“PAC:K: Philippine Art Collective,” a collection of works by London-based Filipino artists Yveese Belen and Malcolm Mendones is currently exhibited at Letchworth Art Center, 2 The Arcade, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3EW, United Kingdom.
Oil- and acrylic-on-canvas paintings, with the artists’ distinct styles, are featured.
Belen, who was twice an Art Petron honoree (Grand Prize in 2000 and honorable mention in 2003), also received the Benavidez Award for excellence in the visual arts when she was a student at the University of Santo Tomas where she took up Fine Arts. Her faceless, straight-legged figures are often seen gathered around train tracks or traipsing along ladders, the tracks and rungs created by a scratching technique that is a staple in her artworks.
Mendones, who is another colorist, uses hues that complement his favored abstract surrealism. His renditions of abstract figures begin with lines whose ends are hardly discernible—their lithe and supple intertwining heighten the viewer’s visual perception.
With their strength in colors, Belen and Mendones succinctly convey through their works traits such as resilience, and being passionate.
“PAC:K: Philippine Art Collective” runs until April 30. E-mail arterymanila@gmail.com for more details.