Abstracted Voyages

CEBU, Philippines - The collected works of Monsignor Virgilio Yap were put on the spotlight in Abstracted Voyages, in its month-long run as the featured exhibition in the Alternative Contemporary Art Studio in the Sacred Heart Parish.

A part of the gallery’s retrospective series of exhibitions, the show celebrated its opening last February 8, with its closing ceremonies held on March 25, 2013.

Showcasing 14 circa 1970s pieces done by the artist-priest, Abstracted Voyages was presented as a tribute to Cebu’s first modernist, whose contributions to the local Cebuano art scene jumpstarted the rise of modernist views.

With its featured pieces loaned from the collections of the Cebu Cathedral Museum, collector Betty Cobonpue and the Yap family, Abstracted Voyages takes its title from the body of works featured in the show, essentially mirroring Yap’s artistic mindset and views during his travels to Morocco and Vietnam.

Born in 1940, Yap is popularly regarded as the “grandfather of Cebuano abstraction”, whose trademark style is defined in breaking down representational compositions into solid colors and straight lines, without losing their luster.

Backed by a philosophical light that is straightforward yet profound, Yap’s contributions in spearheading a new movement in Cebu’s artistic landscape is altogether groundbreaking in its scope, a sampling of which was easily captured by Abstracted Voyages.

In collecting a selection of Yap’s works, Abstracted Voyages goes beyond archiving the artist’s travels and growth, with the show easily framing the modern art movement’s rise at the time.

With pieces bearing the sensibilities of Piet Mondrian and with works steeped from Marc Rothko’s sense of balance, color and tone, Abstracted Voyages puts Yap’s and modern art’s influence in the growth and direction of Cebu’s artistic standards, views and mindsets.

Abstracted Voyages takes its title from the body of works featured in the show, essentially mirroring Yap’s artistic mindset and views during his travels to Morocco and Vietnam.