Cebu in art

CEBU, Philippines – Come October of this year, 12 Cebuano artists will mount an exhibit in Malaysia with works reflecting the best that Cebu has to offer. The exhibit will anchor on the theme “Cebu: People, Places and Faces” and intends, not just to give local artists international flair but also to entice Malaysian art aficionados to consider visiting and investing in the province.

But, as they say, before stepping on foreign land it would be wise to discover your home turf first, because admittedly, who could claim that they know every inch of their place. This is exactly the driving force that inspired the artists, under the auspices of ArtistscebueX, to open a series of exhibits in Banilad Town Center before displaying their masterpieces in neighboring Malaysia.

Their plan is to first come up with a group exhibit followed by a series of two-man shows until every artists are given the opportunity to showcase their works to the Cebuano audience.

Last July 3, 10 artists of different persuasions and style, amassed their works, both old and new, to showcase the best that Cebu has to offer. All artists are active in Cebu’s art scene, helping elevate the Cebuanos’ sense of culture and identity.

Artists featured are Celso Pepito, Cesar Castillo, Kimsoy Yap, Billy Pomida, Audie Estrellada, Benji Goyha, Jobril Villaver, Fe Madrid-Pepito, Maxcell Migallos and Gabriel Abellana.

In the exhibit you would see some of the best works of each of these artists. I particularly took a liking to Yap’s surrealistic rendition of Christ. It showed his mastery of his medium of choice, watercolor. The strokes may seem to be done haphazardly but it elicited the effect that the artist would have wanted, resulting in a masterpiece that a novice art enthusiast such as me would only view as total genius. Soothing, reflective, empathic.

Pepito, who is known to inject his philosophy in his art, also showed a different face in this exhibit. For the first time, I was able to truly appreciate the genius of Pepito, his mastery with different media, his versatility in style. One of his works on display, “Where Simplicity Is” was crafted in a style that is not the trademark Pepito. Gone where the sharp corners and the octagon that he said symbolizes hope. Here we have a fairly common barrio scene with kids coaxing a cow to move. The landscape is so familiar to us who spent most of their childhood in the countrysides. Although the octagon was nowhere to be seen, hope is everywhere in the scene – the lush greenery, the children playing, and even the vast fertile land that screams “Use me! Use me!”

Castillo, on the other hand, showcased his works done in watercolor and some in oil and acrylic. The one common theme of his works was the subject, which almost always involved water or if not, a vast space that seems to elicit a meditative experience. You would also see his flair for the dramatic, invoking a sense of serenity and familiarity. Take the “Violin” for example. A simple subject, yet, the way the musical instrument was depicted and the way the sharp color of the instrument was contrasted by the dullness of the wall, would give it a musical spirit that would make you swear that you heard someone play a Paganini.

Another excellent artist, whose work I came to appreciate and like, was Billy Pomida. Who would have thought that a window or a wall would be so beautiful and capture so much emotion? The detail and the excitement over a piece of concrete, is beyond me. Only an artist can make something ordinary extraordinary. In “Façade” you will find a window with a half opened curtain, which suggests a person peeking through the shadows. Sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but “Façade” is beyond that. What one would see is only the beauty of the structure and the intricacy of the details.

Indeed, Cebu is world class, and it is privileged to have extraordinary artists with an exceptional mission. Cebu: People, Places and Faces is but a step towards integrating art, tourism and commerce. What better way indeed to show to the world, and even to the locals, the beauty and the richness of the province than through the brush of artists who sees beyond the ordinary.