Oakland Museum

Sending a thank you to the Fabulous Favianna Rodriguez for including me in her public art piece at the Oakland Museum of California.

"Skin Script" installation at Project Row Houses

When I was growing up in the Philippines I had no knowledge of Baybayin. It was assumed at my schools that we were an oral culture, and that Filipinos adopted Latin-based writing because we did not have our own. It was not until many years after I moved to the US that I discovered, much to my surprise, that Filipinos had their own form of writing—one that was related to Sanskrit and which predated the arrival and subsequent colonization of the Spanish from 1565 to 1898. In the early 1990s, artists and tattoo artists in California discovered the script buried in a few obscure academic studies and began to bring it back to life, literally, by enshrining it in ink on the skins of Filipinos in the US. It has since been resurrected around the world thanks to the Internet.




As an artist and a student of calligraphy and culture, I am fascinated with letterforms and their power to tell the stories of people—not just in the meaning of words but in the stories that are embedded in the gestures and marks themselves. In learning to write the script and piecing together its story through research and interviews, I felt like I was looking into a mirror reflecting my own story. Nylon, tar, nails, and vellum signify skin, sails, mark making, place (Houston),and the Internet. Tattooed on the outside of the house are the names of the young mothers in this community. The figure in tar is Maria Makiling, a popular nymph in Philippine mythology.

"Skin Script" installation at Project Row Houses

Part of the exhibition "Eco, Xiang, Echo: Meditations on the African, Andean and Asian Diasporas" curated by William Cordova and featuring the work of Glexis Novoa, Albert Chong, Coco Fusco, Ayana Jackson, Crystal Cambell, Marina Gutierrez, Keith and Mendi Obadike, Nsenga Knight, and me.

For a full description of the project, visit my project journal.

"Skin Script" from minette mangahas on Vimeo.

"Runaway Moon" Launch and Reception at SB D Gallery

Had a wonderful time at the opening reception for "Runaway Moon" last Saturday. The books are available at SB D Gallery. In addition to the hand-bound limited edition books, there are prints, a painting called "Sound" related to the series and an interactive ink-painting landscape on the gallery store-front windows.

You can order the book and see most of the paintings from the book at www.RunawayMoon.com.

See more of Sebastian Buys photographs of the reception at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianbuys/sets/72157623224608362/

In Between: The Tension and Attraction of Difference

In Between: The Tension and Attraction of Difference
September 29 - November 25, 2009

Reception with the Artists: Tuesday, November 10, 5:30-7:30pm.

TABI TABI PO!!!

1AM Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Nov. 13 - Dec. 12, 2009

Dedicated to celebrating Filipino folklore through urban contemporary art, San Francisco artist and curator James “gaNyan” Garcia has brought together Filipino artists from the US, Philippines, and Norway to create “Tabi Tabi Po”. The Kapre, Manananggal, Dwende, Tikbalang, and Aswang are just a sampling of these haunting creatures that will be brought to life in this exhibit.

A percentage of the art sales will be donated to the victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng through BAYAN Philippines and BALSA (Bayanihan para sa Sambayanan).

Pacific Asia Museum: Opening Reception

Calligraffiti: 

Writing in Contemporary Chinese and Latino Art

Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California 

September 17, 2009 - January 17, 2010

To listen my excerpts of the audio tour at the museum, call (626) 628-9690 and enter item #611 and #612.

I am so honored to be included in this show. Among the artists featured are my long-time heroes Xu Bing and Wenda Gu. Also featured are Zhang Dali, Chongbin Zheng, Yu-Kun Yang, Chaz Bojorquez, Gronk, John Valadez, and Leo Limon.

My work included a series of parasols created in collaboration San Francisco's Apex and and a painting--"One World, One Dream" that I created as part of a live performance with Desi W.O.M.E. at the Oakland Art Gallery.

Unfortunately, because many of the works belong to private collections, the Museum did not allow photography in two of the galleries. I was able to take pictures only in the gallery with the museum murals and my own pieces.  

Video of Xu Bing and LA graffiti artists creating three murals commissioned by the museum in 2003. 

Site specific mural by Gronk.Views of the one of the three galleries.