THE seventh installment of Conrad Manila’s “Of Art and Wine” series, aptly called Art Harvest, is the hotel’s biggest exhibit to date, with artist Ross Capili curating 64 works of art by 32 contemporary Filipino artists. The show runs until March 9 at the hotel’s Gallery C.
Gallery C, the hallway and exhibition space of Conrad Manila, often hosts exhibits including the “Of Art and Wine” series done every few months, “but nothing has been done in this scale” said Laurent Boisdron, Conrad Manila’s general manager, during the exhibit’s opening on Feb. 12.
He noted that their exhibits used to have three to four artists, each of them showcasing two to three works each, but this time 32 artists have works on display.
But what is more impressive was that Mr. Capili managed to mount the exhibit with just two weeks lead time.
“I love making things hard for myself,” he told the media with a laugh before adding that he was having lunch with some of the hotel staff to talk about his upcoming exhibit later in the year when they asked if he could curate an exhibit to celebrate National Arts Month in two weeks.
“So I went and e-mailed 36 artists and asked them if they have artwork that they haven’t exhibited yet or new work — just make sure the paint’s completely dry — and told them to get back to me within four hours. Thirty-two replied,” he said.
And Mr. Capili, who has had over 30 one-man exhibits to his name and runs a self-named studio, lived up to the exhibit’s theme of Art Harvest by presenting a wide collection of works — paintings, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and digital art from artists such as Pandy Aviado, Joan Balbarona, Rico Lascano, Alain Pascua, Sam Penaso, and Cid Reyes, among others.
“It’s a harvest so it should be bountiful,” he said of the large number of works present in the exhibit.
Unlike other exhibits, Mr. Capili decided not to put the work’s title and artist on a little card beside the works and opted to use codes like “1A” and “1B” instead because “I want them to experience the work personally” and remove any preconception that may result from reading the work’s title. The title, name of the artist, and the work’s price are all indicated in leaflets.
Some of the works in the exhibit include Jik Villanueva’s Good Harvest, a brass, narra wood, and semi-precious stone sculpture of an ant which is selling for P1.9 million; Jane Arrieta Ebarle’s Hibla sa Gallery C (2019), and acrylic on canvas painting priced at P90,000; and Fil dela Cruz’s Lahing Kayumanggi (2018), an oil on canvas painting priced at P208,000.
All the artworks in the exhibit are for sale. For inquiries, e-mail angelica.restrivera@conradhotels.com or call 833-9999 or Ellen Capili at Studio Ross Capili, Inc., at 0917-627-3193 or e-mail studiorosscapili@yahoo.com. — ZBC

IN celebration of National Arts Month, the BPI Foundation is showcasing works from 14 of the 17 National Artists for Visual Arts until May 19 in its Images of Nation exhibit at the third floor galleries of the Ayala Museum in Makati City.
“We want to democratize art for Filipinos,” Maricris San Diego, executive director of the BPI Foundation, said of the exhibit at a media event on Feb. 6 at the museum.
“Since last year, the BPI Foundation has been taking a more active role in supporting the flourishing local art scene. While this primarily entails the maintenance of the BPI’s art collection, we believe our part also includes educating the public about art appreciation and inspiring creative talents through exhibits that demonstrate our cultural wealth,” she was quoted as saying in a press release.
The works showcased during the exhibit’s run are all part of the BPI art collection, a collection of more than a thousand paintings and sculptures.
“The objective is to promote and inspire, especially our young students. The educational system [is] so complex that not many of them get exposed to arts and culture as they should,” Mariles Gustilo, director of the Ayala Museum, said in the same event.
The exhibit is curated by Kenneth Esguerra, senior curator and conservation head of the museum.
The Order of National Artists (Orden ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the highest national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. Awards are given in Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film, Broadcast Arts, and Architecture and Allied Arts.
The award was created via Proclamation No. 1001 in April 2, 1972 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos and was first conferred (posthumously) to Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo.
The exhibit features works by Fernando Amorsolo, Arturo Luz, Vicente Manansala, Ang Kiukok, Abdulmari Asia Imao, Victorio Edades, Napoleon Abueva, Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera, Jose Joya, Botong Francisco, J. Elizalde Navarro, Cesar Legaspi, Hernando Ocampo, and Federico Aguilar Y. Alcuaz (it does not have pieces by cartoonists Francisco Coching and Larry Alcala, and sculptor Guillermo Tolentino).
In all, 45 works of art are on view in the exhibit. These include an untitled BenCab from 1995 featuring three women; a 1965 Edades painting of a church; a 1973 Sarimanok sculpture by Imao; a 1988 painting called Baguio Weekend by Joya; and an undated Juggler painting by Luz.
Images of Nation runs until May 19 at the Ayala Museum, Makati Ave. corner De La Rosa St., Greenbelt Park, Makati City. For more information, visit the Ayala Museum’s website. — Zsarlene B. Chua