An exhibit of abstract art and New Art Photography

In time for the Sinulog festivities, two very renowned Filipino artists staged a rare exhibit featuring their abstract works. Two Ways of Looking at It, an Exhibit of Abstract Art and New Art Photography, opened on January 13, 2005 at the Mezzanine floor of the Waterfront Hotel-Lahug.

Ivan Acuna, an internationally-renowned painter hailing from Taguig, brought forty paintings all the way from Manila, all of them belonging to his popular series Metalscape, a collection of abstract paintings depicting his unique penchant for using metallic acrylics, his bold graphic strokes, and his natural sense of balance and symmetry. Acuna's work is powerful, multi-dimensional, and places equal importance on texture. The magnitude of his canvases (the exhibit included a massive diptyque) reflects the artist's brimming passion and emotion.

Andrew Barba is a very successful Cebuano painter who has received renown in Cebu and Manila circles and is beginning to make his mark internationally as he prepares for a major one-man show in Hawaii come September. Barba's work is subdued, understated, preferring to depict emotion and thought in quiet colors and lines. His noted use of gel media adds symmetrical texture to his paintings. Barba's abstract art is both feeling and intellect. There is a conscious effort to at once reveal and repress.

The exhibit also featured budding art photographers Gahum Garcia and Charles Buenconsejo, whose humorous, Norman Rockwell-inspired photographs delighted viewers. Their work employs the wonders of digital photography and graphic editing.

Cutting the ribbon were Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the current Ms. Cebu winner and JCI National President Ishmael Penada. The event was hosted by Metro Cebu Uptown.

Produced by Satellite Entertainment, and organized by Gail Soco and PR Consultant Michelle Varron, the exhibit was a notable success, receiving good reviews from the intimate crowd that viewed it. Part of the proceeds from the sales were turned over to JCI Metro Cebu Uptown, for the benefit of the Don Bosco Boys' Home.