Sunday, October 12, 2008 Three-man exhibit all set at Galleria Olivia
BE MESMERIZED by the art of three of the best artists in the province that now runs at the Galleria Olivia at the historic Camalig Restaurant, dubbed as TUNGKU: "The Art of Melo, Cruz & Ching" it features artists Angelo Munoz Melo, Jun G. Cruz and Javier Ching.
Angelo Munoz Melo, or simply Melo to friends, believes that artists should serve as "Keepers of the Past," and it is this belief that gives shape and substance to his creative process and creations.
Melo's career spans the entire gamut of the visual arts, as we know it: painting, sculpture, print, installation, mixed media - you name it.
But it is his pioneering work with traditional "earth-bound" materials that Melo is probably best known for, having helped pave the way for what is now loosely termed as "the Kapampangan indigenous arts."
True to form, this proud Kapampangan finally found national recognition in 1996 when he won first prize for his artwork Bulung Aeta (Leaf of the Aetas) in the Diwa ng Sining Awards (Fiber Art-Weaving Category) sponsored by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.
A native of Pulung Cacutud in Angeles City, Melo co-founded the Pampanga Arts Guild.
Meanwhile, Jun G. Cruz is an artist with an unquestionable winning streak.
In 1997 he won first place at the Fiestang Kuliat Open Art Competition in Angeles City, followed by yet another win, one year later, as "Best Entry" in the 1998 Centennial Competition sponsored by the Art Association of the Philippines.
Three years before those "wins," this Angeles-born winner had a mural to his credit installed at Rizal Park in Manila for winning the grand prize in the 1994 Remy Martin National Open Art Mural Competition.
He is a registered nurse by profession, but considers himself a visual artist by practice.
Here is Cruz in his own words: "My expressions correlate with the physiology of life. Medical influences from my professional background emanate freely in my works and evidently exude a vast representation of responsibilities, cultivating the significant purpose of existence. Combining science and transcendent forms of visual creativity, evolves in majority of my pieces which creates an impression of healing and awareness, connecting everything around us."
Salvador Javier Ching is the main man behind Bahaghari, a visual arts group established in Bulacan in 1994.
This Malolos-based artist has had eight solo exhibits to date, the latest of which, entitled "Eggcology," was hosted last year at Gallery Serendra in Taguig City after its successful 2005 run at Bulwagang Fernando Amorsolo, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
He is also well represented in several international group exhibitions around the world--in Vietnam, Malaysia, Korea, Bangladesh, Cuba, and Indonesia, where, in 1985, he served as one of five Philippine representatives to the 3rd Asean Youth Painting Workshop & Exhibition.
An alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts, Ching has been an active advocate of CCP-UNICEF, primarily as a resource person for its outreach program, "Arts Therapy Worshop."
Ching has served as vice president-internal of the Art Association of the Philippines since 2006. (IOF)
