“Ugnayan,” a Lesson on Collaboration and Exchange

The dominance of Manila as the center of the Philippine art scene has long defined the narrative of success and visibility of Filipino artists. But this centralism might soon be yielding...

Registration Opens for Visayas Island Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference Aklan in November 2025

VIVA ExCon, or Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference, is the longest-running biennial gathering of artists and art communities from all over the...

A Room to Breathe

The conversation began quite organically, in 2024, with Johanz Mercurio simply showing up at Thrive Art Gallery, talking about this project he and his...

[Ink]lings and Pain[things]: The Art of J. Elizalde Navarro

Today is the birth anniversary of J. Elizalde Navarro. The National Artist would have been 101 years old today.  Personally, I found him to be a rather obscure figure among...

Artist Log: Why do we need to paint in layers in Oil Painting?

I learned oil painting as a kid by joining several art workshops since grade school and then eventually reading technical art books and eventually watching tutorials by American oil...

The Émigré and the Arcadian: Ramblings on a Shared Patrimony

By a late invitation, I was able to attend the vernissage of ‘The Patrimony of All’, the exhibit of Lunas, Hidalgos, Amorsolos, and Arellanos at the main performance hall...