Need a breather from the holiday rush? Explore these art exhibits

An important element of the holiday season that many people seem to forget is taking a breather whenever possible. With bad traffic and parties frantically piling up the festive month, a visit to art exhibits sounds like a nice escape from everything that could drive you wild. But don’t just settle for any random art gallery. Here, we’ve listed a few exhibits that you should make your way to, from a space that has put together a selection of music theory works to one that features the “first Filipino movie star in Hollywood.”

Finding Elena, Archivo 1984

La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City Nov. 27 to Dec. 30 Multi-awarded writer Wilfredo Pascual stages an exhibit that focuses on Elena Jurado, the “first Filipino movie star in Hollywood.” The exhibit tracks her rise to fame in the early 1920s, following her appearance in the movie “White Hands” up to her final performances as an actress in “What Price Glory” in 1926, and “A Girl in Every Port” in 1928.

Transposition II, Nova Gallery

Warehouse 12A, La Fuerza Compound, Chino Roces Ave., Makati Dec. 21 to Jan. 4, 2020 Music theory defines transposition as the “shift of a melody to another key, without changing its overall structure.” This concept is what drives Jerome Choco’s solo exhibit forward, recasting scenes from European artists’ works as moments in the lives of band members and transposing music into visual arts.

Dance with the Mayflies, Tin-aw Art Gallery

UGF Somerset Olympia Bldg., Makati Ave. cor. Sto. Tomas St., Makati City Dec. 7 to Dec. 21 Mayflies have one of the shortest lifespans in the animal kingdom, only living within 24 hours. These insects exemplify the impermanence of existence, a concept that Tin-aw Art Gallery’s latest group exhibit tackles. It’s comprised of works from the likes of painters Allan Balisi and Antipas “Biboy” Delotalvo and visual artists Jonathan Ching and Melvin Culaba.

ZIGAZIG ah!, Silverlens Galleries

2263 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City Dec. 7 to Jan. 11, 2020 In collaboration with weavers from Keningau, Borneo and Pulau Omadal, Semporna, Sabahan artist Yee I-Lann is mounting an exhibit highlighting works that have emerged from her collaborations with these communities. “ZIGAZIG ah!” explores how patterns are assigned meanings through rituals while bringing the practices and aesthetics of two different communities into dialogue.

59.59, Silverlens Galleries

2263 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City Dec. 7 to Jan. 11, 2020 Award-winning professional sound designer Corinne de San Jose is combining her craft with her artistic instincts as a photographer in her latest solo exhibit. Using 118 radios playing an audio loop of crickets chirping, “59.59” explores how sound is filtered and interpreted, and ultimately how we perceive our representations of silence.

Death Death, Sampaguita Projects

13 Manager St. GSIS Village, Brgy. Sangandaan, Project 8, Quezon City Nov. 30 to Dec. 21 San Francisco-based artist and printmaker Marcius Noceda’ exhibit hopes to explore real and fictionalized narratives on death. “Death Death” launches inquiries on the facets and intimacies of death through meditative pieces and symbolic imagery.

Curatorial Development Workshop Exhibitions, Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center

Roxas Ave., University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City Dec. 7 to Mar. 7, 2020 In collaboration with the Japan Foundation and the Philippine Contemporary Art Network, Vargas Museum culminating its 2018 Curatorial Development Workshop with an event centered around the concept of “space.” It features exhibits that focus on astrology, local design practices, and questions on colonial institutions.