Habagatan

“Habagatan,” meaning “South” or “from the south,” assembles this selection of works as an avenue for regional art and cross-cultural exchange. Thirteen artists from The Vismin Art Collective gather in this exhibition to seek common ground: to offer diversity. Hailing from different regions in the Visayas and Mindanao, the artists transcend geographical boundaries while paying homage to their roots.The Vismin Art Collective consists of awardees, finalists, and winners of the recent Philippine Art Awards. The group came together as a result of the competition, spawning a collective thrust to promote art and fellow artists from their home turf.

In “Habagatan,” Philippine Art Award Grand Prize winner Jericho Vamenta offers his signature sgraffito technique, layering color and scratching away at the surface to arrive at a distinctly narrative piece. Dumaguete winner Jana Jumalon-Alano incorporates personal items and found objects in her mixed media series, shaping each artifact into an offering. From Butuan and Iloilo respectively, Gualberto Licong and Mariano Catague mine heavily from Southern lore and society in subject and style. Cagayan de Oro native Christopher Gomez evokes Basquiat in his subversive interpretation of portraiture.

Together, the works are not just a sampling of what lies south of the center: they also serve as vessels for the artist’s identity and individual art practice set against his cultural milieu.