The Filipinas Institute for the Advancement of Arts and Culture (Filarts), founded by publisher and artist Roy Espinosa, launches a coffee table book that explores the cultural identity of 60 Asian visual artists.
Titled “Contemporary Art by Asian Artists”, it features artworks from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. The artists involved articulated to a large degree the cultural identity of their nations.
Espinosa, himself a revered visual artist and international art exhibit organizer, was able to make the artists work for a common purpose despite the pandemic.
“The fluidity by which they address personal issues, societal concerns, and global discourses through the use of visual imagery and textual iconography is emblematic of a heuristic understanding of the role of art as an ever-evolving agency of change,” he shared.
Serving as content editor is writer and National Museum art researcher Ben-Oliver Matias, who worked with co-authors Vanessa Tan Gana and Ruth C. Espinosa.
Filarts advocates the development and advancement of Filipino art by providing the platform from which to navigate the country’s culture and identity. It previously published art books, namely, “Different Strokes 1” (2015), “Different Strokes 2-Watercolor Magic” (2016), “Art Saturday” (2017), “Grupo Kwad” (2017), and “Palettes Feast of Colors” (2017).
It publishes Filipino Artists magazine and South East Asian Artists magazine, and spearheads collaborative art exhibitions to create intercultural exchange between the Philippines and other countries.
“Filarts’ sixth coffee table book also showcases a paradigmatic immersion on depicting universal theme unbounded by geographic border, social status, or race. A multi-faceted approach is shared across time and space by these uniquely talented visual artists as they present a united front in the promulgation of culture through the arts.”
The art book retails at P4,500. For book copy orders and special discounts, call 0921-479-9189.
