BY JASON SY
ART Circle Gallery (ACG) has launched the exhibit titled “Epithets of a Woman” as part of the ManilART 2019 event last Wednesday at the SMX Convention Center Aura.
The exhibit aims to discuss representation and intersectionality of women in art.
It features works from visual artists such as Michael Velasco, Jeff T. Dizon, Gil Maningo, Tish Alcantara, and Jaime Nepomuceno.
Gallery staff said the exhibition was “more than a showcase of talent — these are stories of triumph against adversity, of breaking new ground, and of braving the future, told in the hands of artist — storytellers pushing the narrative of gender representation and equality forward.”
Tish Alcantara envisioned “her story” in her artworks, painting women in the backdrop of a re-imagined history, or as demonstrations of the achievements of the female specie in the present. Her work, Gravitation, depicts the image of a young samurai woman facing her male lover, a fellow samurai, in a separate canvas.
Quoting Einstein’s mantra that “gravitation cannot be held responsible for two people falling in love,” the piece talks about a female samurai’s first love.
Alcantara put in a hint of ambiguity in her works despite having researched through historical figures to inspire other women to look for who they were taken from and to allow the viewers to see themselves in the works.
The works of another young Velasco showcased pieces that reflected the confidence of women through their vulnerability. Velasco’s Shamisen Goddess depicted a woman in her purest exterior, unfazed by her rawness and innocence.
For him, the future for women is bold and he displays this through his stoic and confident depictions of women.
ACG has branches all over Metro Manila, the most notable ones in the metropolis’ big malls. Managed by owners Pip and Kitten Alcantara, ACG opened its first gallery in 1991.
