Fundacion Sanso holds back-to-back exhibitions to benefit art scholars program
It is quite an unusual combination: two vastly different exhibitions tied together by Fundacion Sanso’s art scholarship program and the legacy of Presidential Medal of Merit Juvenal Sanso.
The first is a peculiar exhibition of sculptural interpretations of Sanso’s skull paintings which he popularized in the 1960s. Entitled Past Expressing after a 1960 ink painting of a skull wreathed with flowers by Sanso, the exhibition is of jazzed-up resin casts of a clay sculpture interpretation of the painting by young sculptor Pepe Mendoza commissioned by Fundacion Sanso for the purpose of raising funds for its scholarship program for art students of Bulacan State University.
The roster of artists who were invited for this exhibition is an exciting mix of established and emerging artists who gave a variety of responses to the call of Fundacion Sanso. Agnes Arellano, Richard Buxani, Jonathan Dangue, Janos Delacruz, Louie Ignacio, Kenneth Montegrande, Francis Nacion, Roel Obemio, Marge Organo, and Melissa Yeung Yap, all responded by painting over the resin casts. While Michael Cacnio, Anton Del Castillo, Kristine Lim, Jomike Tejido, and the very young artist Teo (the son of Michael Cacnio) all responded in a sculptural manner.
Toym Imao’s sculptural interpretation, Birth of Athena is a radical reinterpretation of the skull emerging from a sculpted head. These works, which are currently exhibited at Fundacion Sanso, will be made available for purchase through Art Lounge Manila, to bolster the funding for the scholarship and grants programs of Fundacion Sanso, which connects it to the second exhibition called Pamana sa Panahon ng Pagbabago.
Pamana sa Panahon ng Pagbabago features works by the current batch of scholars of Fundacion Sanso at the Bulacan State University. The exhibit, which was structured as a competition, is Fundacion Sanso’s way of introducing this new batch of scholars to art practitioners, gallerists, and collectors, who will eventually be involved in the growth of these budding artists. Noreen Alfonso, Jack De Castro, Geofrey Allan Diezma, John Niño S. Esguerra, Charles Andrei Espiritu, Kent Francis Macapagal, John Miguel St. Montemayor, Marc Louie Punongbayan, and Miguel Voluntad created works inspired by the idea of the intangible heritage that should be passed on to the younger generations, particularly in a world adapting to vast social changes in response to COVID-19.
The scholarship program, which was formalized in 2019, has had 22 scholars in its roster of beneficiaries. Other programs by Fundacion Sanso are a curatorial grant, microgrants for artists in collaboration with Linangan Art Residency and the Cultural Center of the Philippines 13 Artists Awards, and an upcoming thesis production grant inspired by the late artist-professor Leo Abaya for Fine Arts students at the University of the Philippines which is in collaboration with the Imao and Alcuaz families.
Both exhibitions run until November 12, 2022. Fundacion Sanso is open Monday to Saturday, except holidays, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The museum is at 32 V.Cruz St., Brgy Sta. Lucia, San Juan City, Metro Manila. Admission is free.
For inquiries, please email [email protected] or check out the institution’s Facebook and Instagram pages.