Day 7, A conversation between two paintings
My students are always fascinated when I point out that Juan Luna’s Spoliarium isn’t his only work, nor academic painting his only style. Two examples currently hang in the Vargas … Continue reading
Day 2: A Room with a View, Remembering Gustave Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio
I walked around in a cold, darkened room, and there it was—Gustave Courbet’s The Painter’s Studio. I stood in awe for a moment, taking it in. I walked near it … Continue reading
Concurrence at West Gallery
Well, this is my first writing project of the year (outside of the 2013 backlogs). Aside from that, this is also a first for me to create an exhibition note … Continue reading
Reflections on Former West Propositions
Former west brown bag from Portia Placino The Former West Congress: Documents, Constellations, and Prospects was participated in by around 150 students form all over the world. The levels of … Continue reading
Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase
I stumbled into this interesting piece as I was looking for new movies to watch. Since The Artist was such a success, I decided to look for more Academy Award winning films. … Continue reading
Art Conversations: Ideas and Aesthetics of Modernism
Modern ideas are often applied within the aesthetic imagination of the Filipinos. F. Sionil Jose’s obsession with the significant form and the greatness of the art of the masters echoes … Continue reading
Art Conversations: The Concept and Question of “Beauty” and “Sublime”
As revealed in the discussions on Poleteismo, Filipino people are still looking for beauty in art. Numerous articles are looking, not just for beauty but also for the ennoblement of … Continue reading
Art Conversations: What is Art? Problems of Defining Art
The earliest cries on the aesthetic value of Poleteismo is its position as art. It is the root cause of the controversy and debate when the issue of religious offense … Continue reading
Art Conversations: Critical Art Practices in the Philippines
A hundred and fifty years after Jose Rizal’s death, about a hundred years after Marcel Duchamp’s The Fountain, where do we actually find ourselves? We are still stuck in the … Continue reading
