‘Tahanan’

Art Cube Gallery recently mounted Max Balatbat’s 12th solo show titled Tahanan at the Yuchengco Museum’s Dragon Gallery in Makati City. Based on the title, Max’s works were all about home.

The show featured 15 of his works, with six smaller pieces measuring 2 ft. x 2 ft.  The largest piece was 5 ft. x 5 ft.

 The avant-garde artist is highly sought-after by local and foreign collectors. His unique mixed-media works combine his paintings with strings and solutions one would never think to incorporate in an artwork such as dust, vodka, coffee, cooking oil and dishwashing liquid.

Writer Carlomar Arcangel Daoana said Max uses these  uncommon art materials “to underscore the fact that a house also has its own unique smell, which is strongly associated with a specific memory. One sniff and an entire piece of remembrance comes tumbling back. A home is a tapestry of smells.”

 In 2013, Max’s Bahay Bahayan, which was also about home, was exhibited in London, Florence and Vienna.

 Max, who hails from Caloocan, usually takes inspiration from this place he grew up in. He studied Architecture at Far Eastern University but decided to shift to Fine Arts instead. He finished Fine Arts  with a major in Advertising at the University of the East in his hometown Caloocan and was awarded with UE’s Exemplary Performance in Visual Arts.

 In 2009, Max won the Il Lorenzo Magnifico Award-Silver Medal at the Florence Biennale. In 2015, he was the Philippine representative to the Beijing International Art Biennale.

(For inquiries, call Art Cube at 0917-3296273 or e-mail [email protected].)

A special visit

Fila’s Cris and Butch Albert welcomed Giorgio Aramu and Michael Yun from Fila Italy and Korea, respectively, to Manila recently.

On their first day, Giorgio and Michael were feted to a Filipino feast. After the get-together, Cris gathered the guests in a conference room for her presentation of Fila’s five-year plan. The presentation was all about how they were going to succeed in the business in the future. It was called the “mini-strategic plan.” The following day, Giorgio and Michael visited 330 Fila stores!

A networking event was also held for Giorgio. Seen at the event were Ana Abad Santos, Simon Heo, Quinto Oreta, Basil Ong, Walter Lim, Geraldine Gaisano, Eric Yu, Constantine Roberts, Alessandro Duri and Rocio Olbes. Guests enjoyed sumptuous food like the pass-around tuna sashimi and beef from the carving station. Manila Strings provided music for the event.

Butch and Cris thanked their guests for visiting the Philippines and for giving Fila more years in the business.

‘Choices’

With a goal to inspire everyone to prepare for the unexpected in order to live one’s dreams with confidence, AXA Philippines, the official global insurance partner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the country, recently launched its latest global campaign “Live the Life You Choose.”

Based on a true story, the new campaign tells the tale of an AXA client who survived a devastating earthquake in Nepal and was able to continue living the life she chose.

AXA Philippines chief customer officer Amor Balagtas said, “With this campaign, we hope to inspire all to live the life they choose, and that is only possible when they have the right game plan in place. We at AXA want to be our customers’ partner — their coach, if you may — in making the right decisions and finding the right solutions for them to reach their goals.”

During the event, NBA champion Caron Butler shared his inspiring life story and how making the right choices enabled him to succeed in life.

Spectacular Lion King!

Award-winning musical The Lion King will premiere at The Theatre at Solaire on March 18, 2018. The Manila premiere is presented by Concertus Manila.

 The Michael Cassel Group, in association with Disney Theatrical Productions, is excited to announce that tickets are already on sale to the general public starting today. The Lion King is also presented by Globe and Visa.

I cannot wait to see this production as a talented international cast will star in the landmark musical. I have only seen The Lion King once on Broadway and I fell in love with the musical.

Beyond Manila, the international tour will enjoy additional seasons in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and South Africa, with other engagements to be announced. *

(For tickets, visit www.ticketworld.com or call 891-9999. Check out TheLionKing.ph for more information.)

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)