‘Essential Luz’ show at Galerie Joaquin

MANILA, Philippines - In celebration of National Arts Month, Galerie Joaquin is presenting a unique exhibition titled “Essential Luz.” This will be composed of 30 works done by National Artist Arturo Luz from 1997 to 2004. The exhibit opens on Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m., and runs until March 14.

There are few artists who truly define the ethos of Modernism better than Luz (honored as National Artist for Visual Arts in ’97). Distilling what appears to be figurations into their essential lines, shapes, and forms  and often against the alluring simplicity of a minimalist backdrop  Luz has pioneered and defined Philippine abstract minimalism. Transforming mystical cityscapes and temples into blocks, circles, colors, and lines, Luz is a firm stalwart of the international movement for minimalist abstraction, in the same vein as the likes of Gerardo Rueda, Isamu Noguchi, and Fernando Zobel.

“Essential Luz” features the master’s classic series, including his acclaimed cityscapes. “Cities of the Past,” for instance, presents the mysticism and grandeur of a city long since gone. Luz, in a Cultural Center of the Philippines documentary, recounts that much of his cityscapes and temples have been influenced by the allure of lost cities that he’d encountered in his travels  Borobudur in Indonesia and Angkor Wat in Cambodia among them. By taking his memories and extracting the essential components of form, the artist creates a dazzling city of the imagination.

Galerie Joaquin Main is at the corner of P. Guevarra Street and Montessori Lane in San Juan City. For information, call 723-9418 or 723-9253, e-mail info@galeriejoaquin.com, or visit www.galeriejoaquin.com.