseria’s Gilbert Pangilinan, Tambai’s Jerome Valencia and LTB Philippines Chefs Association’s James Antolin.

Greenbelt general manager Mina Domingo, Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr., Assistant Secretary Arturo Boncato Jr. and director Verna Buensuceso, TPB’s Arnold Gonzales, SEB president Pablo Garcia-Morera and executive director Lally Hildalgo San Jose ceremoniously started the cooking extravaganza by pouring oil into the paellera, which measured 10 feet in diameter.

TPB chief operating officer Domingo Ramon Enerio III said, “The launch of Flavors of the Philippines through the Paella Gigante definitely displays the unifying element of food. Aside from Paella Gigante, our country recently hosted Madrid Fusion Manila 2016 and we’re looking forward to the World Street Food Congress as we celebrate Food Month this April. The Philippines indeed is fast-becoming the center for culinary excellence, attracting more travellers and increasing tourist arrivals in the Philippines.”

Nyko Maca, Emma Estrada and Grupo Nuevo Flamenco completed the event’s Spanish ambience. Proceeds of the Paella Gigante festival will go to the shelter and healthcare assistance programs of SEB.

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)