Manila Bulletin : Arts & Culture (July 2012)
printed: July 23, 2012. Art Acene.
FIFTY-FIVE by the members of Pasig Art Club will be showcased at the Art Plaza, level 4 of the EDSA Shangri-La Plaza during the club’s 55th annual art exhibit. Aptly titled “Fifty-five”, the artworks consisting of oil, acrylic, pastel, serigraphs, paper collage and sculptures are done by members Jun Montifar, Lhen Perez-Cruzat, Ace Dimanlig, Chiqui Eusebio-Ocinar, Pyt Santos, Manolo Lozada, Tess Dimanlig-Torda, Dan Arriola, Alfred Morales, Alex Gonzales, Julius Dimanlig, Tupe Peralta, Elwin de Jeus, Nito Tiongco, Nasser Zulueta, MJ de Jesus, Melba Tiongco, Gelo Domingo, Kty German, Jo Roxas, Emar Lacorte, Randy Larisan and Eden Tendencia. Guest artists include honorary members Romulo Galicano, Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, Herman Lazo with Eric Cachero, Ral Arrogante and Rex Avila.
Home to many notable and celebrated Pasigueno visual artists, Pasig Art Club will be celebrating its 55th anniversary having been founded in July 28, 1957. It is reckoned as one of the oldest collectives in our country today with four generations of members with diversified artistic styles in its roster. The exhibit will be open on July 28, 2012 with cocktails at 6 o’clock in the evening and run till August 12, 2012.
FIFTY-FIVE by the members of Pasig Art Club will be showcased at the Art Plaza, level 4 of the EDSA Shangri-La Plaza during the club’s 55th annual art exhibit. Aptly titled “Fifty-five”, the artworks consisting of oil, acrylic, pastel, serigraphs, paper collage and sculptures are done by members Jun Montifar, Lhen Perez-Cruzat, Ace Dimanlig, Chiqui Eusebio-Ocinar, Pyt Santos, Manolo Lozada, Tess Dimanlig-Torda, Dan Arriola, Alfred Morales, Alex Gonzales, Julius Dimanlig, Tupe Peralta, Elwin de Jeus, Nito Tiongco, Nasser Zulueta, MJ de Jesus, Melba Tiongco, Gelo Domingo, Kty German, Jo Roxas, Emar Lacorte, Randy Larisan and Eden Tendencia. Guest artists include honorary members Romulo Galicano, Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, Herman Lazo with Eric Cachero, Ral Arrogante and Rex Avila.
Home to many notable and celebrated Pasigueno visual artists, Pasig Art Club will be celebrating its 55th anniversary having been founded in July 28, 1957. It is reckoned as one of the oldest collectives in our country today with four generations of members with diversified artistic styles in its roster. The exhibit will be open on July 28, 2012 with cocktails at 6 o’clock in the evening and run till August 12, 2012.
The Manila Times : Sining Gising arts awake (August 2010)
printed: August 27, 2010. National Commission for Culture and the Arts (featured artwork is by Nasser Zulueta)
Coming Full Circle by Alexis Laura Feliciano
The city of Pasig will forever be associated with the river that snakes through the metropolis, and to the tragic Romeo and Juliet legend that added the romantic flavor to this quaint city. But the city’s art speaks volumes and traverses borders, refusing to be just another tributary element to the historic river.
Now 53 years old, the Pasig Art Club (PAC) is riding the current of change by traveling the river that has sustained their city for so long as manifested in their Golden Legacy exhibit. On view at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Art Gallery from August 5 until tomorrow in the historic city of Intramuros, “Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw” hung the works of four generations of artists side by side in a manner of comparing the techniques of the older generation to those of the younger.
Reliving the times
Having gone through a semi-hiatus period, the Pasig Art Club is now reforming their ranks and is enjoying quite a bustling reawakening to continue what the first generation of Pasigueno artists have started.
“It’s really hard to throw away what our grandparents and parents have started,” Tess Dimanlig-Torda, on of the few women artists in PAC said. “After all, this is one of the oldest art collectives in Southeast Asia.” In the case of the Pasig-based art collective, a heritage of 50 years is made specially memorable with the likes of Fernando Amorsolo, Botong Francisco and Guellermo Tolentino joining in the sketching sessions of Pasigueno artists and helping PAC plant its roots.
From this regular yet informal sketching sessions of the idyllic countryside came the idea of forming an art club that would gather the best artist in the city and bring them together in a single group. But more than just a group of artists, the PAC too was created to further hone the craft and develop the skills of the members in the light of changing times and ever progressing artistic techniques.
Young and Old
Plastered all over the wall of the charming Dimanlig residence which serves as PAC headquarters are tastefully done nudes in varying shades and different techniques. On another part of the house, paintings and sketches of a wide range of subjects dot the varnished walls that spell mastery and an uninterrupted freedom of expression from the members of the collective. All these were done by the 25 members of the group whose ages range from 14-70 plus.
These artists, connected to each other by blood, camaraderie or both, regularly covene for sketching sessions in the Dimanlig House. It does not come to a surprise, however, that the former war hospital is now used as a public art space where the artists get to hang the output of their sessions and workshops as well as other artistic produce.
“In PAC, everybody has his own reality that is why art becomes a language; it becomes a vessel.” Julius Dimanlig, on of the many third generation artists in the group said.
In the manner of saying, art becomes a communicative effort, where despite the apparent age gap, there doesn’t seem to be any difference between the young ones and the elder members. In fact, PAC President Jun Montifar is happy to note that there is no generation gap between generations of artists, further enlivening the culture of artistic excellence in the city and in their group.
“It’s because we all have the same interest that’s why we can relate to each other despite our age differences.” Montifar says of the four-generation members, “PAC will still be alive after thirty years if this continues on.”
The young Dimanlig echoes Montifar’s sentiment: “We have a good momentum now and as long as we keep up with it, this will continue to flourish, and we will all flourish with it.”
Coming home
For many of the artists whose parents have been members and founders of the art club, coming home and being part of PAC is but a natural direction despite having other set of priorities in life.
“It’s in the blood,” Montifar said. But Tess Dimanlig-Torda contradicted this that her passion for the art was awakened because of “exposure to what [my] uncle did in his heyday.”
But whatever it was, family seemed to be the moving factor on the intensity of their passion for what they do. A lot of its members have, one way or another, been influenced by what they have witnessed in the family and have been urged to join in the colorful rendezvous with art.
But a search for one can lead to a deeper connection to art.
A native of Batangas, artist Nasser Zulueta can easily be regarded as an outsider – after all, he isn’t, by birth, a Pasigueno. But PAC has welcomed him in its roster and for him it isn’t just another art group.
“PAC is different from any other art groups, being here feels different. I found a family here.” Zulueta recounted.
Their recent exhibit “Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw” mirrored familial sentiments and affection that abound the PAC and bind its members. There was no artwork that overshadowed the other, no artistic expression that shone above the rest and this bespoke of humility and respect as well as a deep-seated affection for the group.
“We all cherish PAC,” young artist Lionel de Jesus said emphatically, “because the artists in this group are not just anyone, and the dreams that they have are beautiful.”
Today, the Pasig Art Club is well on its way to realizing its goals – starting from a home-based exhibit to a formal art show that will finally give each member wings to fly. In the words of Dimanlig, the Pasig Art Club “has the ability to fly together because when you embrace something so natural, it liberates you.”
Coming Full Circle by Alexis Laura Feliciano
The city of Pasig will forever be associated with the river that snakes through the metropolis, and to the tragic Romeo and Juliet legend that added the romantic flavor to this quaint city. But the city’s art speaks volumes and traverses borders, refusing to be just another tributary element to the historic river.
Now 53 years old, the Pasig Art Club (PAC) is riding the current of change by traveling the river that has sustained their city for so long as manifested in their Golden Legacy exhibit. On view at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Art Gallery from August 5 until tomorrow in the historic city of Intramuros, “Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw” hung the works of four generations of artists side by side in a manner of comparing the techniques of the older generation to those of the younger.
Reliving the times
Having gone through a semi-hiatus period, the Pasig Art Club is now reforming their ranks and is enjoying quite a bustling reawakening to continue what the first generation of Pasigueno artists have started.
“It’s really hard to throw away what our grandparents and parents have started,” Tess Dimanlig-Torda, on of the few women artists in PAC said. “After all, this is one of the oldest art collectives in Southeast Asia.” In the case of the Pasig-based art collective, a heritage of 50 years is made specially memorable with the likes of Fernando Amorsolo, Botong Francisco and Guellermo Tolentino joining in the sketching sessions of Pasigueno artists and helping PAC plant its roots.
From this regular yet informal sketching sessions of the idyllic countryside came the idea of forming an art club that would gather the best artist in the city and bring them together in a single group. But more than just a group of artists, the PAC too was created to further hone the craft and develop the skills of the members in the light of changing times and ever progressing artistic techniques.
Young and Old
Plastered all over the wall of the charming Dimanlig residence which serves as PAC headquarters are tastefully done nudes in varying shades and different techniques. On another part of the house, paintings and sketches of a wide range of subjects dot the varnished walls that spell mastery and an uninterrupted freedom of expression from the members of the collective. All these were done by the 25 members of the group whose ages range from 14-70 plus.
These artists, connected to each other by blood, camaraderie or both, regularly covene for sketching sessions in the Dimanlig House. It does not come to a surprise, however, that the former war hospital is now used as a public art space where the artists get to hang the output of their sessions and workshops as well as other artistic produce.
“In PAC, everybody has his own reality that is why art becomes a language; it becomes a vessel.” Julius Dimanlig, on of the many third generation artists in the group said.
In the manner of saying, art becomes a communicative effort, where despite the apparent age gap, there doesn’t seem to be any difference between the young ones and the elder members. In fact, PAC President Jun Montifar is happy to note that there is no generation gap between generations of artists, further enlivening the culture of artistic excellence in the city and in their group.
“It’s because we all have the same interest that’s why we can relate to each other despite our age differences.” Montifar says of the four-generation members, “PAC will still be alive after thirty years if this continues on.”
The young Dimanlig echoes Montifar’s sentiment: “We have a good momentum now and as long as we keep up with it, this will continue to flourish, and we will all flourish with it.”
Coming home
For many of the artists whose parents have been members and founders of the art club, coming home and being part of PAC is but a natural direction despite having other set of priorities in life.
“It’s in the blood,” Montifar said. But Tess Dimanlig-Torda contradicted this that her passion for the art was awakened because of “exposure to what [my] uncle did in his heyday.”
But whatever it was, family seemed to be the moving factor on the intensity of their passion for what they do. A lot of its members have, one way or another, been influenced by what they have witnessed in the family and have been urged to join in the colorful rendezvous with art.
But a search for one can lead to a deeper connection to art.
A native of Batangas, artist Nasser Zulueta can easily be regarded as an outsider – after all, he isn’t, by birth, a Pasigueno. But PAC has welcomed him in its roster and for him it isn’t just another art group.
“PAC is different from any other art groups, being here feels different. I found a family here.” Zulueta recounted.
Their recent exhibit “Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw” mirrored familial sentiments and affection that abound the PAC and bind its members. There was no artwork that overshadowed the other, no artistic expression that shone above the rest and this bespoke of humility and respect as well as a deep-seated affection for the group.
“We all cherish PAC,” young artist Lionel de Jesus said emphatically, “because the artists in this group are not just anyone, and the dreams that they have are beautiful.”
Today, the Pasig Art Club is well on its way to realizing its goals – starting from a home-based exhibit to a formal art show that will finally give each member wings to fly. In the words of Dimanlig, the Pasig Art Club “has the ability to fly together because when you embrace something so natural, it liberates you.”
Manila Bulletin : Arts & Culture (August 2010)
printed: August 2, 2010 (featured artwork by Pyt Santos)
The Pasig Art Club presents an exhibit entitled "Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw." The show is a collection of artists namely Teresita Dimanlig-Torda, Alex Gonzales, Julius Dimanlig, Elwin De Jesus, Lhen Perez-Cruzat, Lionel De Jesus, Angelo Domingo, Mary Jane De Jesus, Tupe Peralta, Horace "Ace" Dimanlig, Jun Montifar, Pyt Santos, Manolo Lozada and Alfred Morales. The Exhibit will run from August 5 to 27 at the NCCA Gallery, 633 Gen Luna St, Intramuros Manila.
The Pasig Art Club presents an exhibit entitled "Sining Pasig: Bagong Pananaw." The show is a collection of artists namely Teresita Dimanlig-Torda, Alex Gonzales, Julius Dimanlig, Elwin De Jesus, Lhen Perez-Cruzat, Lionel De Jesus, Angelo Domingo, Mary Jane De Jesus, Tupe Peralta, Horace "Ace" Dimanlig, Jun Montifar, Pyt Santos, Manolo Lozada and Alfred Morales. The Exhibit will run from August 5 to 27 at the NCCA Gallery, 633 Gen Luna St, Intramuros Manila.
The Philippine Star : Lifestyle (March 2010)
printed: March 27, 2010. Pet Life.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR AND SWATCH YEAR OF THE TIGER ART CONTEST
A Swatch safari at SM Megamall
Angelo Luigi A. Domingo: 2010 is this tiger’s time to break out and make a difference.
Robert Bryan Desamparado: A combination of paint and foam board gives this stealthy tiger litheness as he emerges from the mist to the top of the crest to stalk his prey.
Kristopher Peralta: Kristopher exchanged his paint and brush for colored paper and a pair of scissors.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR AND SWATCH YEAR OF THE TIGER ART CONTEST
A Swatch safari at SM Megamall
Angelo Luigi A. Domingo: 2010 is this tiger’s time to break out and make a difference.
Robert Bryan Desamparado: A combination of paint and foam board gives this stealthy tiger litheness as he emerges from the mist to the top of the crest to stalk his prey.
Kristopher Peralta: Kristopher exchanged his paint and brush for colored paper and a pair of scissors.
The Manila Times : Sining Gising arts awake (September 2009)
printed: September 25, 2009. National Commission for Culture and the Arts. (featured artworks are by Mary Elwin de Jesus and Tupe Peralta)
GENERATIONS OF BEAUTY by Alexis Laura Feliciano
The city of Pasig has always been a home of romantic endeavors. The serpent-like river coursing through the pages of history made famous spawning legends on star-crossed lovers, beautiful maidens and unity in diversity. The legends of the city include the tragic story of Paz and Virgilio, the story of traders who sold their souls to the serpent, the maidens of Sinag-Tala, Butuhin, and Saga among others. Pasig, too, was home to lush vegetations and rich culture which made it an attractive spot for mestizos who wished a life of tranquility and beauty. Mansions and country homes lined up the river stretch and became a place of comfort and rest for the Filipinos of yore.
Besides legends, the city, which still carries the vestiges of the old-world romanticism, has inspired the 1950 LVN movie "Mutya ngPasig" which starred Rebecca Gonzales, Roger Nite, Jose Padilla Jr., Delia Razon and Teody Belarmino. Later, the dying river gave life to the song "Anak ng Pasig".
More than a legend
But this wealth of history does not only end in both the unwritten and written documents, as the city is also home to many talented Filipinos. Pasig is not just one of the cities that comprise the metro, nor is it just a place located so far away from the heart of power, as manifested by the launching and opening of the art exhibit, Treinta, at the Pasig City Hall last September 14.
The exhibit, featuring thirty works of the thirty members of Pasig Art Club, is a depiction of the thirty barangays that constitute the city.
"This exhibit shows the figure and feature of the places here in our beloved city through the eyes of the artists of Pasig," says Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio in his opening statement.
Carrying the theme, "Family origins...deep-rooted Pasig history from 1900s to present," the artworks also gave creative life to the sleeping history of family interconnectedness and expression.
"The Pasig Art Club is composed of the young and not-so-young people of Pasig," Horacio Dimanlig, a landscape architect and the current president of the Pasig Art Club, said.
By Suggestion
The Pasig Art Club started through the suggestion of renowned artists, which included painters Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco as well as sculptor Ambrosio Morales who always held their art sessions by the river in the 1950s.
The first generation of local artists, inspired by these sessions, trudged along with them and was eventually given the suggestion to start their own art club. According to Dimanlig, it was Amorsolo who suggested that a group dedicated to the arts be established in the heart of the city. In 1957, the Pasig Art Club was born.
Among the first members of the club were stained-glass artist Cenon Rivera, Ambrosio Morales, and art directors and professors. The group evebtually expanded into other art mediums as the first genereation was joined by their descendants.
"Suddenly, there were diverse mediums we had to deal with, like painting, charcoal drawing, and installation art among others, Dimanlig says.Dimanlig added that there used to be sketching sessions, which occupied the weekends of the members.
"We saw to it that we go out of town to sketch," Dimanlig narrates.
At present, the members of the Pasig Art Club are a "mixture of different generations," with most of them belonging to the fourth generation of old family and members.
But the activity stopped, and the Pasig Art Club almost became a defunct group.
"A lot of the original members have already died," laments DImanlig. Add to this the inactivity brought by the Martial Law years which stretched to the first years of the 21st century.
It has only been revived in 2002, where the Retrosprective exhibit was staged at the Pasig Museum. The exhibit triggered the second generation to rebuild and continue the legacy of the previous generation as it featured the works of the original members.
"That was where the second generation met each other and it was decided that the start is to be reactivated," Dimanlig relates. Then the 2002 exhibit was followed, and now the Pasig Art Club exhibits are an annual event at the Pasig Museum.
But the current members of the Pasig Art Club broke tradition and decided to stage Treinta at the PasigCity Hall. Dimanlig said that the mounting Treinta at the City Hall was to bring the arts to the Pasiguenos where there are more people likely to stop by and see.
Treinta is not just some random art exhibit; it reflects the childhood of many, as well as the present city of development and progress.
"I find this city rather unique because we are surrounded by rivers, and you cannot enter Pasig if you do not cross bridges," Dimanlig wistfully narrates. "Pasig is my home--I was born here and my art reflects the Pasig of my childhood as it does in the many of the members' artworks."
GENERATIONS OF BEAUTY by Alexis Laura Feliciano
The city of Pasig has always been a home of romantic endeavors. The serpent-like river coursing through the pages of history made famous spawning legends on star-crossed lovers, beautiful maidens and unity in diversity. The legends of the city include the tragic story of Paz and Virgilio, the story of traders who sold their souls to the serpent, the maidens of Sinag-Tala, Butuhin, and Saga among others. Pasig, too, was home to lush vegetations and rich culture which made it an attractive spot for mestizos who wished a life of tranquility and beauty. Mansions and country homes lined up the river stretch and became a place of comfort and rest for the Filipinos of yore.
Besides legends, the city, which still carries the vestiges of the old-world romanticism, has inspired the 1950 LVN movie "Mutya ngPasig" which starred Rebecca Gonzales, Roger Nite, Jose Padilla Jr., Delia Razon and Teody Belarmino. Later, the dying river gave life to the song "Anak ng Pasig".
More than a legend
But this wealth of history does not only end in both the unwritten and written documents, as the city is also home to many talented Filipinos. Pasig is not just one of the cities that comprise the metro, nor is it just a place located so far away from the heart of power, as manifested by the launching and opening of the art exhibit, Treinta, at the Pasig City Hall last September 14.
The exhibit, featuring thirty works of the thirty members of Pasig Art Club, is a depiction of the thirty barangays that constitute the city.
"This exhibit shows the figure and feature of the places here in our beloved city through the eyes of the artists of Pasig," says Pasig City Mayor Robert Eusebio in his opening statement.
Carrying the theme, "Family origins...deep-rooted Pasig history from 1900s to present," the artworks also gave creative life to the sleeping history of family interconnectedness and expression.
"The Pasig Art Club is composed of the young and not-so-young people of Pasig," Horacio Dimanlig, a landscape architect and the current president of the Pasig Art Club, said.
By Suggestion
The Pasig Art Club started through the suggestion of renowned artists, which included painters Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco as well as sculptor Ambrosio Morales who always held their art sessions by the river in the 1950s.
The first generation of local artists, inspired by these sessions, trudged along with them and was eventually given the suggestion to start their own art club. According to Dimanlig, it was Amorsolo who suggested that a group dedicated to the arts be established in the heart of the city. In 1957, the Pasig Art Club was born.
Among the first members of the club were stained-glass artist Cenon Rivera, Ambrosio Morales, and art directors and professors. The group evebtually expanded into other art mediums as the first genereation was joined by their descendants.
"Suddenly, there were diverse mediums we had to deal with, like painting, charcoal drawing, and installation art among others, Dimanlig says.Dimanlig added that there used to be sketching sessions, which occupied the weekends of the members.
"We saw to it that we go out of town to sketch," Dimanlig narrates.
At present, the members of the Pasig Art Club are a "mixture of different generations," with most of them belonging to the fourth generation of old family and members.
But the activity stopped, and the Pasig Art Club almost became a defunct group.
"A lot of the original members have already died," laments DImanlig. Add to this the inactivity brought by the Martial Law years which stretched to the first years of the 21st century.
It has only been revived in 2002, where the Retrosprective exhibit was staged at the Pasig Museum. The exhibit triggered the second generation to rebuild and continue the legacy of the previous generation as it featured the works of the original members.
"That was where the second generation met each other and it was decided that the start is to be reactivated," Dimanlig relates. Then the 2002 exhibit was followed, and now the Pasig Art Club exhibits are an annual event at the Pasig Museum.
But the current members of the Pasig Art Club broke tradition and decided to stage Treinta at the PasigCity Hall. Dimanlig said that the mounting Treinta at the City Hall was to bring the arts to the Pasiguenos where there are more people likely to stop by and see.
Treinta is not just some random art exhibit; it reflects the childhood of many, as well as the present city of development and progress.
"I find this city rather unique because we are surrounded by rivers, and you cannot enter Pasig if you do not cross bridges," Dimanlig wistfully narrates. "Pasig is my home--I was born here and my art reflects the Pasig of my childhood as it does in the many of the members' artworks."