drybrush Gallery on the second floor of SM MoA Square at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City presents renowned visual artists Lander Blaza, Paul Dimalanta, Juno Galang, Al Perez, Fernando Sena, and Raul Isidro in an exhibit aptly called “Master’s Touch” from February 1-28. The artworks of the six artists will be on display at the Gallery and can also be viewed at drybrush.com (https://drybrush.com/exhibitions/masters-touch).
The exhibit not only features a diverse range of visual artworks such as paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces. It will also demonstrate the different techniques to art lovers, collectors, and enthusiasts. Through the artworks, the audience will “witness” the artists’ different journeys toward becoming the masters they are now.
Multidisciplinary artist Lander Blaza is known for using a technique called “translayering,” coined from the words transparent and layering. Blaza was a designer for several local and international clothing brands, including JAG and CRISSA. For nine years, was based in Hong Kong as the Product Development Manager at Tiongshan International Apparel, which produces American brands True Religion Jeans and Grizzly Junior Jeans for the local market.
In 2009, Balza returned to the Philippines and established LPB Arthaus, which organizes art exhibits at well-known galleries and popular malls. The multi-awarded artist has staged over 100 group art exhibitions locally and six international ones in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the UK, and Italy.
Self-taught artist Juno Galang gravitated toward the Malate art scene when he was young, and it was there that he learned painting techniques from different artists. A Fine Arts majoring in Advertising graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Galang migrated to the United States, where he was a freelance artist/illustrator in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Vancouver. Later, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, to fulfill his lifelong dream of painting full-time.
Galang exhibited his works in galleries throughout the United States until he decided to retire and move back to the Philippines. He set up a home studio in Paranaque, where he painted modern and vibrant combinations of colors in cubism and modern Impressionism style as influenced by Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Picasso. These days, Sena paints street vendors, village fishermen, farmers, and front liners, who he sees as true heroes of our society.
Paul Dimalanta’s father made a prophecy that his son would someday be a great artist, and it happened. Dimalanta created the shrine “Kamay ni Hesus,” which is now a tourist attraction and landmark in their home province of Quezon. Dimalanta was also commissioned to make a mural in the Gandara Church in Samar. He also worked in the movie industry under the directorships of Eddie Romero and Cirio Santiago. He also worked on the set design of the American movie “Last Chance.” Dimalanta has indeed made his parents proud. He is also the pride of Philippine Women’s University, where he was a professor in the College of Fine Arts from 1976 to 1985.
Fernando Sena is known for depicting themes that Filipinos can easily relate to. These include religious icons, pan de sal, barong-barong, a pile of assorted toys, and scenes from a simple life. Sena’s pan de sal series is acknowledged to be the single most significant body of work immortalizing the common bread on canvas.
Considered the “Father of Philippine Art Workshops,” Sena has appeared in numerous radio and TV shows since the late 1970s and—with the advent of social media—in YouTube videos, on Facebook, and in blogs. In 2015 and 2016, he published two instructional books on drawing and painting.
He also established several art groups, such as KATAG, Dalusapi, and the Buenas Artes Artist Group, that support his advocacy of calling attention to poverty in our midst. Sena’s Art Discovery and Learning Foundation, Inc. have funded 11 scholars to the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. Of this pool, six have already graduated, three of them cum laude.
Al Perez, best known for his church paintings, works with different mediums, including watercolor, oil pastel, and even pen and ink. But the theme of his works reflects deep spirituality and a passion for the Filipino soul and identity. He is known as the “Portrait Artist of Philippine Churches.” Perez also does portraits, still-life, landscape art, metal and wood sculptures, and even scrap art. Perez graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas in 1968. He also studied at the Art Students League in 1984 and the School of Visual Arts in 1996, both in New York.
Abstractionist, multi-awarded painter, and prolific Filipino contemporary artist Raul Isidro‘s works are heavily influenced by nature. He has been called a visionary and is a force to reckon with in the art world, having had hundreds of solo and group exhibits in the Philippines and abroad. His works depict the vibrancy and beauty of nature and the environment.
Isidro entered the art scene in the late 1960s, and in 1969, when man first landed on the moon, he launched his first solo show titled “Lunar Orbit.” From 1968 to 1977, Isidro taught Fine Arts at the Philippine Women’s University. He became the dean of the College of Fine Arts, after which he left to devote time and attention to his art.
The exhibition is a rare opportunity for art lovers and collectors to see the works of these six masters in an exhibit.
You can view and purchase more than 1,500 artworks from more than 250 local artists at drybrush.com and also visit the two physical locations of the drybrush Gallery; one in SM Mall of Asia and one in SM North Edsa. For viewing, payment, and other inquiries, you may contact drybrush via email at curator@drybrush.com or 0917 565 2917.
