Steel Life

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"Steel Life"

" STEEL LIFE "
by Ricky Francisco


Presenting Sam Penaso’s 27th solo exhibition STEEL LIFE at the Megamall Art Center following his grand prize win at the Don Papa Rum Art Competition and residency in London; Galerie Francesca offers a substantial number of the acrylic silkscreened images over stainless steel sheets which enabled the win, along with a representative number of his sculptural works.

The new silkscreen-on-stainless steel works include the addition of elements and techniques which ground them to traditional Filipino cultural icons while retaining the globalized imagery that Penaso has developed over the past decade.  The repousséd and chased pieces integrate techniques used in the traditional carrozas and metal ornaments of santos.  Repetitive sanded circles recall the embellishing techniques found in our jeepneys.  And the weaving of stainless steel in silver and gold tone is inspired by our own banig.  The monochrome and dichrome silkscreened images present a variety of images bound by a theme.  They insinuate the instantaneous access to knowledge brought about by both the internet and our ever increasing globalized world, and the accumulation and accretion of knowledge, capital, experience, and power, at a pace never before experienced by humanity.  This is the genius of Penaso, an artist who grew in Bohol, trained in silkscreening with his uncle in Manila, and grew in sophistication through his exposure to the art centers of the world: New York, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, Vienna, Berlin, and London, where he has either had a residency, an exhibition or a performance – he is able to integrate our culture with that of the world.  He proves that the Filipino artist strides the global and the local at the same time.

Sam Penaso is a multi-disciplinary artist whose works include traditional painting, sculpture, performance, and hybrid works which straddle these disciplines.  He has held solo exhibitions in Japan, Thailand, Austria, Germany, Singapore, among others. represented the Philippines in the Nippon International Performance Art Festival in both 2005 and 2011 and has participated in the the Asian International Art Exhibition, Ayala Museum, Manila; ArTriangle, Malaysia and Young Art Philippines, Luxembourg with his “Stripedwalker” performance.  Penaso received several art grants; including Don Papa Rum residency in London in 2019, an Asian Cultural Council (ACC)  International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York in 2013. After being a finalist in the 2006 Beppu Asia Biennale of Contemporary Art in Japan, Penaso won the first place in the 2012 Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition, and a string of other wins thereafter, including the 2013 finalist at the Winter Grand Salon Show in New York, First Prize in the 2014 and 2016 GSIS Art Competition.  In 2018, the Philippine Art Awards gave him an award of merit.  In the same year, he was awarded the Metrobank Awards for Continuing Excellence and Service (Metrobank ACES).  The grand prize for the Don Papa Rum Arts competition is his most recent win. Penaso is one of the core members of Tupada Action and Media Art (TAMA) a group of performance artists and an active member of the Art Association of Philippines (AAP).

Sam Penaso’s STEEL LIFE opens on July 22, 2019 and runs until August 2, 2019.  For inquiries, please call Galerie Francesca at +632 5709495/6592667 or email galeriefrancesca.mega@gmail.com/galeriefrancesca001@yahoo.com.ph

"Bejeweled Landscapes"

"Bejeweled Landscapes"
By Grace A. Ng

Perfecto Palero Jr. has always been completely fascinated by the natural world -- the subtle color changes of a flower, the story that a rock, a tree that is home to various living creatures can tell the earth’s interesting history. Nature cannot be improved upon, but Palero captures a sense of its astonishing beauty and grandeur through his ethereal paintings.

“Bejeweled Landscapes” will open with an Artist Reception on Wednesday, June 19 at 6PM. The gallery is located on the 2nd Floor of Phase 2, UP Town Center, Katipunan Ave, Diliman, Quezon City. For inquiries, contact Galerie Joaquin at (+63)2 247 1109 or emailgaleriejoaquin@gmail.com. Exhibit will be on view from June 17 to 26, 2019.

Perfecto “Buboy” G. Palero Jr. (b. 1980) is the President of Mustra, a Morong Rizal Artist Group. Last 2012, Best Western Premier F1 Hotel commissioned Palero, along with 3 other artists, to come up with paintings exclusively for the hotel. The commissioned artists delivered approximately a substantial number of paintings which are now on display in the hotel’s 243 rooms. A semi-finalist at the Metrobank Arts and Design Excellence (MADE) in 2010,

Palero’s first solo exhibit titled “Summer Hues” at the Art Gallery of the Philippine Heart Center was awarded “Best Solo Exhibit” during the gallery’s anniversary in 2014.

Consciously, the artworks are somewhat inspired by traditional Chinese paintings, specifically the majestic Lu Mountains. Chinese artistic expression has always been deeply imprinted with Palero’s oeuvre. The layers of paint evolve into a unique and one-of-a-kind creation; and jewel tones of color emerges, a fitting representation of the richness of life. The flow of colors is depicted to resemble stone, water or metal, ceramic, or gems. Viewing Palero’s bejeweled take on landscape paintings, it is clear that the artist’s depictions of nature are seldom mere representations of the external world. Rather, they are expressions of the mind and heart of the artist through interpreted visual imagery.


The starkness of the landscape, the relationship of air and water, and recurring images of standing trees and birds, all carry symbolism on a number of levels, both personal and universal.

The exhibit seeks moments of breath-taking transition in nature; when the elements of the landscape combine with the alchemy of imagination. Palero’s paintings aim to capture these fleeting moments in time and reveal the serene center that can arise in the midst of nature’s turbulence in the modern times.

The ability to reproduce a glimpse of what Mother Nature displays for us, is truly a gift Palero wishes to share. His desire is for the viewers to feel the wonder and beauty, the magic and awe in his creations as it is his interpretation of the beauty of the world and the environment that he shares wholeheartedly.