PAST EXHIBITIONS
2022
Where is Home? | January
Proceso Gelladuga
As Filipinos seek greener pastures and opportunities abroad to provide for their families, a Negros Occidental-born contemporary artist living and working overseas longs for his native land. In his recent exhibition, Where is Home?, Proceso Gelladuga II dissects the transportability of sanctuary and living in transience.
Shake Rattle & Roll| February
Pablo Constante Zingapan
"Shake, Rattle, and Roll', the third solo exhibition of Pablo Constante Zingapan, highlights the supernatural, the Filipino mythical creatures, and superstitious beliefs. Heavily influenced by watching horror movies and reading horror stories, this paved the way for the artist to create these masterpieces. Pablo used old pictures, triggering nostalgia and an eerie feel to it.
A Seat At The Table | January
Curated by Renato Habulan
In times of great difficulty, art has always been a balm to anxiety-filled days and nights, helping artists transform nervous energy into creative production, and a vent for silent, creeping panic. We are still under the clutches of strict restrictions in mobility due to the global health crisis, and are made aware everyday of differences in economic standing with the challenges brought about by seeking appropriate health care and in some households, a pronounced decrease in income.
E-Mentoring 2022 | January
Curated by Renato Habulan
The current state of our society induces a considerable amount of fear, anxiety, and concern among all groups of social classes—as it is a human, economic, and social crisis.
At the height of the current COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions such as quarantine lockdowns were implemented globally. The closure of local businesses, educational institutions, cultural venues and entertainment facilities were part of an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.
Turn,turn,turn | February
Nina Garibay
In Turn, Turn, Turn, Nina Garibay presents paintings created from her collage-based practice of composing and piecing together images from fashion photoshoots in order to ponder and critique our relationship with fashion. Informed by her background in advertising, she notes how insecurity is preyed upon by the industry in order to turn out a profit. Characterized by her sharply cut yet smoothly blended figures, she utilizes the various captivating details of garments and transposes them onto silhouettes of unrecognizable models.
Exploration Imperfect Circles | March
0270501
As 0270501 is based from the representation of modern Manila, the society mirrors the survival of creativity. In the days of celebrity in art where the artistʼs lifestyle becomes a motif, an extension of the artwork itself, 0270501 cultivates an aura of secrecy further exploring the notions of obscurity the world and the internet landscape provided. The secrecy becomes an ironic state of affairs given their total absence from the scene – perhaps suggesting a more realistic representation and connection both to the art and artist.
Recent Works | March
Mccoy Lazaruz & Don Bryan Bunag
Now sharing the same space of the gallery, the works of Bunag and Lazaruz prove that effects in painting may be achieved through the powerful singularity of an image. Opening a portal, the visual narrative of the works continues and unspools in the viewer’s mind, triggering scenarios, evoking emotions. Such an approach is a welcome addition to the art scene that has the penchant for the layered, the cluttered, the deliberately complex. By drawing from intimate and fictive histories, the artists give way for the unsaid to unfold and inhabit the paintings, such as the grandeur of a meteorological phenomenon in Bunag’s works or the eerie resonance of Lazaruz’s figuration.
DUALITY | March
Dondon Jeresano & Arnica Acantilado
Duality, expressed through the highly descriptive figurations of Acantillado and Jeresano, underscores that what we perceive as a split in man is simply separation from nature. Despite the tall, shimmering structures we have built as fortress from the rest of creation, we cannot abandon our natural origin. Otherwise, our bodies will remind us the disconnection: the illnesses that plague the flesh and the mind. Acantillado’s paintings state that will always have a place in nature and, like a prodigal son, we will be welcomed to partake its nourishments. The works of Jeresano call us to have a sense of urgency to care for the planet that’s heating up in a pace not seen in history. Nature’s suffering will bring about our own demise.
Doubting Years | May
Roedil Joe Geraldo
Doubting Years has an immediate, oracular quality that seizes the viewer—a force of description and symbolism possessed only by those who unblinkingly confront reality and its awful truths. Despite the uncertainty implicit in these works and underscored by the exhibition’s title, a sense of persistence—if not resilience—imbues the paintings with their metaphorical urgency, their vivid and livid colors, and their figures still unyielding in the face of the insurmountable odds. Geraldo makes the case for painting as a vehicle in which the necessary act of truth-telling may commence.
WILD | May
Mars Bugaoan
It is said that memory is sometimes kept in sensorial containments, like a particular odor that reminds you of elementary school lunches, or a certain musical genre that brings back the old days. Sky blue, orange, yellow, green, pink - each color is akin to a specific energy from that period in time. Furthering his implasto series of works - a clever take on the plastic quality of paint by using plastic as if it were actual thick daubs - each has a dominant color that harks back to a certain point in the artist’s life.
RetroDecade | June
Julio Jose Austria
"RetroDecade" is a timely exposition that demonstrates the possibility of bringing diversity into conceptual and diasporic discourses while also challenging differences between multiple worldviews. It confronts the artist’s cross-cultural experiences and difficulty establishing identity in the constant shift between domains.
Austria's body of work primes his canvases with meaning, struggles, and sentiments – which appear as an intimate, unfinished conversation between his assemblages of experiences from living in the United States of America over the years.
Shelter From The Storm | June
Janice Young
Stylistically, these paintings expand the boundaries of Janice Liuson-Young’s own abstract expressionist approaches. There are a number of technique changes from her previous offerings, including the use of new paints and materials. The artist’s colors and lines are bolder and more fluid, achieving a deceptively effortless balance of purpose and spontaneity. Still, the works continue to be marked by the dazzling artistry that has characterized many of Liuson-Young’s past works.
Happy Ending | June
Carig - Rovero - Laureano - Ambas
BANAAG | July
Michael Villagante
Banaag. is Villagante’s third exhibition at the Art Cube Gallery. chronicles the framed prequel scenarios leading up to Pagtahan as Villagante creatively forays the padayon spirit that beamed and won for him in Florence.In Banaag, evident in ten paintings, is how Villagante has staked the impending mortality of our lives and through his art how to find that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
His inspiring message confidently armed him connoting to overcome further difficulties that constantly challenged his journey to this Italian city famous for its Renaissance art, architecture, and monuments.
ANINO | June
Max Balatbat
In his latest exhibition, Anino, Max Balatbat presents his starkest, most intense works to date: a suite of monochromatic paintings and assemblages that expresses and embodies the mood, emotion, and interiority of the last two years plunged into the terror and uncertainty of the pandemic. They constitute what the artist considers as a visual diary chronicling the times when everyone was quarantining in their own homes, terrified of a virus of which little was known, dragging artificial shadows on sunless floors.
PUGAD BABOY | August
Cedrick Dela Paz
Every work of Cedrick Dela Paz opens an aperture into the experience of the masses, those who rush riding a jeep, who take a moment of respite from a nap, whose strength to fight the status quo seems to have been spent. Thin, sunken-eyed, their heads hanging low, the figures—whose limbs are rigidly box-like—symbolize the majority, but they are the ones erased from history. Dela Paz restores their stories across the breadth of the canvas as a reminder: they are not the enemies.
In his latest exhibition, Pugad Baboy, which is also the name of an area in Pasig where the artist grew up and the title of the satirical comic strips by Pol Medina Jr., Dela Paz represents the “hogs of society”.
Hanging On... | July
DEMET
In Hanging On, his fresh iteration of appropriating the works of National Artists, Demetrio Dela Cruz pushes the envelope further. Rather than representing the iconic paintings magisterially spread out across a frame, the artist allows us to perceive them in their unstretched glory, draped onto an edge, folded and pleated at places. In some works, streaks of paint run across them, as if someone, possibly in a fit of envy, has desecrated them, as is usually the case with some of the most iconic paintings that, at some point in their history, suffered from the hands of vandals.
MUTED SOUND GREY AREA | August
Kiko Urquiola
For his latest exhibition, Muted Sound Grey Area, the artist examines that indeterminate place in which notions of right and wrong have not been fully settled, where actions are suspended until further deliberations have taken place, and where the individual is unable to make the decision of whether to proceed with intent or further reflect in contemplation. We see the implications of this so-called grey area everywhere: in our conversations about the history of politics and the politics of history, in our determinations of what is moral and what is not, in our own personal meditations in what kinds of principles we assume.
Redefining Ideas | July
Jotyl Jan Bermudez
In Redefining Ideas, Bermudez presents the contradictions between the past (as we know it from history books as well as how we imagine it) and the present, with all the ease and conveniences it affords. Our dreams evolve based on our environment but, as these works affirm, they still come from a primeval, powerful sense of wanting to shape our identity with which other people will perceive us. Old ideas, such as traditional gender roles, die. New ones, such as our technological dependence, emerge. Ultimately, it is all about “redefining ideas” so the world we live in may be more consonant with our sense of freedom and happiness.
Yesterday's Future | August
Acasio - Alcon - Atienza - Barrera - Jamisola
Lagasca - Magisa - Roxas - Tolentino
Themes about the past, especially that of childhood and coming of age, do present an unmistakable and irresistible allure. In almost everywhere, there exist an unashamed culture of nostalgia in the younger years and relentless confrontation with the grips of forgetting. We embrace fragments of our youth with such fascination and enthralling universality and interest. The same existentialist sense binds together this show. These artists turn to their childhood memories of playful past and fragments of their real and imagined younger selves while contemplating on the present and the future.
Dreams from the Abyss | September
Carillaza | Lerio | Sunday | Almirol | Aspiras Oriente | Dacaymat
For this group exhibition, Dreams from the Abyss, Christian Carillaza, Isadore Lerio, Jan Sunday, Jessa Almirol, Popoy Aspiras, Rhaz Oriente and Rhex Dacaymat look into the interiority of darkness and, through various media and figurative possibilities, express their visions of this fitful encounter, employing only the starkness and urgency of black and white, and the various permutations of gray between them. The result is an exhibition that thrums with primal vibrations, as our eyes navigate images which are at once solidly outlined and unmistakably fugitive.
Neither Here Nor There | September
Arvi Fetalver & Ioannis Sicuya
It is in a state of decenteredness that Arvi Fetalvero and Ioannis Sicuya locate their two-artist exhibit, Neither Here Nor There. The show, which juxtaposes the horizontality of Fetalvero’s paintings and the verticality of Sicuya’s sculptures, defies the usual call for resilience and moving forward and instead confronts the low visibility—if not the general bleakness—of the future, given the threats that assail the personal, national, and global conditions. It plots the works along the coordinates of indeterminacy, where it’s no longer possible to know whether to move forward, backward, or sideways.
LIKHA | September
Eloy Muñoz
In this solo show, Muñoz uses hands as his main idiom and dominant subject matter to express and ruminate on his ideas about creation. In Filipino, Likha means creation, which emphasizes the idea of handmade work as a means of expressing creativity and ingenuity. Also, this artist believes that hands can express a lot in life. It can suggest a range of associations and meanings such as mastery, choices, certainty, and control more than its functions usual functions of gripping, holding, and catching objects.
Prerogative of Exuberance : New Ab.. | October
Group Show
Prerogative of Exuberance proposes, demonstrates, and queries this type of abstraction rooted in bodily motions, improvised choreographies, and expenditure of energies. Invited artists Dale Bagtas, Rene Bituin, Miguel Paulo Borja, Lee Caces, Demosthenes Campos, Jonas Eslao, Jose Gabriel, Naguiat JC Intal 7, JoJo Lofranco, Pauline Reynolds, Joy Rojas, Emmanuel Sutton, Victoria, and Wipo bump against the question of abstraction today, which is to how meaningfully add to what’s already out there when even the briefest skirmish on a canvas would look like a gestural work.
Asymmetrical Shelter (Kalangan) | October
Clark Manalo
In Asymmetrical Shelter, Clark Manalo rides on the concept of a kalangan, a bamboo raft or logs lashed together, which in his native Navotas is an integral part of a fisherman's marine armory. A coastal town in the northwest part of the metro, Navotas was said to have gotten its name from butas or nabutas when a piece of its land was eaten away by the sea until an opening pierced through it. Now, the city is considered the Fishing Capital of the Philippines, borne on fishermen's sweaty brows, seabound labors, and a constant battle against nature's whims.
Closing the Gap | November
Martin Honasan
A series of portraits exploring the mysteries and wonders of life is at the center of Martin Honasan’s latest solo exhibition, “Closing the Gap.” Here, the artist investigates meanings through the process of deconstruction, which involves events that test the durability of the material and medium. The method is symbolic of rebuilding and reconstructing images, concepts, and ideas. Honasan employs damage-based modes of production and arranges works that are somewhat weathered, beaten, and distressed, using the physical language of painting to assembling portraits.
DOMO ARIGATO MR.ROBOTO | October
Carlo Tanseco
In addition, Tanseco remembers a time in his youth when classic Japanese anime ruled television sets while the rest of the world was preparing for a future that technology somehow overtook. However, the exhibition levels the field between tradition and modernity--- that by bringing them together, we move forward carrying inherited knowledge. As such, the works also reveal changes in contemporary times regarding materiality.
The Grey Area | December
Ben Albino
No matter where one goes or what one says, there are people who will disagree with what one believes in. All of these different "belief gradients," if you will, are what makes this world so interesting. They're part of what makes humans so diverse, and they also open our minds to more unique perspectives that may not have been considered before. Our opinions should not be restricted to society's clearly defined boxes. We, as humans, should explore the infinite number of shades of grey in between all of the black and white.
DEFACEMENTS | November
Group Show
Defacements provides the viewer an opportunity to see the respective strengths of the artists. The works, after all, are representative of the themes that Bardinas, Cruz, and Nativo have been pursuing for quite some time. Collectively, they constitute a contemporary engagement with how our thinking—and by extension, creating art—has been structured by our visual culture, using its tool of fragmentation as an instrument of critique and allowing the medium of painting to bring a sense of coherence, story, and human insight to the never-ending stream of images.
Birthmark | November
Dexter Sy
In "Birthmark," Dexter Sy remembers moments from his past through works that present themselves as markers of every chapter of his life. Born to a Filipino-Chinese family, his practice has always been informed by the cultural particularities and bearings of living in two cultures. Here, red dominates the exhibition as the artist believes that the color aptly represents Asian identity and its duality. In many cultures in the region, red is associated with all things auspicious and happy. Its symbolic connection to positive forces of energy pivoted its popularity.
Kulay Diwa | December
Rachel Anne Lacaba
In Kulay Diwa, Lacaba examines our individual realities and how these individual realities may be deemed valid, no matter how absurd they may seem on the surface. Rachel Anne Lacaba ponders on existence, particularly its implications and repercussions to one's conscience. For many, distinguishing between what is good and evil may seem like an obvious decision. Greed-driven decisions often stick out like a sore thumb but some choices should never be perceived in black and white.Modern technology and the advancement of science have now blurred our priorities, our boundaries. Humanity is a spectrum.
Sketch Marks 2 | December
Group Show
Sketch Marks 2 is a celebration of the history, the beauty, and the diversity of drawings and works on paper. From works by Robert Besana, Elmer Borlongan, Salvador Ching, Louie Cordero, Orland Espinosa, Katarina Estrada, Martin Honasan, Jayme Lucas, Chad Montero, Hannah Nantes, Gabi Nazareno, Jaime Pacena II, Lourd de Veyra, Dexter Sy and Michael Villagante this group show embodies the limitless possibilities of an artist with pen and paper as medium. In this show, watch how these artists use drawing to create new images, expand meaning, and challenge what we think we know about drawing.