Secret Fresh at Manila Art

Secret Fresh Exclusive Release of Art Toys by Bjorn Calleja, JP Cuison 

and Christian Tamondong at  Manilart2011 at NBC Tent at The Fort

Secret Fresh will be gracing this year’s Manilart to be held from *August 24 -27 at The NBC Tent at The Fort *and will be releasing a limited edition versions of Bjorn Calleja’s Color Bringer, JP Cuison’s Rizalborg and Christian Tamondong’s Boxboy exlusively for Manilart. 

Bjorn Calleja’s Color Bringer, to be released in mono and in 15 limited editions, takes off from his previous solo exhibit titled as his toy which is a personification of a reluctant rainbow giver to a world that has ceased to thrive in wonder and imagination. While JP Cuison’s Rizalborg, inspired from one of his line of Gigzilla posters, is a refashioning and modernizing of the national hero in response to today’s fast-paced technology-dependent lifestyle. In Cuison’s own words, he considers the Rizalborg as an “upgrade” by which all Filipinos should aspire for to keep up with the quick pace of development and trends.  The Rizalborg has been included in the Yuchengco Museum’s Rizalizing The Future exhibit.  For Manilart 2011, 6 one-off editions of Rizalborg in Pop Pantone colors shall be released. 

Christian Tamondong’s BoxBoy Skrull, to be released in 20 limited editions, is a variation on his previously released Boxboy which was among the first collectible art toys that Secret Fresh has released in collaboration with a local artist. According to Tamondong, Boxboy is an embodiment of a childhood wish to fly and wander to different places and which only his imagination has enabled him to do so. All these art toys would be unveiled at the Gala opening of Manilart on August 24. 

Also at the Manilart, on *Saturday August 27 at 5PM*, Secret Fresh will be having its own toy auction program, to be commenced by a presentation by JP Cuison who will give a talk on his inspiration behind the  Rizalborg and his Gigzilla line of posters, aside from an introduction to the custom art/collectible art toys scene. This will be complemented with a live demo of art toy customizations by fellow FEU alumnus and Pilipinas Street Plan members Whoop and Nemo Aguila, who both have produced collectible art toys with Secret Fresh. One-off custom editions of their toys Mr. Brain Freeze by Whoop and Bochog Manster by Nemo Aguila would be among those that will be auctioned off together 

with other custom Munny toys.

MANILART 2011 is presented by the Bonafide Art Galleries Organization (BAGO) and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and co-presented by Allied Bank and Contemporary Art Philippines with the support of Bellarocca, Business Mirror, Business, World, Colleen and Derwent Art Supplies, Crown Fine Arts, La Creperie, Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar Heritage Resort, Manila Bulletin, Mercato Centrale, Midas Hotel, Oakwood Premiere, Pebeo Art Supplies, Ronac Art Center, Secret Fresh, Sustain Pro Complex, UNO Magazine, and Uratex Premium.

Crazy Lil Thing Co'llab

A Crazy Lil Thing Co'llab Group Show : Bigboy Cheng, Christian Tamondong, Noel Cruz, Bjorn Calleja, Nemo Aguila, Jason Montinola, Erik Sausa, Dave Lock, Bru Sim, MArcushiro, Allan Balisi, Tatong Torres, Cos Zicarelli, Epjey Pacheco Egg ,Fiasco, Jigger Cruz and Beejay Esber and JP Cuison

31 July - 23 August 2011 Secret Fresh Gallery, Ronac Art Center, Greenhills, San Juan

Collaborations can be seen as transactional negotiations that purports to fairgame without winners or losers but individual dominance eliminated for the pursuit of a unified collective goal. Hence, collaborations can be seen as experiments in social relationships and as an exercise in group dynamics. In art, collaborations have endured as platforms of creative play and or as an open even-handed sport of one-upmanship. The result of which is a picture that integrates the stylistic DNA of all its creators into a hybrid entity that knows no master, free to be its own creature within its plastic domain of viscous paint, gesso, varnish and all the wherewithals of the blood and guts of its consensual wielders and breeders; or the consequence of a win-win solution – agreeing to disagree for a picture whose problem is to complete itself in the mix of conspiratorial hands.

A Crazy Lil Thing Co’llab is one such exhibit which gathers conspirators Bigboy Cheng, Christian Tamondong, Noel Cruz, Bjorn Calleja, Nemo Aguila, Jason Montinola, Erik Sausa, Dave Lock, Bru Sim, MArcushiro, Allan Balisi, Tatong Torres, Cos Zicarelli, Epjey Pacheco Egg ,Fiasco, Jigger Cruz and Beejay Esber and JP Cuison. The process by which conspirators nee collaborators were paired were drawn by lots, the outcome of which would surely be a surprise as they’re forced out of their stylistic comfort zones as figurative painters were paired with abstract painters, with some collaborators meeting for the first time. This show also acts as a laboratory for all such experimentation, or a reanimation of the Surrealist parlor game the exquisite corpse as how Balisi, Torres and Zicarelli executed their collaboration.

A Crazy Lil Thing Co’llab will have its opening preview on July 31 6PM at Secret Fresh Gallery.

The exhibit will run until August 23, 2011 Secret Fresh is at G/F Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Avenue, Greenhills, San Juan MM

Secret Fresh is open from Mondays to Saturdays 2-10 PM and Sundays from 1 - 6PM.

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Press Release