VIBRANT VOICES FROM THE VISAYAS AT SM CITY CEBU
Trailblazing prints and paintings by Cebu’s Manuel Rodriguez Sr., the father of contemporary Philippine printmaking... early works of Boholborn National Artist Napoleon Abueva... oeuvres that bring together the figurative and the abstract by Martino Abellana, the Dean of Cebuano painters... glimpses into Leyte’s Waraynon culture via Dante Enage’s
tuba paintings. The recent “My City, My SM, My Art” stop at SM City Cebu brought mallgoers on an exciting cultural journey around Eastern and Central Visayas — Leyte, Dumaguete City, Bohol and Cebu — which, as home to
generations of artists, have hidden gems to offer.
A joint project of SM, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Shell Philippines, the
Philippine STAR, with support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Centerstage Productions, “My City, My SM, My Art” is a celebration of Philippine visual arts — painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and filmmaking.
The campaign brings art and people together by showcasing the works of masters, modernists and millennials in a road show around the SM Supermalls. Advocating art for all, the team works with communities to mount exhibits, workshops and contests in key cities around the Philippines.
The family of Manuel Rodriguez Sr. — his daughters Erlinda Rodriguez-Gorospe, Marietta Rodriguez Dimalig and Marie Fe Rodriguez Dadivas and son-in-law Dr. Rener Gorospe — flew in from the United States and Bahamas for the event to share their father’s life and legacy to a new generation of art enthusiasts.
Dr. Joy Abueva Rizaari, niece of the late National Artist Napoleon Abueva, and Gabriel Abellana, nephew of Cebuano master artist Martino Abellana, also graced the launch. “My City, My SM My Art” projects partners the Metropolitan Museum of Manila’s Nelda Sansaet and Alexandria Tuico and Freeman’s General Manager Melandro Mendoza, who represented the Philippine
STAR, were also present. The event also brought art lovers Dr. Ochi Golez, Benjie Diola, Elvira LuYm, Ulyson Petilla of the Department of Tourism together with artists Jose Marie Picornell and Professor Radel Paredes.
SM officials led by SM senior vice president for marketing Millie Dizon, SM Prime Holdings vice president Marissa Fernan, and SM City Cebu assistant mall manager Maria Teresa Mempin, warmly welcomed them.
Guests enjoyed the program, which included an AVP hosted by educator and stage performer Mary Rose Maghuyop, featuring the amazing works of Eastern and Western Visayan artists. These works were exhibited in and around the My Art Gallery, which was inspired by the Panay House in the Visayas.
“My City, My SM, My Art” featured Leyte artist Dante Enage, who is known for using the red lauan tan bark tree, the natural pigmenting agent of tuba, a local coconut juice wine, in his amazing works; as well Kitty Taniguchi from the university town of Dumaguete City, whose works celebrate the feminine aesthetic.
Cebu, a kaleidoscope of varying cultures and lifestyles, a meeting of east and west, and a fusion of things traditional and modern was represented by Jun Impas, who is known for his commissioned portraits; Celso Pepito, who has chosen modern cubism as his artistic signature; and Adeste Deguilmo, whose paintings show distortions of figures or what he calls “Distortus.”
The Queen City of the South is also the home of master artist Martino Abellana who lived, worked and taught in Carcar, the Heritage City of Cebu. Born in 1914 to a family of artists, he is considered the greatest of the portrait painters among the third generation of Cebu’s old masters in painting and sculpture. But his greatest legacy was his work in the academe, where he influenced an entire generation of Cebuano painters.
In beautiful Bohol, one can experience the imaginative expressions of its people’s spirit, the vitality of its culture, and the beauty of its artistic world. And it is not surprising that Bohol has many exceptional artists like Henri Cainglet, who is best known for his “found objects” artworks.
The event’s highlight was a tribute to two masters from the region: National Artist Napoleon Abueva and Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. the Father of Contemporary Philippine Printmaking.
National Artist Napoleon Abueva was born in Tagbilaran City, Bohol on Jan. 26, 1930. While studying in UP Diliman, Abueva decided to become a sculptor, studying under Guillermo Tolentino, an avowed classicist. Further studies in the United States, however, encouraged him to pursue a modernist direction.
Among the early innovations Abueva introduced in the 1950s was what he referred to as “buoyant sculpture” — sculpture meant to be appreciated from the surface of a placid pool.
Some of his major works include the sculpture at the United Nations headquarters in New York, “Kaganapan” (1953), “Kiss of Judas” (1955), “Thirty Pieces of Silver,” “The Transfiguration” (1979) at the Eternal Gardens Memorial Park, the UP Gateway (1967), “Nine Muses” (1994), and “Sunburst” (1994) at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.
One masterpiece he dedicates to the Boholanos is the Sandugo or Blood Compact shrine in Tagbilaran City, a landmark at the site of the first international treaty of friendship between Spaniards and Filipinos.
In 1976, at age 46, he was named National Artist for Sculpture in the field of Visual Arts — the youngest to be given that distinction. Although he passed away in 2018, his legacy lives on in the generations of artist he inspired as the Dean of the College of Fine Arts in the University of the Philippines.
Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., on the other hand, was born in Cebu in 1912. He moved to Manila in 1935 to attend the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts where he was mentored by Toribio Herrera, Fernando and Pablo Amorsolo, Fabian de la Rosa and Ramon Peralta.
In the 1930s, Rodriguez was introduced to the art of printmaking and in 1948, he spent a lot of time reproducing his paintings via screen-printing methods. Rodriguez began to experiment with printmaking in the 1950s, making greeting cards of rural Philippine life.
He has said that printmaking is unique because, by creating multi-originals, this art form can help bring art closer to the masses. He left the Philippines in the 1960s for New York to pursue a Rockefeller printmaking scholarship at the prestigious Pratt Graphic Center, and later worked at the print department of the Museum of Modern Art.
Returning to the Philippines in 1962, he opened a printmaking workshop next to his family-owned art gallery and introduced college students to graphic arts. In 1968, he formed the Philippine Association of Printmakers, and for many years brought his prints to art shows across the continents and toured the Philippines giving lectures and demonstrations on his craft.
Rodriguez moved back to the US in the 1970s and settled in New York, where he established “Interarts,” an organization of artists, musicians, and writers. He won many awards for his work —the National Heritage Award in 1967, Patnubay ng Kalinigan Award in 1979, and the University of the Philippines Alumni Association of New York Achievement Award in 1991. In 2007, he was honored with the Presidential Merit Award for his contribution to the visual arts.
Although he passed away in 2017, Rodriguez lives on in his work and the many lives he touched.
With its aim of bringing art and people together, “My City, My SM, My Art” also held a printmaking workshop conducted by Professor Radel Paredes. Michael Albano won the Grand Prize and brought home SM Gift Certificates.
“My City, My SM, My Art” is a takeoff from the previous “My City, My SM” campaign which promotes tourism, “My City, My SM, My Cuisine,” which highlights regional culinary specialties, and “My City, My SM, My Crafts,” a celebration of traditional art and modern Philippine design in cities where SM has malls.