Tuesday, September 20, 2011

One-Man Exhibit :TOTI CERDA -- I Will Do Anything for Peace & Freedom

If you happen to be in Makati from Sept. 22 to Oct. 16, drop by at Greenbelt 5 and check out Toti Cerda's interesting exhibit.

Press Release:

Premier watercolor artist or figurative/ hyper-realist painter TOTI CERDA moves out of his comfort zone – that of depicting children at play in watercolor – to portraits of iconic world figures in acrylic in his latest exhibition at the Altro Mondo gallery. He throws the question “What personal sacrifice would you make to attain peace and freedom?” to these figures and answers it himself with his rendition of 12 4’ x 5’ paintings.

These acrylic paintings include images of -- among others – political figures Mahatma Gandhi, Jose Rizal and Mao Tse Tung; actors Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee; musicians Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Bob Marley; artist Salvador Dali, scientist Albert Einstein, and even Jesus Christ!

The exhibit – which is Cerda's first as a freelance artist -- opens officially at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 at Altro Mondo Arte Contemporanea, at the 3rd Level of Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City.

“This is non-traditional rendering, different from what I used to do” Cerda said. Although done in acrylic, the effect is grainy and has the feel of a watercolor painting. The paintings somehow remind one of Andy Warhol, Chuck Close or our very own Ronald Ventura.

In 1987, Cerda started doing pen and ink renderings as an illustrator of comics publications. From being a comics illustrator, he became one of the house artists of an Ortigas-based gallery for 13 years. From the years 1997 to 1999, Cerda bagged the grand prize at Gallery Genesis’ Kulay sa Tubig Annual Watercolor Competition. Years after being elevated to the Hall of Fame, Cerda emerged as the hall of famer of the competition’s Hall of Famers. He has since then reaped awards from the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) and the Philippine Art Awards of Philip Morris.

The exhibit runs until October 16.

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