‘Aguilar Alcuaz: A Picturesque Journey in Europe’ at Alliance Française
The Alliance Française de Manille (AFM), with the support of the National Museum and the Embassy of France, present “Aguilar Alcuaz: A Picturesque Journey in Europe.” The exhibition’s opening night is on June 1, Monday, at 6:30 p.m. at the Alliance Total Gallery and will run until June 30.
This exhibition will also be an opportunity to invite some of the most brilliant Filipinos and French people, who like Aguilar Alcuaz, have been decorated by the French government in the past decades, thanks to their achievement and their engagement.
National Artist of the Philippines for Literature, Francisco Sionil Jose will be guest of honor. A close friend of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, he has been recently awarded Officier des Arts et des Lettres. F. Sionil Jose has written a special Homage to the painter that will be published in the exhibit’s catalogue.
This exhibition is also made possible with the support of the Crown Plas Museum, Coronet Enterprise Inc., Crown Plastic Products Inc., Metrobank Foundation and Charter Ping An Insurance.
Since Federico Aguilar Alcuaz had been proclaimed the title of National Artist for Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture, and Mixed Media in 2009, there has never been an exhibition on his works. The Alliance Française de Manille, with the support of the National Museum and the Embassy of France, is the first institution to organize an exhibition on Aguilar Alcuaz since then.
This exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate one of the most relevant and prolific artists of art history as well as one of the most awarded in the Philippines. By traveling extensively during his career, Aguilar Alcuaz has contributed in creating a cultural bridge between the Philippines and the European countries that he has been in. As a multifaceted and curious artist, he worked with many different media like painting, ceramics, tapestry, sculpture, and drawing but also with many themes: portraits, landscapes, cities skylines, still-life, and so on.
The ambition of this show is to explore the works Aguilar Alcuaz had produced in France, Spain, Germany, and Czech Republic from 1955 to the mid-1980s. It will be organized in four sections representing each country.
Cocktails is at 6:30 p.m. For information, call 895-7585 /895-7441. Alliance Total Gallery is located at Alliance Française de Manille, 209 Nicanor Garcia St, Bel-Air II, Makati City. There will be a short lecture on the works of Alcuaz on June 23, Tuesday, 10 a.m to 12 nn at the Alliance Auditorium, to be presented by Christian Aguilar, son of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz.