VISMIN: The Philippine Art Exhibit by Philippine, Art Award Winners

CEBU, Philippines - Masterworks crafted by the who’s who in the Visayas and Mindanao’s visual arts scene are the centerpiece highlights of VISMIN: The Philippine Art Exhibit, currently on exhibit in Qube Gallery Persimmon Plus.

Celebrating its opening last May 10, the exhibition showcases works made by the winners of the 2011-2012 Philippine Art Awards, including Cebu’s Dennis “Sio” Montera, Jose Villacin, Marvin “Chito” Natural and Florence Cinco, Iloilo’s Lester Amacio, Gary Custudio, Mariano Catague, Peter James Fantiaigo, Reneboy Chona, and Rommel Garde, Butuan’s GM Licong, and Cagayan de Oro’s Chris Gomez and Jericho Vamenta.

On exhibit until May 30, VISMIN is more than a collection of works made by award winning artists, framing the dynamic direction the region’s artists are treading on.

Sio Montera’s “Face Time-Face Off”, one of the works featured in the show, easily stands out in representing how abstract expressionism is becoming a mainstay artistic movement in the region’s artistic sights, just as Chito Natural’s “Star Witness” provokes as sense of awe and awareness in viewers though its playful take on the ideals of thematic contrast.

Lester Amacio’s “Considering Grey” does well in exploring the bounds traditional representational compositions are known to take on, pointing to the utilization of space, tone and structure in molding a distinctly unique visual tableau. “The Portrait of Unsolved” by Reneboy Chona also elicits a similar emotion from viewers, with its contemporary take in the making of portraits.

GM Licong’s utilization of non-traditional mediums is also one of VISMIN’s more notable highlights, with “When My Light Fades Out” and “The Animal in Us” artistically crafted using sawdust as a medium.

The thought provoking artistic views of Chris Gomez can be easily seen in “Young” and “Old”, just as the impressive composition and process-oriented etchings of Jericho Vamenta, as seen in the works “Tagay” and “Imposture”, are among the standout pieces showcased in VISMIN.

As 2013 continues to trail on, it’s become apparent that artists hailing from the Visayas and Mindanao regions are taking a bolder, more exploratory stance in the creation of works and masterpieces.

VISMIN: The Philippine Art Exhibit, as a show, illustrates this point to those who question this ongoing state.