1st Mindanao Art Fair and Exhibit
Theme: Traversing the River of Creativity
Atrium of Gaisano Mall, Davao City
10 a.m. to 9 p.m, October 5 and 6, 2019
(Exhibit Notes from MindanaoArt)
BINTANA ART GALLERY
NCCC Victoria Mall, Davao City
Gallery Profile:
Bintana Art Gallery is a Davao based artist-run space. Its conception is anchored on providing a suitable and well-organized platform for the artist, the artwork and the audience that will enrich their art experience. We scout and support new but dedicated talents and give them the opportunity to showcase and document their works thru exhibits in our mall partners. We do not limit our eyes to certain art style or cliquism. Rather, we encourage and embrace the diversity of all styles and forms as long as the works have substance. We envision ourselves to be the first in people’s mind when they think of buying artworks and to be the choice in art exhibitions.
EXHIBITION NARRATIVE
Title: “The Twinning of Creation and Destruction”
Man, nature, technology have bifurcated ends. They can be good, they can be bad.
Man/woman can be a saint or can be a criminal. Fire can give light. It can also burn a forest too. A river can irrigate rice fields. It can also cause floods that destroy farm lands & communities. A cellphone can be a tool of productive communication. It can also be an addictive thing that prevents people to be productive.
It is along this perspective that the artists of BINTANA ART GALLERY are one in expressing the bifurcated world we live in. Their artworks in this exhibit are manifestations of their conviction that there is so much to be thankful for: its beauty and bounty. And at the same time, to be cautious of how the world continuously evolves. It can be a paradise, but it can also be hell.
The artworks done in varied medium and artistic persuasion are lessons in openness and clear vision. Each artist is aware of the duality of man, nature and technology.
Reading the artworks in between the lines will greatly help the viewer to understand the meaning of their message beyond the lines, colors, textures, forms and perspectives.
The paintings and sculptures have hidden ideas that viewers must dig and decipher – the artist’s imaginations through deep reflection.
The context that the artists are coming from their own unique milieu : political, economic, philosophical and psychological roots.
For this reason, the BINTANA ART GALLERY collection is an exciting bunch of artworks that provoke the viewers to think and enjoy the many nuances of the artworks.
The common denomination of all the paintings and sculptures is the unique and personal take of the duality of man, nature and technology.
The collection is a Davao experience. They speak of how Davao artists see the world in contemporary times.
Bintana Art Gallery participating artists are: George Abaigar, Alex Alagon, Jag Bueno, Anoy Catague Mariano, Victor Bong Espinosa, Pinx T. Gaspe, JC Gonzales, Donn Manguilimotan, Gilbert Miraflor, Victor Secuya and Jong Tangiday.
Exhibit curator is Victor Secuya.
Artists’ Profiles
GEORGE ABAIGAR
Born in Manila on January 26, 1977, George is a self taught artists always inclined himself in the art. He works as an airbrush artist in “Airwurks” @ SM Mega Mall (2000). He explored his airbrush talent abroad in KSA but eventually came back to Davao City to find greener pasture. He ventured into designing airbrush art on cars and motorcycles and joined prestigious motorcycle and car shows, which garnered him awards and recognitions.
Trying to expand his talent he went into drawing on paper and painting on canvas doing mostly portraits on commissioned works. Whenever he makes non commissioned works he makes paintings with themes on children and nature done on pastel, acrylic and oil paintings.
George gets his inspirations from his life experience, stories of friends and his daughters. He finds joy in his creations and strives to do more for his life’s passion in the arts. George always believed that the gifts he has in the arts are from God and whatever praises he receives, he gives it back to the Almighty.
MARIANO “ANOY” CATAGUE
My artworks illustrate my personal interpretation of the people from indigenous tribes. They are rendered in invocative monochromes usually enhanced with symbolic shades of red, blue, green, black, yellow and sepia.
My subject matter also include the indigenous people’s instruments such as hegalong, kulintang, kubing, dabakan, and agong. I also attempt to capture the rhythm of their dances through the movement of lines, shapes and colors.”
VICTOR SECUYA
As a visual artist, Victor Secuya is known for his vibrant abstract expressionist works on canvas and in steel. He has mounted 25 solo exhibits and several group shows in various galleries for the past 30 years.
His paintings, mostly abstract compositions, are widely collected by avid art enthusiasts. His artworks are in various collections here in the Philippines and other countries.
A son of a businessman-landowner, Secuya got his early education from the seminary-ran by Maryknoll Priests. In 1977, he graduated as cum laude from A.B. Sociology at the Ateneo de Davao University. During summer breaks, he studied painting at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. He is mostly self-taught.
After College, he enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila University Graduate School and studied Philosophy. He became a professor of Philosophy at the Ateneo de Davao University. He also taught at the St. Scholastica’s College of Fine Arts, St. Francis Xavier Seminary, Davao Doctor’s College, and Philippine Women’s College.
Further glimpse of Secuya’s philosophical view of life is contained in his published books: Reflections of a Nude (Book of Poetry, 1982), Secuya Drawing (Book of Drawings, 1984), Secuya (Book of Paintings), Metanoia, Journey to Surrender (1997), Art Insights (2017).
As a writer, he was once a regular art and culture columnist of Sun-Star. Secuya writes with the same fervor and devotion as he does with his paintings.
He had curatorial stints at the Ethnological Museum of the Philippines, Liongoren Art Gallery, CCP, and the Davao Museum of History and Ethnography, where he used to be the museum director and eventually a member of the board. Secuya is also a lifetime member of the Art Association of the Philippines.
He is a bonafide member of the Toastmasters International where he got his training in communications and leadership. He was the 2002 Toastmaster of the Year of the Philippines’ District, the highest accolade a Toastmaster can get. He became a division governor in 2006. He is also an incessant student of management, forever studying the works of Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and other management gurus.
GILBERT MIRAFLOR
Born in 1968, Gilbert Miraflor is a multi-awarded artist from Ford Academy of Arts. He is a recipient of three grand prizes in the national art competitions, one as a student of fine arts in 1996, and two in his professional career, including the GSIS 2019 Art Competition in Sculpture and another in national watercolor competition in 2017.
He has had 5 solo exhibitions and 3 group International exhibitions in Slovakia, Italy, and Indonesia. He co-founded the Davao Watercolor Society in 2014. His works are distinguished as abstract spontaneous expressionism that have been exhibited in the country and abroad.
JC GONZALES
JC Gonzales is a homegrown, self-taught and critical thinking visual artist. He worked in different local newspaper and magazine outfits in the 80s to 90s. He was involved in the arts in the early 90s where he was a founding member of Lakbay-Diwa Artist Collective and the Davao Artist Foundation Inc. He was actively participating in various group exhibits here and in Manila but went on a hiatus in 2003. He ended his hiatus from painting in 2017.
Most of his works are tinted with social and political issues and he thinks in his own aesthetics rather than the academic.
He is sympathetic to the outsider art where he believes is the freest and purest art – no rules and no boundaries kind of art.
He had his first solo art exhibit in 2018 titled “Was ‘N’ Freaks”.
RONALD “PINX” GASPE
Gaspe uses recycled sawdust and styrofoam. He has been in the art scene in Davao for decades and was mentored by internationally renowned Davao artist Bert Monterona who exposed him to social relevant art. This influence led Pinx to be the first artist to exhibit works on HIV-AIDS awareness for Davao in the early 1990s, and carried this on as a member of the Lakbay Diwa group which figured in local exhibits for environment and indigenous peoples’ advocacies.
Seeing art as an expensive medium, Pinx incorporated innovation and resourcefulness by using recycled materials in his backyard. In creating sawdust and styropor art, he uses adhesives to produce a durable finish for his latest works. His sculptures of the Lumad and Moro are imbibed with socially relevant themes of heritage, farm life, environmentalism, and the pains of war.
ALEX ALAGON
Alex Alagon (1966) is a Davao-born self-taught visual artist, an art coach, curator, impresario, and a gallerist. Art has been his passion since childhood and made this gift in the arts as his tool to finish college working as an artist/illustrator of the Audio Visual Center of the University of Mindanao.
Right after graduating college he landed a job in a bank as an account officer until 1997 when he took an early retirement and pursued business until 2013 which he decided to make his childhood passion in the arts full time.
Now in his 50s he has made close to 500 artworks with 5 solo exhibits in his cap and countless group exhibits. In 2018 he was awarded by the LGU of Davao City in its yearly “Pasidungog Garbo Sa Davao” in his contribution in promoting arts in the city. He and his wife Isabelina Alagon owns the Bintana Art Gallery who organizes art exhibits in Davao City. They are also active in doing art coaching both to young and adult aspiring learners of the arts. A contemporary artist, Alex never run out of new ideas of making his art in different mediums and subjects.
DONN E. MANGUILIMOTAN
An educator, an artist, an award winning muralist, recently the champion of Lantaw Davao and Mugna Kadayawan Wall Art Competition 2019, a semi-finalist of a national art competition conducted by a non-profit organization and recognized as a National Illustrator of DEPED National Bureau of Learning Resource.
His cubic perspective of art aims to depict the complexities of life through a combination of shapes, blending of colors, texture, and symbols.
JAG BUENO
A homegrown Davaoeño visual artist and sculptor, Jag Bueno attributes his exposure to the lives of Mindanaoans both in the rural and urban areas as the main influence in his art. This artist is a firm believer that art is a tool, hence, his choice of career as an artist. He understands the striking impact of arts in exposing the reality of the lower class society- the indigenous peoples, the Moro people, the farmers and the workers.
Since 2012, he has been commissioned by various establishment owners to mount his sculptures. He started exhibiting under Bintana Gallery since 2018, also participated in other art events held mostly in malls. In September of that year, he exhibited as a guest artist together with the Lakbay Diwa group in their comeback show. In July 2019, he joined a four-man exhibit entitled “Punla” in Gallery Nine at SM Megamall, in which he was also invited to join the ongoing 15th Annual Sculpture Review.
To him, his art is simply a reflection of what he perceives.
JONG TANGIDAY
Growing up in a place that is home to diverse ethnicities, culture and religions, the many Filipino beliefs in legends and mythologies have become the inspiration for my artwork.
Before colonialism came to our land, sculpting and carving was used over hundreds of years by many Filipino ancestors. While I majored in Painting, as a result of my fascination for the Filipino culture, my interest in sculpting has grown tremendously. Through it, I am able to connect with my ancestors. As a means of tree preservation, I repurpose drift woods, old house posts and other cut woods that can be recycled into a work of art.
Since aged wood has a characteristic of its own, I explore on the possibility of creating a sculpture whilst preserving the natural colorful grains and patterns of the wood. In some occasion, I may utilize an assortment of materials and techniques in each subject. However, my philosophy remains the same.
Generally I work in a figurative manner. The main subject is usually in human figures. Majority of my works is referenced to Mebuyan, the goddess of fertility.
ART AFFILIATIONS:
Pananaw Art Group
Davao Artists Foundation Inc.
EXHIBITIONS:
1st One man show – Big and Small Art Company, Manila , Philippines
2nd One man show – Durer Art Gallery, Davao, Philippines
2013 – Ho Chi Minh Museum, Vietnam
2014 – Art Basel Hong Kong Convention Center
2015 – Park Royal on Pickering, Singapore
2015 – HOFArt Space Bangkok
2018 – Homage to Victoria Edades SM Lanang Davao
2019 – Philippine Visual Arts Festival, National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila
AWARDS
4 time winner / Painting Category – PLDT Cover Design Mindanao Competition 1993-1996
Finalist/Sculpture category – Metrobank Art and Design Excellence Competition 2012
VICTOR “BONG” ESPINOSA
Bong Espinosa has been producing artworks even after his College of Architecture days in the University of Mindanao. He is actively participating in the art scene for decades and has mounted numerous solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally.
Most of his exhibitions are in Mindanao, Manila and the USA from 1997 up to the present. One of his memorable trip was in 2008 when he received an Asian Artists Scholarship Grant at The Vermont Studio Center USA with a Round trip Travel Grant award from the NCCA. Followed by a successive artist’s residency, exhibit and cultural exchange programs in New York, New Jersey and Chicago from 2006 up to 2016.
Bong has boarded 16 solo shows from 1997 up to the present. His works have reached other parts of the globe, leaving in awe both the local and international audience.
He has just recently completed Solo exhibition and artist residency at the EREHWON Center for the Arts in Quezon City.
Painting is Bong’s way of contributing in the preservation of Mindanao arts and culture – to make the whole world appreciate our history and art.
Despite his achievements from contests and travels abroad, Bong remained down-to-earth with his masterpieces remaining to be affordable to the public and for art collectors.
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