The Anthem Philatelist

A group exhibition “CHROMATICized”, featuring Paul Arenas , Bong Rafael , Pierre Famador , Sigwada Knicolai , and Shielo May Duterte. “CHROMATICized”, reveals the transformative power of color, engaging the senses and stirring the imagination. Each artwork weaves a story, celebrating the boundless creativity that arises when artists embrace the full spectrum of colors. Qube Gallery, Crossroads 13 January 2024 (Artists’ Reception) 4 PM to 7 PM  

In the autumn of 2013, a group exhibit and art residency in Paris became a shared experience of a band of Cebuano artists that became MUGNA . With this cherished experience and in celebration of the coming Philippine-France Friendship Day on June 26, this exhibit is proudly presented. These select group of artists, now mostly in the academe , came from different groups and represent a wide range of stylistic tendencies that somehow reflect the diversity of contemporary art in Cebu. Except for the Cebuano Master Jose Kimsoy Yap , most of the artists selected then like Melver Mercado , Sio Montera ,  Felix Catarata , Marvin Natural , Joshua Cabrera , Palmy Pe-Tudtud , Gigi Ocampo and Radel Paredes were in their mid-career and active in the local art scene. The group decided to name themselves Mugna (Cebuano for “creation” or “to create”), thinking of a common Cebuano words they could leave to their French freinds to remember. ‭This exhibit marks the first ten (Dix) years of Mugna...

   "A new song, a soulful chant or a simple melody hark back to the senses the obscured movements of nature – the frolicking growth of a bud to a flower, the enthusiastic flow of a forgotten river, the murmurs at the thick of the wilderness where two artists as lovers pause to listen to the humming of indiscernible words, as they imagine better worlds spared from the uncertainties of the present precarious times. In “ Honi ug Banika ”, Cebuano artist-couple Celso Pepito and Fe Madrid bring out their works in a wilderness of hope with this exhibition of recent works made during the grueling period of community quarantine. “ Honi ug Banika ” which translates as ‘melody and nature’ is the couples’ way of contemplation, a necessary exercise of creativity and spirituality that lays open a course of redemptive action amidst the impasse of the pandemic ."       Self Mastery 2021   Mixed Media          ...