“Samboan Impressions”

CEBU, Philippines -  Just as there are differences in being bold and being blind to the truth, “beauty” also has its share of personal imaginings and interpretations – at times benevolent, sometimes conscientiously overbearing, always spectacular.

This multi-faceted aspect of beauty is the glue that binds “Samboan Impressions,” as the exhibit focuses on what beauty is to a number of Samboan’s visual artists.

Presented by Cebu Artists Inc. (CAI) with the support of the Ayala Center Cebu, the show gladly draws what beauty can be without the intonations of fraudulent assertion or the vaudeville acts that often come with high-pressure sales pitches.

In a time when decorative density is often equated with “beautiful,” the exhibit’s showcased pieces are a refreshing sight to behold – as they cut the flow of the murky bathwater that dilutes beauty’s pure and pristine consistency.

In “Samboan Impressions,” viewers are reminded of how beautifully rich the municipality’s cultural heritage is through intricate representations of its historic landmarks – from paintings of the St. Michael Archangel Church, to watercolors of Samboan’s centuries-old Watch Tower.

In “Samboan Impressions,” the beauty of the sunset is duly framed – captured as the gates that open to the world of endless possibilities; as the never-tiring witness of the immensity and magnitude of life; the majesty of the shoreline is free from the ugliness of modern civilization’s entropy, told through landscapes that are unshaped by avarice and overconsumption; the aimless politicking that pegs beauty with high and higher regard is rendered inept; the fluency of time is allowed to hold its own promise – free from the recession of man’s capacity to wonder; free from the farce that has taken over the virtue of being alive.

The exhibit ran until September 6 at the second level of the Ayala Center Cebu’s new expansion.