When one closes, another one opens

Ang mga babae sa buhay ni Ato: MAG artists Tess, Debbie and me;

wife Sylvia and daughter Alcina [photo by Enzo Habulan]

On the last day of Rurok, Mang A. had the reception for his Takatak exhibit at BAP. I'm proud to have worked behind the scenes for this show. What amazes me most about the pieces are the trompe l'oeil effects and the fine palette knife work in the triptych. You have to see them for yourself.

The following morning, it was time to take everything down at the Art Center.

There's something depressing about removing the hooks and the numbers on the wall yourself. It's the end of those months of planning, painting and preparing. Time to start over.


I took these wall numbers home to photograph them before discarding them. It might be a while before I'll be in a show with 130 tiled paintings again.

It was cool that my parents helped out during egress. I hope they'll never tire of going to exhibit openings and hauling paintings with me. There will be much more to come.

===

[photo by Enzo Habulan]

Window text:

"I know that I am a paradox, a person of contradictions and dualities. As a young artist in the '70s, we learned about historical materialism as a core value of social realism. Yet, my art exudes the spirit of melancholia, metaphysical and subjectivity. No doctrine or ideology can box me in."

I adore this shot of the Habulan girls, who look almost like sisters. I must be reading too much into it, but having your daughter and granddaughter all dressed up and playing together at your opening, and looking through a glass window with your name on it must warm the heart of a sentimental romantic. I haven't been moved by a photo this way in such a long time.