CEBU, Philippines - While today's contemporary arts scene is dominated by hallucinogenic premises, controversial social commentaries and absurd narratives, in no way does this mean that there's nothing going on in visual art's traditional representational genre.
"The Filipino Way of Life" - the first group exhibition for this year by the Cebu-founded Portrait Artists Society of the Philippines Inc. - veritably illustrates this point; without clawing for relevance, without dramatizing the limits of situational ethics.
Currently on exhibit in the 856 G Gallery, "The Filipino Way of Life" gathers close to 30 works by the members of the organization, with each of its showcased art pieces primed in framing a foundation that is close to every Filipino's heart - the Filipino way of life.
Given the fact that the show's presented works are by Cebu's masters of portraiture, the Italian chiaroscuro technique in painting is predominant in almost all of the show's featured visual tableaus - effectively saying something about how Cebuano artists have mastered the Italian-inspired painting technique.
From landscapes to beachscapes, narrative paintings to works that capture the day-to-day life in the countryside, the exhibit proudly exemplifies how the manipulation of shades and space can yield dramatic compositions that extend the bounds of narration and representation.
In its entirety, the show is driven by one of the key foundations that push visual artists to create, to capture beauty where it can be found, just as its showcased works lead viewers to the poetic wealth and epiphanies one can find in the everyday things in life.
The Filipino Way of Life runs until the second half of March 2014 at the 856 G Gallery, Business Walls, 856 A.S. Fortuna St., Mandaue City.