Kevin Cabrera's "A.B. Solution"

CEBU, Philippines - While a passive, level-headed state of mind can be implied in "A.B. Solution" as the exhibit's title, the inner-workings of the show's presented pieces were not exactly bound by the title's metaphorical strings.

"A.B. Solution," which ran recently in Qube Gallery at The Henry Hotel in Banilad, highlighted the tenacious creativity of artist Kevin Cabrera, whose effective understanding of pencil and graphite as a medium was congruently matched by his capacity to create visual tableaus that are steeped in life's forever-constant ironies.

Channeling the different challenges the artist had to deal with while growing up, "A.B. Solution's" etching-inspired works went beyond visual art's role in capturing beauty where it could be found - saying something about how dynamic a "basic" medium like pencil and graphite could be in the creation of subtly systemic-yet-overt art pieces.

In its overall presentation, "A.B. Solution" rendered the traditional archetypes associated with pencil and graphite as inept, enlightening and reminding audiences in how "dark" could be both literal and poetic in art, and how the line stands to be the most essential item in any artist's visual vocabulary. (FREEMAN)