ArtLounge Manila’s POINT COUNTERPOINT exhibit features Perfecto Palero, Stella Schapero and Jo Uygongco, three artists with their own distinct style of manipulating paint. In these trying times, painting calms the nerves and the three have come together to use their artwork for one purpose: to raise funds for ICM’s Planting Seeds of Hope for VisMin’s poorest. A generous portion of sales will be donated to ICM, which has delivered meals to 3+ million and distributed more than 350,000 gardening kits (130+ million seeds) to help millions help themselves during this pandemic.
PALERO’s ethereal landscape paintings capture a fascination with nature’s subtle color changes. Palero was a 2010 Metrobank Arts and Design Excellence (MADE) semi-finalist. Since his first solo exhibit at the Philippine Heart Center in 2014, he has had numerous solo exhibits including “Bejeweled Landscapes” at Galerie Joaquin in June 2019. Many of his works are showcased at BGC’s Best Western Premier F1 Hotel.
STELLA’s mixed media assemblages balance antique and craft found objects to evoke 19th/early 20th c. colors and textures. Her signature 20×20 inch works are inspired by 2×2 inch brooches designed by Austrian architect and Weiner Werkstätte co-founder, Josef Hoffman (1870-1956), a recurring inspiration since she first saw one at the Neue Galerie in New York in 2008. She manipulates paint to create faux semi-precious stone on canvas. Stella had a solo exhibit in Manila in 2009 and regularly joined Pintura Circle group art shows in HK.
JO’s marbling technique allows slowly coagulating pigments to merge lava-like, to create colorful abstracts. In recent years, Jo has ventured into more intuitive art, choosing less control and allowing natural flows. Jo has had paintings juried in into: Fabriano in Aquarello 2018 and 2019 in Italy; six IWS biennale exhibits (HK, Albania, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal); and the IWS-Philippines Watercolor Convention and Exhibit in 2017 and 2018 in GSIS Museo ng Sining. Jo actively joins group art shows and conducts Intuitive Art workshops.
All three artists have donated to ICM’s fundraisers in the past. Stella and Jo proposed the exhibit to Susanne Tiausas of ArtLounge Manila and to Carla J. Teotico and Nico Teotico of Galerie Joaquin, friends who have supported ICM’s work for many years. Eileen Bondoc-Escueta curated. The exhibit runs from Nov 2 to 15, 2020, at ArtLounge Manila’s G/F satellite space in the Podium in Mandaluyong City.
International Care Ministries (ICM) is a faith-based NGO with a mission to free the Filipino ultra-poor from the bondages of poverty. Operating since 1992, ICM has graduated over 1.4 million Filipino family members from its four-month anti-poverty training program called Transform. ICM’s wide network of 10,000 pastors and partner churches in the Visayas and Mindanao allows the organization to deliver supplies to communities that needed them the most. ICM is manned by 500 full-time staff (98 percent Filipino), primarily located in twelve bases in the Visayas and Mindanao. Field bases are supported by the national program office in Manila. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.caremin.com.
