East meets west

CEBU, Philippines - The first few months of every year have always been observably a time for art exhibits in the city. It is, in part, taking advantage of the popular attention directed towards Cebu during the Sinulog celebrations, which kind of capped the long celebratory season that started with Christmas yet. In general, art exhibits are really part of the metro’s calendar of annual highlights.

From several Sinulog-themed art exhibits to a presentation of the works of France’s Pierre Marie Brisson, an east-meets-west-themed show stands as one of this time’s notable creative presentations: the “Chan Lim Family of Artists and Students: An Exhibit of Chinese and Western Paintings”.

Timed with the forthcoming celebration of this year’s Chinese New Year, the show presents more than 200 works by more than 40 exhibiting artists – each rendered by techniques that are constitutional in classic Oriental painting oeuvres, blended with elements of Western painting styles.

Mainlined by landscapes, flowerscapes, still lifes and personality montages, most of the show’s presented works harp on a-not-so-often talked about aspect in the classic Oriental painting form – which tends to be anchored on personal reflection, contextualization and manifestation, and not merely based on representation or reappearance.

As such, works that embody aphoristic impressions of tranquility and balance can be readily viewed in the show, just as paintings that are infused with popular classic Oriental painting techniques (like the “Dragon Vein” technique used to depict mountain ridges) are also notably evident.

Without muted color palettes and shades, white spaces are also a common aesthetic element that can be found in a number of the show’s featured works – an allusion to a premise in Oriental painting which tasks a painter to let viewers “complete” a given piece; not spoon feed them with true-to-the-eye details.

Opening on January 21 and ongoing until February 5 at the Mountain Wing Atrium of SM Seaside City, “Chan Lim Family of Artists and Students: An Exhibit of Chinese and Western Paintings” serves to familiarize Cebu’s even more with classic Oriental painting styles – broadening horizons without turning away from tradition. (FREEMAN)