Freeway Presents Vicente Manansala

It has been a while since I have posted about Freeway, but this event, honoring National Artist Vicente Silva Manansala, was held last October at Glorietta 5′s The Row. This post has been late because my press kit CD was blank and I thought I wasn’t able to take photos since my camera’s battery had run out on that day. For that I apologize. It was a good thing that I was digging through all my blog backlog photos and found that I was able to take a few snapshots of the event’s highlights.

Hosts Tim Yap and Divine Lee interview the people closest to Manansala: Maritess Mendoza-Pineda, President of Friends of Manansala Foundation; Cedie Lopez-Vargas of The Lopez Museum; Ronna Manansala, granddaughter of the artist

In any case, I suppose it was about time that Freeway featured Manansala’s works. Most art enthusiasts would probably be aware that Manansala was a cubist painter, that his works exhibited creativity that was well beyond his time. Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga and received formal education at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts and was taught by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo. Because of his artistic genius, he was given scholarships by both the UNESCO and the French Government.

His work translated to fashion.

He later evolved his technique to come up with “transparent cubism”, wherein he created a multidimensional, layered look that played with tones and patterns.

To date, various local and international institutions and museums can boast of housing his artworks: The Honolulu Academy of Arts, The Philippine Center in New York, Lopez Memorial Museum, Singapore Art Museum.

The night was memorable in a way because Ronna Manansala, the artist’s granddaughter, was able to share a lot of her grandfather’s personal life. It was especially amusing when she explained the story behind the painting of her grandmother, which Manansala created right before they were to consumate their love for the first time. The man certainly knew how to live life with such passion that it shows in his work.

Models wearing Freeway's tribute to Manansala.

For this, I would like to say kudos to Freeway for making Manansala reachable to us who are unable to afford Manansala’s paintings. It is with great honor and pride that I can wear his works even if I cannot have them on my wall.

You can view the rest of the photos below.

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