Aligaen, Cobcobo, De la Cruz and Quirante at Pinto Art Museum

MANILA, Philippines - Daniel Aligaen, Joey Cobcobo, Daniel de la Cruz and Ian Quirante holds simultaneous shows — “Karpinterror: Triquetra,” “Grand: Ojiisan/Obaasan (It’s Great to be Grand),” “ Every Dream needs a Dreamer,” and “Stimulus,” respectively — which are slated from Nov. 23 to Dec. 18 at Pinto Art Museum, Silangan Gardens, No 1 Sierra Madre St. Grand Heights Antipolo City.

In “ Karpinterror: Triquetra,” Aligaen presents a series of diagram-like works that echo the designs of talismans and other folk power objects. Aligaen renders his works in a graphic style, lending a contemporary street art edge to iconic and symbolic images.

Cobcobo re-mounts installations from his “Lola 101” series of prints, plus video work and objects from his recent residency project in Yamaguchi, Japan in “Grand: Ojiisan/Obaasan (It’s Great to be Grand).” The installations and prints reflect Cobcobo’s work in documenting the lives, achievements and legacies that is attendant to being a grandparent. As a homecoming show of his pieces from Yamaguchi, Cobcobo also features — alongside selected Filipino grandparents — interviews, drawings and artifacts of Japanese elderly whom he had the opportunity of collaborating with. The artist considers this installation as a “crossing,” an opportunity to present a comparison of cultures between Filipino and Japanese attitudes towards old age and living into maturity.  

Dela Cruz encourages the viewers to pause and to trust the flow of the reverie with his outdoor installation work, “Every Dream Needs a Dreamer.” Installed in the Museum grounds and gardens are rocking chairs and figurative sculptures that highlight the message of “sitting back to dream” as a counterpoint to the excesses and rapidity of contemporary life. The artist makes use of the garden environment as a context for his work and allows interaction so that musing, dreaming and passive creative thinking can take place.

Quirante  poses questions on the biological and genetic frames of organic existence in “Stimulus.” By combining and fusing forms from natural and biological worlds with classical architecture and modern objects, the painter attempts to create a hybrid of living and nonliving beings in the spirit of technological achievements to fuse such a creation, using nanotechnology as an example. The off-tangent and often surprising encounter of such dichotomist images on canvas borders on the surreal, and proposes a whole new world, like a manifesto for the future.

For inquiries, call 632-6971015 or email at pintoartmuseum@yahoo.com.