Cebu through the eyes of 21 artists
To officially launch the 90th Founding Anniversary celebration of the Casino Español de Cebu, one of the metropolis’ oldest, most sought-after membership clubs, 21 talented Cebuano artists presented an awesome exhibit of 90 paintings. The paintings showcase the distinctly Spanish architecture, such as centuries old churches, often visited landmarks and urban Castillan landscapes that dot Cebu City.
Notable artists included Pronnie de la Cerna, whose works show influences of two great American realist painters, Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer.
Celso Duazo Pepito has always been consistent with his personal vision of family and brotherhood as well as the value of labor and hard work. Joined by his wife Fe Madrid Pepito, an optometrist by profession, she favors pastels and oil as media and is happiest doing flowers.
Jose Mari Picornell, a lover of the impressionists, focuses on the ancient structures in Cebu before these disappear forever. The works of Luther Galicano ll are done mostly in masterful brush strokes in somber colors, emboldened by splashes of warm tones done with spontaneity.
Jose Kimsoy Yap Jr., a graduate at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts in New York , makes conscious use of line and space lending a deeper drama to each painting. Sonia Yrastorza works mostly in oil and watercolor and her pieces are a celebration of life, from the nostalgia in ancestral houses to the quiet reverie in old ceramic and porcelain.
Antonio Alcoseba and Darby Alcoseba are both comfortable in watercolor landscapes while Ritchie Quijano’s canvases tend toward the abstract.
Antonio Vidal is best-known for his angels and Madonna and Child compositions while Mar Vidal is considered one of Cebu’s best known portrait artists.
Completing the list are Gabriel Abellana, Raul Agas, Cesar Castillo, Felix Catarata, John Dinglasa, Jaime Francisco, Guido Lubanga, Maxcel Migallos and Chikoy Romualdez, whose works in oil, pen and ink, pastel and watercolor show painstaking attention to detail and beauty.
