Reviews>Art
The Microscopic Michelangelo
The statue of David carved out of a single grain of sand? The Thinker on a pinhead? Whip out your magnifying glass for Willard Wigan, nano sculptor. Paolo R. Reyes sizes him up in London
Low & Behold
Da Vinci and his disciples may have been light years ahead of their time, but the low-brow masters of the 21st century are also installing a new meritocratic Renaissance—version 2.009, that is. James Gabrillo and Paolo R. Reyes pin down 16 state-of-the-art specimens that deserve a second look or a good laugh
Command & Conquer
Charlie Cojuangco’s NOVA Gallery finally opens its doors this November with Conquistador. But its debut show, Juana Manahan-Yupangco discovers, has a more altruistic purpose: the Rogue Media-Art Cabinet study grant
Shell Shocked
Using ostrich eggs as her oval canvas, industrial designer Lilianna Manahan serves up a scrambled basket in her upcoming show, Omelette. But beneath the shell, Jay Abastillas finds nothing light or fluffy
The Lady Bug
Jane Eyre meets Arachnophobia in the skin-crawling show of Sotheby’s heavyweight Geraldine Javier, an ex-nurse with a new fascination: insect taxidermy. Trickie C. Lopa gets bitten by the bug
Brash Strokes
He’s nabbed an Oscar nod and a Golden Globe, but filmmaker Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) insists he is, first and foremost, a painter. Before flying in for his one-man show in Manila, Rogue met with the bohemian chameleon in Singapore
Divine & Conquer
His Bible-inspired images sold for P1.9 million at Christie’s—setting a new record for Philippine photography. But for folk singer-turned-photographer Emmanuel “Mannix” Santos, music remains his divine muse.
Masks and Mirrors
On the surface, the surreal works of Bacolod-based artist Charlie Co may seem detached and dreamy. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll discover a hidden duality.
Altar Ego
Life magazine called it “The Church of the Angry Christ,” a small chapel in northern Negros whose controversial altar mural depicts a grim, unsmiling Jesus as a brown-skinned messiah
Flesh Forward
Trained as an animator, visual artist Olan Ventura, with his eye-popping impressions of the naked human form, draws inspiration from the sensual side of life—or so we all think.
The Surreal McCoy
Now based in the misty mountain hamlet of Sagada, the surreal paintings of Brian Uhing—or Bruihn, to Manila’s gallery-going circles—are both brilliant and bewildering.
Spectacular, Spectacular
Daring in vision and wildly original, New York-based stage and costume designer Eduardo “Toto” Sicangco fills the Ayala Museum with scale models and fetishistic pieces painted with his broad, brash brush.
Beast in The Buff
Weaned on heavy metal, ice cream and Hello Kitty, L.A.-Based graffiti artist Buff Monster breezed his way into the world’s pop-cultural consciousness with his cotton-candy landscapes of clouds, pastel critters gone bad, and breast-like orbs. His excessive use of pink may border on the illegal, but this fluorescent beast deserves to be uncaged.
Eat Your Art Out
If the medium is the message, then Lena Cobangbang’s Overland series—which uses food to create fantasy landscapes—is scrumptiously meaningful.
Don’t Be A Stranger
Could he be the next Bencab? The graphic artworks of Leslie de Chavez may be creating quiet ripples in the capitals of Korea and China, but the 29-year-old Filipino painter is, quite ironically, a virtual stranger in his own land.
Identity Crisis
From despotic first couples to noontime show production numbers, the strangely compelling paintings of Igan D’bayan point to the idiosyncratic way filipinos deal with history, science, and religion
Point and Shoot
No stranger to the wars and revolutions of our planet’s checkered past, hard-nosed photojournalist Charles Harbutt possesses a sensitive eye for the human condition and a refined sense of looking around.
Sleeve Nation
When judging an album by its cover, the aesthetic harmony of sound and art always comes into play.
Panx Not Dead
Today, the term “punk” is applied to describe a musical genre, a style of wardrobe, and a marketing approach. The line “Punk’s not dead” has acquired novelty interest as a catch-phrase to mean almost anything
