EXHIBITIONS Current Upcoming Past Current Current 1/3 Past 1/1 2019 Past 2018 2017

Art Cube Philippines is home for Contemporary Philippine Art. We specialize in paintings, sculptures and art objects by young and established visual artists from the Philippines. 1/3 Past Exhibits Upcoming Exhibits May Groupshow by Pancho Alvarez Joey Cobcobo Billy Bagtas Nina Wi

Turn,turn,turn | February 12, 2022 - March 05, 2022 Turn,turn,turn Nina Garibay February 12, 2022 - March 05, 2022 1/5 View Catalogue Video Press Release To every thing there is a season Out with the old and in with the new: what looks good today may not look good tomorrow. The fashion industry is one of the biggest global businesses which consistently puts out new commodities. Accelerated by the popularity of online shopping, fast fashion brands, and the extravagant spectacles produced by fashion houses, we are like moths drawn to a flame. 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. Tapping into our innate vanity which magazines utilize when presenting us aesthetically pleasing ware, her works become hauntingly self-questioning. With trends emerging and switching out just as quickly, is there a need to feel the fear of missing out? Mid-flip through a page of a magazine, The Turning shows the moment before the looming thrill of being unable to look away from the incessant influx of new content. Fads that became the Ghost of Christmas Past present themselves now as a creature mutating into a landfill. The diminished popularity of items results in their premature disposal and consequently, a fast accumulation of waste. A time to rend, and a time to sew The Molting series shows several variations made possible within a woman’s silhouette that refer to the shifting of fashion seasons that happen annually. Since we as consumers think about clothing as an extension of the self and an expression of our identities, we are constantly presented with more commodified versions of ourselves to consider purchasing. Light Trap asks us to think about what is next. Under the weight of overproduction of textiles and garments, the planet is being overwhelmed with the number of resources needed to ensure the allure of the fashion industry. Harvest drives this point home by juxtaposing a photograph of a model posed within lush greenery with another figure turning its head away from the scene, indifferent. In order to produce a large quantity of fiber ready to be turned into clothes, the global south yields its land to farm cotton, and corporations exploit its working class to supply cheap labor for sweatshops. With their speedy machinations, multiple pieces of clothing can be assembled quicker than the fastest growing plant. And a time to every purpose, under heaven Continuous expansion and accumulation are cyclical, akin to the process of Pollination. The visual engagement and tactility of clothing gives us an experiential buzz. Arranged cannabinoids on drapery, a figure perched on a honey jar, and an inverted yellow rose form a picture that reads like a fortune telling card that expresses a need to break from the hivemind created by the instant gratification of spending. A preference for the immediate eases us into choosing subpar options: meals of little nutrition, and easily frayed, articles of clothing. Time is captured and tailor-fitted into such an infinitesimal window. Perhaps it is possible to enter a momentary lull and reconsider our consumption in this fast-paced consumerist world. Rather than always keeping up with the times, we dress to fit no other mold but our own. - Sarah Conanan Nina Garibay (b. 1991) is a full-time visual artist based in the Philippines. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines, Diliman with a degree in Visual Communication from the College of Fine Arts. She has participated in several group shows within Manila. In 2020. she marked her first solo exhibit in the midst of the lockdown. She is currently the program manager at the Punlaan, a program of the Linangan Artist Residency, located within the Alitaptap Artist Community in Amadeo, Cavite. For her upcoming exhibit – Turn, turn, turn, aims to highlight the passage of the "seasons" in the fashion world- S/S (spring, summer) A/W (autumn, winter) collections and the futility of keeping up with such vanities.

Forever Young Martin Maturan January 11 - February 1, 2025 Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image 1/12 In Forever Young, Martin Maturan unveils a new collection of oil on canvas works that deeply explore how important it is to heal the inner child. In this latest exhibition of recent works, the artist delves into the delicate process of revisiting formative experiences, acknowledging hidden wounds, and embracing the innocence and joy that once defined our youth. Through his intricate brushwork and emotive palette, Maturan paints narratives that are as deeply personal as they are universal. The canvases teem with imagery that bridges the gap between reality and memory—playgrounds frozen in time, nostalgic objects imbued with symbolic meaning, and figures that appear to echo and merge with their surroundings with the addition of motion lines. By showing us this dreamlike and delicate world, Maturan seemingly invites us to be where healing begins, coaxing us to confront vulnerability while rediscovering untainted wonder. The artist employs warm, vibrant tones of burnt umbers and rich browns to evoke a sense of comfort and safety, juxtaposed with subtle shadows that hint at the struggles of growing up. The recurring motifs of toys, carnival rides, and open skies act as symbols of freedom, play, and pauses in time, specifically meant for leisure, now certainly hard to find. However, beneath these idyllic surfaces lies an undercurrent of longing—an unspoken yearning to mend fractures and reconnect with the self. Maturan’s layers of paint overlap like memories, creating dynamic compositions that seem to oscillate between clarity and muddledness. Through his pieces, the artist skillfully uses this interplay to suggest the fragmented yet enduring nature of childhood recollections. Forever Young encapsulates the exhibition’s ethos: that within every individual resides a timeless essence untouched by the weight of years. By confronting the past and embracing the inner child, Maturan suggests, we unlock the potential for emotional and spiritual renewal. Through this deeply personal collection, the artist reminds us that nurturing the inner child is not just an act of healing, but a celebration of the enduring spirit that makes us whole, and we can hold onto it—forever. '-Kaye O’Yek 1/1

Reset Kris Gavino August 2 - 30, 2025 Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image 1/12 In Reset, Kris Gavino charts a liminal space where time loses its tyranny—where the past no longer haunts, and the future no longer threatens. What remains is the present: fragile, vivid, suspended like a breath held between sleep and waking. Gavino’s latest suite of paintings contemplates time not as a sequence but as a felt experience, subjective and shifting, folded in on itself by memory, imagination, and desire. Here, time is not kept by calendars or clocks, but by the human body—its weariness, its need for stillness, its quiet rituals of renewal. In “Rejuvenation,” a slumbering figure lies between worlds, cradled by a landscape that seems less inhabited than dreamed. The borders between body and ground blur, as if sleep itself were a threshold where the interior self dissolves into the elements. The atmosphere is one of silence, solitude, and that elusive sense of repose that arrives only when we surrender the need to measure or control. Gavino punctuates these soft, introspective settings with the image of a clock—an object made for personal timekeeping, capable of being rewound, reset. Set against imagined terrains, the watch becomes a poignant marker of human presence: minuscule in the face of geologic time, yet insistently ticking. How absurd, the works seem to ask, to frame the ancient earth with our fleeting concerns. And yet, how deeply human to try. In “Silence Between Thoughts,” a quiet self-portrait begins to fade into the landscape, as though the figure were not placed upon nature but made of it. There is no drama in the dissolution, only a steady, graceful yielding—a reminder that all things, including the self, are subject to erosion. The title evokes the ephemeral space between mental noise, where clarity sometimes blooms: not in assertion, but in the pause. Gavino writes, “Perspective is subjective. Having vision without sight may lead us to rely on the other senses, at times can be overwhelming. It is foolish to run the risk of going mad for sanity’s sake. Rest becomes more costly the more we need it... Ultimately, there will come an event where life will hit the reset button.” That “reset” may arrive suddenly or slowly, as a rupture or as grace. Either way, Reset invites us to meet it—not with resistance, but with awareness. To dwell, if only briefly, in a space outside of time. To listen for the silence. To rest. And perhaps, in doing so, to begin again. '- Carlomar Arcangel Daoana 1/1

Eve | July 6 - August 3, 2024 Eve Tony Mercado July 6 - August 3, 2024 1/6 View Catalogue Video Press Release Emerging From the Depths In Tony Mercado’s Eve, the artist explores life's beginnings and the nurturing forces that deliver us from the depths of existence. He depicts women in various states of emergence, their reflections shimmering and seemingly imparting obscure wisdom. Mercado’s canvases are awash with muted hues that evoke the fluidity of water, the quintessential element of life. Water has the qualities of both comfort and unpredictability, representing both the womb and the mirror. Life originates in water, and life is maintained and rejuvenated by it. Thus, the artist channels this energy of rebirth, making visible the protective embrace of the feminine spirit as encapsulated in each brushstroke that depicts the moment of resurfacing—a delicate balance between submersion and ascent. Women are painted with precision and gentility. Calm demeanors pervade though their faces are immersed in water, which shows how the mellifluous medium both bolsters and tests them. These figures are not just rising but awakening, embodying the resilience and nurturing strength inherent in all beginnings. Instead of drowning, they face their predicament with poise and grace. Their wavy reflections emphasize the ongoing dialogue between their past selves and the emerging present, creating a moving transformation narrative. Mercado invites us to witness the intimate moments of resurrection and self-discovery, cleverly providing witty twists to his imagery. One of his women faces away, breaking the collection’s pattern of confronting the viewer directly or else giving a wary side-eye. In another piece, he turns the landscape upside down, reinforcing the dreamlike settings he builds for his muses. These paintings transcend simple realism, enabling each observer to make personal reciprocities with the flowing lines and glistening reflections. Though the warmth and care portrayed in these pieces are evident, they also allow for individual interpretation, inspiring viewers to fully engage in the pieces as they reflect on their own contemplative journeys. As Mercado’s Eve offers a palpable manifestation of reassurance enfolding, the artist reminds us of the nurturing forces that guide us from the depths and lift us. As he lets his women rise through the surface, focused feminine energy guides us through the ebb and flow, the artist's adulation fueling the way his portrayals cast ripples that embed themselves in our consciousness. Kaye O’Yek

Nomad Azor Pazcoguin Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image 1/12 If Life Is A Journey In NOMAD, Azor Pazcoguin strips his art down to the essentials, exploring the complex simplicity and depths of monochromes. This latest solo show transforms concrete surfaces and layered textures into visual poetry, capturing the quiet power of structures and journeys alike. With each painting, Pazcoguin composes a tactile experience that’s as much about feeling as it is about seeing. The works in NOMAD might appear grounded at first glance (with one literally labeled in Japanese kanji as underground), yet they tell stories of movement and identity, place and bearing. With the subtle yet clear layering of text on his Apt. pieces—This Place contrasting with Displace, Undercover seeking Exit—Pazcoguin’s brush brings to life the facades of buildings, playing with their storeys and shadows, recalling the places one’s traveled to and the transient connections left behind. In his hands, concrete becomes a symbol—both a marker of stability and a reminder of the ever-shifting stages of life. With 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Person, however, his surface interventions serve as mutable markers for the evolving personas we wear, mirroring the identities we adopt as we navigate different places and circumstances. They remind us that who we were before probably is way different from who we are now, while V and B beckon us to embark on new road trips and exciting adventures to find out more things about ourselves and the world. As these monochromatic pieces invite viewers to experience the pervading changeability of people and places, Pazcoguin’s careful layering and scraping techniques evoke a sense of grounding, as if each work is imbued with the weight of memories and miles traveled. Despite their restrained palette, his pieces are rich with tactile depth, revealing new details with each glance and shadow, urging audiences to touch, linger, and reflect on their own journeys. NOMAD reminds us that we’re all travelers, cruising through a life of shifting landscapes and continuous reinvention. Pazcoguin’s art is a pause on this endless road, offering a moment to see where we’ve been and consider where we’re going next. It’s a timeless message for anyone seeking connection, simplicity, and the meaning behind the marks we leave behind. Kaye O’Yek Azor Pazcoguin 1/1

Kapalaran Jonathan Dangue October 4 - November 1, 2025 Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image 1/12 In Kapalaran, Jonathan Dangue turns his gaze toward the ancient cycle of the Chinese zodiac, reimagining its twelve animals not as static signs but as beings charged with spirit and movement. Each creature bears its familiar temperament: the pig breaks into a wide grin, the horse gathers its strength with forelegs raised and mane unfurled, the rooster caught in the instant of crowing, summoning the day. These presences are not merely sculptural forms but vessels of character, animated by their symbolic roles across centuries of belief and tradition. Dangue shapes his animals as assemblages of found objects, infused with attributes of fortune and prosperity. Among these are yuanbao—the boat-shaped ingots of wealth—and the pierced brass coins of Chinese lore, talismans once strung together to ward off misfortune. By embedding such emblems into his creatures, the artist situates them within a continuum of material and spiritual aspiration. In striking counterpoint to these animated forms are the artist’s own hands, cast in resin, amber-hued and luminous. Placed downward with fingertips touching the surface, they serve as both pedestal and anchor. They hold aloft the zodiac animals, yet also draw them back to the earth, reminding us that whatever celestial order the heavens might decree, the grounding of existence remains in human touch. Binding these figures is a coil of wire that spirals around hand and animal alike, as if tracing an unseen current of energy. It is at once tether and conduit, suggesting the luminous cord of destiny that threads through our lives. Dangue’s Kapalaran meditates on this tension: between forces believed to govern from above and the agency we carry within our grasp. The sculptures insist that while fate may be written in the stars, destiny is equally shaped by the weight and gesture of our own hands. '-Carlomar Arcangel Daoana Jonathan Dangue Jonathan Dangue (b. 1984) is a Filipino sculptor, painter, and architect renowned for transforming brass into textured, expressive art that reflects both philosophical and emotive themes. Licensed in architecture, he won the Grand Prize in the 2011 and 2012 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE) competitions—first for sculpture with “Walang Pinanghahawakang Anuman sa Palad” and then in the architecture category. Dangue’s works balance intuition and planning, often incorporating everyday material like brass into his visual vocabulary. His pieces have been featured in solo and group shows such as Kabuluhan ng Buhay and Monumental Abstracts, and he has also designed the Department of Health’s regional office in Davao and created a commemorative MADE sculpture “Binhi” 1/1

AYAW KO NA MAGING TAO Doktor Karayom May 29 - June 19, 2021 View Catalogue Video Link AYAW KO NA MAGING TAO BY DOKTOR KARAYOM Nakakapagod na din minsan Titigil muna ako sa pag galaw Wala muna akong iisipin kundi wala.. Hindi muna ako magsasalita… Sa araw na ito isa akong bangko, Pader na nakatayo Ako yung kumukulo pag malapit na maluto Isa akong kutsara na iyong isusubo ako yung telepono mo na laging hawak yung bakod sa lupa na malawak ako yung bitak sa pader na baku baku kulay na itim sa balat, tattoo tattoo ang kaso …nagising na ako tapos na ang pahinga mula sa trangkaso lagok ng tubig, isang baso banatin ang buto , kalas ulo tumatanda na nga talaga tayo… Doktor Karayom Russel Trinidad is a Filipino Artist that dove into the local art scene initially as a graffiti artist painting murals on abandoned buildings. Trinidad Graduated with a degree in Fine Arts at the Technological University of the Philippines, he masked behind his street name “Doktor Karayom” to avoid vandalism charges at the time he did only graffiti work. In this show, Trinidad directs his works toward the release in the reality of an individual due to the stressors and anxious events surrounding them, this is about regaining sanity and rest. Without hesitation, Trinidad focuses on what he decides to create, he uses art as his expression to liberate his deep thoughts. As his art changes on a constant, he finds solace in the fact that his works are apart from each other, where emotions are observed in each piece he lets out. Different concepts and creative thinking always have to be exerted to produce most of his output. Trinidad continued his street art while holding solo exhibitions and fulfilling commissions for his red paintings and sculptures. Doktor Karayom started to garner appreciation, receiving mainstream media coverage for his street art. He found success in art competitions, first winning a t-shirt design contest for a local fashion brand, and later the Ateneo Art Award in 2017 then the Thirteen Artist Award in 2018.

Tight Hold | October 4 - November 1, 2025 Tight Hold iSko Andrade & RC Caringal October 4 - November 1, 2025 1/4 View Catalogue Video Press Release Tight Hold brings together, for the first time, the artistic visions of iSko Andrade and RC Caringal in a two-person exhibition that reflects on the many bonds that shape our lives: within families, relationships, and communities. The title, departing from the familiar phrase “hold tight,” suggests that the connection already exists, sure and unshakable, and what remains is to recognize and confront its presence. Though united by theme, the artists move in different directions. Caringal turns her gaze to the human body, isolating the hands and their gestures. In her works, hands become a language in themselves: reaching out to save, grasping to secure, binding to keep close, or embracing in tenderness. Rendered with dense chiaroscuro and a photographic clarity, her canvases seem caught in a sudden flash of light, the moment suspended, the gesture preserved. Andrade, on the other hand, works through metaphoric fabrics that wrap and conceal, bound by ropes that suggest the fragile and complex nature of attachment. The ropes protect what lies within, knotting connections into place, but also carry the possibility of fraying, loosening, or entangling. His textured surfaces speak of what is kept hidden and the delicate tension that holds relationships together. In their collaborative piece “Unyielding Gaze,” these two approaches converge. Andrade’s luminous red fabric finds counterpoint in Caringal’s intimate handling of the body with the partial reveal of an eye, brow, and strands of hair. The work hovers between concealment and revelation, raising the question of how much of ourselves can be known, or whether recognition is always mediated through the gaze of another. Taken together, Tight Hold is not simply a meeting of two artists but a weaving of visions. It considers what steadies us against the forces that would tear us apart, and how intimacy—whether through touch or through the act of looking—secures our place in the world. -Carlomar Arcangel Daoana iSko Andrade & RC Caringal iSko Andrade is a Filipino visual artist specializing in hyper realistic painting, particularly of fabrics, lace, and everyday objects. A graduate of Fine Arts Major in Visual Communication from Bulacan State University (2017), he uses his art to evoke nostalgia and intimate memories, often through personal motifs like lace, garments, and domestic items. Andrade has won prestigious prizes such as the Grand Prize in the 47th Shell Art Competition (2014) and in the Philippine National Oil Company Competition (2015). His exhibitions combine technical precision with emotional depth, exploring family, memory, and the fabric of personal identity. RC Caringal is a contemporary Filipino painter known for exploring human emotion, perception, and vulnerability through figurative art. In her exhibitions, she used expressive large-scale canvases and textured, raw surfaces to expose how we hide, distort, or magnify our true selves in a social-media age. Her works interrogate personal and collective truths—inviting viewers to confront discomfort and connect more authentically with their own inner struggles.

Static & Silent Jaime Pacena II May 4 - June 1, 2024 Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image Add a Title Describe your image 1/12 The exhibition "Static and Silent" presents the latest series by artist Jaime Pacena II, an exploration of stillness and observation in monochromatic form. "Static" represents a pause, a temporary cessation amid life's constant motion. In contrast, "Silent" prompts reflection on the complexities of human cognition and interpretation amidst the backdrop of daily life. Through this quiet dialogue, Pacena navigates emotions and perceptions, encapsulating aspects of human consciousness. In a world characterized by noise and chaos, "Static and Silent" offers a sanctuary—a place where time momentary pauses, and the soul finds solace in the rhythms of creative exploration. 1/1

Where the Land Becomes Stills | January 10, 2026 - February 7, 2026 Where the Land Becomes Stills Jep Dizon January 10, 2026 - February 7, 2026 1/10 View Catalogue Video Press Release In Where the Land Becomes Still, one of the two exhibitions opening 2026 for Art Cube, Jep Dizon offers his latest exploration of landscape painting—one that resists the genre’s habitual calm and instead presses it into unfamiliar territory. What he terms “hybrid landscape art” unfolds through the careful interweaving of landscape with other painterly traditions, notably still life and portraiture, allowing scenes to hover between place, presence, and objecthood. Rendered in vivid color and sharpened by stark detail, Dizon’s tableaus resemble carefully staged moments from a surreal film. Light appears unusually lucid, air almost tactile, as if each scene has been paused at the precise instant before something shifts. Yet these images do not resolve into a single narrative. Their power lies in suspension: figures and objects coexist without fully explaining themselves, producing a quiet tension that lingers. A man swaddled in yellow cloth, a flower enclosed within a fishbowl, a bubble trapping the image of a dilapidated shed—such elements generate a visual dissonance that feels dreamlike yet alert. One moves through these works as through a dream punctured by moments of clarity, where recognition is immediate but meaning remains unsettled. This deliberate estrangement is central to the artist’s intent. By disrupting familiar associations, the images work to refresh perception itself, loosening the grip of visual habits that have grown tired or predictable. Reality, for Dizon, behaves less like a fixed structure than a fabric—porous, malleable, and susceptible to change. In the still-life works, statues appear to glitch or waver, suggesting that even what seems solid and known is subject to fluctuation. Painting becomes, in this sense, a site of encounter rather than escape. As the artist notes, “the work asks us to reflect on what stands before us and to allow it to teach what it must, whether emerging from order or chaos.” Though the images feel suspended between worlds, Dizon insists that the aim is not withdrawal from reality but the resolve to face it directly and let it pass through the body and mind. In his words, “storms arrive not as punishment, but as a means of clearing the path.” Within Where the Land Becomes Still, stillness itself is not an end point—it is a charged pause, where perception resets and the ground beneath vision subtly shifts. -Carlomar Arcangel Daoana