In Full Color: The Exhibitions Bringing October to Life

Across galleries in Metro Manila, discerning collectors and art aficionados will find themselves drawn to a diverse array of group shows and evocative solo presentations. Following incisive musings on the pervasive celebrity culture in today’s society to 107 Petri dishes to contraptions made alive with the rhythm of machinery, these exhibitions capture a peculiar pulse of contemporary creativity that do not come by often.

Pulp Cartographies, Modeka Gallery

Curator Angle Velasco Shaw brings together 13 multidisciplinary artists from Baguio to explore and celebrate the humble quotidian material: paper. Included in the roster are a few renowned names such as Leonard Aguinaldo, Rocky Cajigan, Kabunyan De Guia and Kawayan De Guia, along with seasoned gems not often seen in Manila such as Sultan Mang-Osang, Perry Mamaril, and Bong Sanchez to name a few. This exhibition is an inquiry that probes into the value (or lack thereof) attributed to paper when it becomes the medium and practice for art. It brings to light the attitudes surrounding its acquisition and collection compared to more accepted mediums in paintings and sculptures. 

The exhibition runs from October 11 to November 8 at Modeka, Warehouse 20A, La Fuerza 1, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, 1231 Metro Manila.

Made of Stone, Modeka Gallery

Celebrities–whether on the big screen or by virtue of the internet–have somewhat taken the place of a deity since the emergence of modern society in the early 20th century. The show ruminates on the widespread influence of celebrity culture and how it shapes our lives today. With Erwin Romulo, Allan Balisi, Lourd De Beyra, MM Yu, Uri De Ger, and Jun Sabayton among others part of the line up, the show promises a worthwhile time given the diversity of the exhibitors’ backgrounds in documentary filmmaking, writing, and music.

The exhibition runs from October 11 to November 8 at Modeka, Warehouse 20A, La Fuerza 1, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, 1231 Metro Manila.

Audacity, Art Impressario

15 October to 15 November

Emerging curator Chloe Magpayo is holding her second exhibit this October at the Podium 3, Tower II, RCBC Plaza, Buendia Ave. in Makati. Gathering young names who have been making waves in the scene, Magpayo gives them the freedom to occupy the space with their experimentations in a multitude of ways, such that the artists view this platform as a means of survival while working with intuition as the fuel of their works. Come and view the works of Corinne De San Jose, Cos Zicarelli, Doctor Karayom, Maricar Tolentino, Marionne Contreras, Migel Llorenzo Uy, and Vien Valencia, along with other promising artists.

The exhibition runs from October 15 to November 15 at Podium 3, Tower II, RCBC Plaza, Buendia Avenue, Makati. Instagram: Art Impressario

Araw-Araw, Finale Art File

Raffy Napay takes his textile ponderings to his role as a parent in this show. Taking off from the daily routines built around himself and his son, his works are infused with the spirit of child’s play where games and toys shared between him and his son become containers of memories. Thread, the main medium of Napay, is a symbol of a person’s essence, and in this case, the ugat or blood vessels inside a person’s body, made with the genes of one’s parents. This exhibit is tender and intimate, a loving reminder of how an individual is formed by one’s family.

The exhibition runs from October 3 to October 30 at Finale Art File, Gate 1, La Fuerza Compound, Warehouse 17, 2241 Chino Roces Ave, Makati City, Metro Manila.

Fractured Fabric, Silverlens Galleries

On the narrative of home and fabric, Marina Cruz is undeniably one of the most successful artists of her time, treading this theme since her days as a fine art student in the University of the Philippines. In this particular show, she fixates on gauze and its pattern as an object that conveys fracture. While she is more known for her virtuosity in rendering her family’s clothes in hypperealism, what makes this show of particular importance is Cruz’s return to abstraction. 

The exhibition runs from October 4 to November 8 at Silverlens Galleries, 2263 Chino Roces Ave, Ave, Makati City, 1231 Metro Manila.

So Tell Me Where It Hertz, Vinyl on Vinyl

Sound art has been gaining more traction this year as it breaks and assists in breaking conventional modes of art. In this particular show, artists NTRDR, Jon Romero and Sarah Conanan look into the power of sound to soothe us in more ways than one– that is, from the soft tingling of windchimes and the melodious bird chirps to the whirring and squealing contraptions and DIY instruments made out of scrap machine parts. If you’re looking for a new way to encounter art, this would be the show for it.

The exhibition runs from October 7 to 28 at Vinyl on Vinyl, 2241 Pasillo 18 La Fuerza Compound Chino Roces Ave, Makati City, Metro Manila.

Archipelago, Altro Mondo Creative Space

Petri dishes are commonly used in laboratories, but for artist Enrico Manguzzi, it became the cradle for his reimagining of the Philippine islands as a geographic constellation. 107 Petri dishes are lined and arranged throughout the exhibition floor to create the outline of the archipelago conveying that though we are fragmented as a nation–separated by waters and regional cultures– we are a singular network that live in relation to one another.

The exhibition runs from October 11 to 22 at Altro Mondo Creative Space, 1159 Chino Roces Ave, Makati City, 1203 Metro Manila.

Two-Fold Playground and Opposite Mirrors, ProvenanceProvenanceThe documented history of an object's ownership, origin, and authenticity, particularly important for classic cars, watches, art, and wine. Strong provenance can dramatically raise an item's value, and collectors andGo to Provenance Glossary Gallery

Lui Gonzales brings to the fore ideas of dichotomies that pervade our minds, and how the clear cut distinctions between two concepts that appear to occupy different ends of a pole actually exist for mutual survival. She applies this lens of ‘divine dichotomy’ in the forms found in nature. Using inorganic clay sculptures, the artists mimic organic life forms such as the silhouettes of blooming flowers to symbolize our human inclination to contain these beauties of the earth into crafted vessels. 

The exhibition runs from October 11 to November 2 at Provenance Gallery, Paseo de Magallanes Commercial Center, South Park Plaza 2/F, Magallanes, Makati City.