Qube Gallery: Heirs to the Throne art exhibit

Painting is a talent that only the chosen one’s possess, some people are born with it while others have developed this talent after training and practice. I wish I had this talent in me so I can pour all my emotions and express myself through painting. But I’m not sad that I do not have this kind of talent because all of us are artists on our own ways. For me my artistic side is through fashion styling.

 

Last May 20, I attended the art show called Heirs to the Throne: A rising artist series at Qube Gallery. This features the painting and artworks of Thomas Jopson, Lhee Taneo, Kenichi Wani, Wyndelle Remonde, Marvin Natural and Kidlat.

 

Wines were served to all guests.

 

The kings and queen of the night, from left; Kenichi Wani, Kidlat, Lhee Taneo, Wyndelle Remonde and Marvin Natural.

 

These are the artworks of Kidlat.

This is my most favorite, the painting is called “Handler”. The moment I entered the gallery this is what caught my attention. I happened to talk to Kidlat about his styles of painting and he told he paints random things. The series of paintings that you see has small butterflies, but he corrected me because those are moths and not butterflies. The moths signifies memories and just like moths they are scattered all around. I asked him why is the handler holding the chicken is a girl? And so he answered that it is wife and that the chicken is him. That totally melted my heart.

 

This is another painting of him that intrigued me. He said that the numbers are numbers for Suertres (a three-digit lottery game derived from Spanish word Suerte ” luck” and Tres “three”), because every morning when he wakes up that is the scene that he is sees outside his house.

 

Kidlat is a member of the street art group Ubec Crew and Junks Collection. His style is minimalist with the use of black and white with pops of color. Each of his paintings has message in them that chronicles his life experiences and the things he sees around him.

 

These are the paintings of Kenichi Wani.

The first thing I noticed with his paintings are the round heads. He said that back in college, his thesis was about symbolism, he wanted to create something that symbolizes him so he made his work of art like him. His paintings are very personal because he sees himself in it along with his friends. Just by looking at his paintings I can see how wide his imagination and how he channels fantasies in rainbow colored pastel paintings.

Kenichi Wani is a Filipino-Japanese painter, he graduated at the University of the Philippines with Fine Arts degree in Painting. He only uses oil and canvas in his paintings with colorful and playful style.

 

These are the paintings of Thomas Jopson.

He was not present during the event but his paintings speak so loud you cannot ignore it. This painting is my favorite. I love every painting with a woman figure in it, just like how I love the Mona Lisa painting of Leonardo da Vinci.

Thomas Jopson is a Tacloban native which makes me so proud because I am also from the Leyte province. His style in painting consist of fantasy arts and magical realism. His childhood played a major role why he pursued fine arts, because back when he was younger he is a comic fan and he would draw and sculpt his favorite characters.

 

These are the paintings of Wyndelle Remonda.

He has a very different style in painting. In one canvas he can use oil, acrylic, spray paint and textile paint. It is like a collage of everything he wanted to convey in a fine and clean details. Every painting has meaning and it is with us how we interpret what we see.

Wyndelle Remonde was once a graphic artist before he quit and focused on painting that is why he loves incorporating cartoons in his paintings. His primary influence is his father who is also an artist.

 

These are the paintings of Marvin Natural.

He is the only artist I didn’t had the chance to talk to, but based on what I see on his painting, I noticed that he loves to paint “reality”. He paints what he sees around us; the imperfection of the world, people’s struggles and people on their daily activities. It’s full of emotions with perfect details.

Marvin Natural already established his name in the art scene; he exhibited his works here and abroad, and he already gained recognition on his previous works, but continuously amazes us with every paintings he create. This truly proves that art is always a work in progress and we get better each time as we master our craft.

 

Last but not the least is the only girl artist Lhee Taneo.

She is the youngest and the most promising. Her artwork is extraordinarily because she uses small shells of different colors instead of paints. This is the first time that I saw this type artwork. She buys shells in bulk then she sorts them out by colors. Imagine how time consuming is that? The white shells are boiled for the white color to come out, some of the shells are chlorinated to achieve desirable color. She uses wood, not canvas because canvas cannot hold the shells. A lay out will be made on the wood before she starts gluing the shells. One artwork takes 3 weeks or more before it will be finished.

I salute this girl for a job will done, you’re only making every women proud and make us feel that it is really the girls who run the world.

 

Before I left the event, I had the chance to have a photo with Arcy Gayatin, a Cebuana fashion designer. If painters have mentors, we fashion bloggers also have inspiration and some of the people who inspires us are fashion designers. It was indeed a pleasure to see her and talk to her during the event.

 

This time with Micah Almazan of A-list. It was nice to meet finally you and thank you for having me. It was truly a wonderful night full of beautiful things to see.