“LU-AD Tulon” is a folk expression alluding to one’s level of tolerance. If you cannot take it, spew it out. The term is often used as an expression of strong emotion and is invoked in the same spirit by 10 visual artists behind the group Puwersa Pintura.

Neil Benavente, Gwen Decena, Joe Geraldo, Intel Japitana, Tristram Miravalles, Bopep Montinola, Mikiboy Pama, Juan Rosalia, Tatang Talanquines, and Dominic Tanudra explain that their type of work may not easily be digestible, but then again the audience has a choice.

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Puwersa Pintura is an independent art group composed of LCC Fine Arts students and professionals who came together because automatic membership in clubs felt limiting and they find that they can better organize themselves to serve their needs and eliminate certain barriers. In a quest for self-expression through a medium, “Lu-ad Tulon” is the first of the group’s 2009 exhibitions, and each of the 10 participating artists came up with 2 works of 2’x2’, 2 works of 3’x3’, and one big 4’x6’ work for curation.

Benavente’s provocative works on oil on canvas are drawn from his surroundings. The sentiments expressed are similar to his unguarded attitudes; he only regrets that things we can fix, we tend to leave unfixed.

His images explore the graceless disparity around him, a rosary and a cigarette, a snake about to strike, a snake on a mask. He explains that “as time passes by and the world grows older, we become more senseless to the highest point.”

Decena used acrylic on canvas in her pantomime series. Her works are about people who tend to mime, create their own limits and imagined boxes. They become blind to the truth that everyone can be powerful; they seek for the freedom that they already have in the first place. People make thousands of choices every day, but her challenge in this exhibition is only one of two, “luad” or “tulon.” Gwen is a graduate of the LCC Fine Arts course major in Advertising. She has participated in group shows, is still searching for her version of truth, but trusts that through her art she will be able to show others her view of the world.

Geraldo’s works in oil on canvas can only be described as intense. His message is short and cryptic: life is hopeless. To him, contemporary living is ridden with hatred and falseness. Joe has created a name for himself in the visual arts, most especially in the sculpting medium. He has had several exhibitions of note around the country.

Japitana’s photography series is composed of three works sized 16”x30” and 2 works sized 8”x15” on photo paper. This series of self-portrayals in the nude are reflective of experiences in a woman’s life. It explores relationships and confessions of a past. With the scandals nowadays, the artist would like to present the nude as something that is not pornographic. She did nude photography because she feels that

clothes tend to hide and the nature of confession is bare. Intel is an Architecture junior at LCC with “Lu-ad Tulon” as her 4th group show. She was also with “Behind the Scenes” and “Lugar Lang,” both at the Negros Museum.

Miravalles’ works in oil on canvas are the Arsonist 1 & 2 and Black Shirt where the subject matter is a view of the Catholic Church. The collection of works is a comment on the kind of things that a Christian country allows in its midst like the religious molesting their students and the constant raising of tuition that goad women to go into prostitution just to keep in school. He questions the role models, the guides who are themselves into vices. He says that these he cannot swallow and his defiance of the system is in his art. Tristram is a full-time artist, participated in major group shows, and plans to have a one-man show next year. He claims that what he sees, he weighs and he expresses all out.

Montinola’s oil on canvas is a series of four works with one storyline focusing on hunger. His statement is on why hunger never leaves, on politics and corruption, and on people with unmet needs who continue with their sacrifice. Bopep is a senior Fine Arts student who majors in painting at LCC. He has participated in group shows, is a member of Pintor Kulapol and AAB, and plans to pursue painting full time. He explains that through hunger, social issues come to the fore, the rich grow richer, the poor poorer, a clear case of “lu-ad tulon.”

Pama’s works on oil on canvas is a series about the youth of which he is a part of. In his observation, the youth has a different culture and it starts with chaos that finds roots in family and the environment. This series of chaos culminates in a suggestion of a solution in the big work entitled Metamorphosis. He explains that you start with yourself, knowing that what is happening here is happening outside. He sees this as a negative-positive cycle. If you don’t find a way to make it possible, you just go around in circles, aware but not conscious enough to act. Mikiboy has had group exhibitions such as “Open Season,” “Majica 3,” and “Paghidartist” at Gallery Orange, “Lugar Lang” and “Behind the Scenes” at the Negros Museum. He graduated with a degree in Fine Arts major in Painting from LCC and is a full-time artist.

Rosalia’s works on oil on canvas are part of a series about the system of government in the Philippines. The board game series uses Monopoly and Snakes and Ladders with almost all snakes and broken ladders, which means it is easy to go down but very hard to go up. The playing cards in a game locally called “amo-amo” is portrayed with monkeys as players. The scrabble is also used but this time with negative expressions, showing that the mind tends to go around the same circles. The big work called the Joke Box is not supposed to be opened until May. It’s in this piece where there are caricatures of politicians who are supposedly representatives of the country becoming the game masters in a no-win situation.

Talanquines’ works on oil on canvas he dubbed as Saka Panaug. He explains that a good economy is necessary for man to prosper, movement is necessary to avoid stagnation. He used a turtle that is trying to reach a goal, a man on a bike who is also going for a certain aim. Falling elements are used to show Panaug; they think they are up there but they are falling and landing buried. Tira Basura, on the other hand, interacts with the first series of poverty wherein they find flimsy sustenance in garbage. His big work “Pagsikway sa mga Mahisaon” is about crab mentality.

Tanudra’s works are in oil on canvas. His artwork focuses on different phases of immorality and the agony unexpectedly experienced therein that are still happening in the present. He intends that this set of artworks will serve as an eye-opener, will give us a heads-up that such immorality and agony exempts no one, male or female, young or old. Anybody unaware and helpless can be a victim, and humiliation cannot only be conducted by a stranger, but there are rare chances that it could also be initiated by the closest person in one’s life: the family. His images symbolize lack of faith, fear of God, and humiliation.

“Lu-ad Tulon” opens today, June 5, 7 p.m., and will be available for viewing until June 30, 2009 at Gallery Orange, Orange Building, Lopue’s Mandalagan Annex, Bacolod City. Gallery hours are from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.