CEBU, Philippines — Two exhibits in the city’s malls enlivened the metro’s art circuit in the first quarter of 2019. The shows showcased creative outputs of student and established talents.
“Segments”
The Active Zone, Ayala Center Cebu
Artworks that tread on modernism’s multi-veiled aspects mainlined “Segments,” an exhibit of the works of students of Cebu International School’s Grade 11 and 12 Visual Arts Program.
The featured works mostly bore allusions to the process-oriented approach in artmaking – an approach that tasks the artist to first consider the process and execution techniques to be entailed in the making a work before actually working on it.
At times referred to as the polar opposite of the theme or content-oriented approach (which tasks an artist to prioritize a subject or theme before working on a piece), the exhibit featured works that blended a contemporary vibe to the modernist leanings of the Bauhaus, art deco and art nouveau movements.
Collectively, the show illustrated how novel elements can be infused to old-school styles or and how young visual artists interpret classic art styles.
“Hulagway”
The Atrium, Robinsons Galleria Cebu
In “Hulagway”, viewers were treated to works that were mainly scored by the theme or content-oriented approach.
The fourth group show of the DIBUHU Collective of Cebu, founded by Cebuano visual artist Wilfredo “Boboy” Canete, the exhibit was comprised of landscapes and future-forward portraits and life-in-the countryside montages.
Though not bereft of works that treaded on expressionism and art deco, the show emblemized how endearing representational themes are to the Cebuano artist and how the Cebuano artist recognizes the appeal of classic and contemporary art styles.
“Hulagway” highlighted how established artists are taking on contemporary themes by playing with the established old school styles.