Artis Corpus Gallery presents Kim Oliveros in his first solo exhibition featuring oil paintings essaying various relations between subordinate and superior, between aggrieved and aggressor. On view from April 9-30 at at the Inner Room of Sining Kamalig located at Level 4 of Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao, QC. Gallery opens 12-9PM. Entrance is free.

Pow Martinez has found himself consciously sticking to themes of (in his own words) “sex, violence, cuteness, failure, humor, weirdness, and blandness” in his art-making in recent years.

In his latest show for Mag:net Gallery in Katipunan, he apparently saw fit to showcase all of these themes all at once, in each paint-smeared canvas depicting wilting penises in flowerpots, multiple-penis-headed critters walking about in net stockings and mustard-colored Nikes while dripping what appears to be urine, and anthropomorphic pastel-colored blobs bursting with mammary glands and yes, more penises.

Pow thinks of things that strike him as funny whenever he paints (images of sex and violence included). The activity stimulates him to create as if he’s constantly in on an inside joke. He also sometimes likens himself to a filmmaker who makes up his own cast of bizarre characters and allows them to exist in a reality where they have their own set of rules.

He sobers up once in a while to ponder over “good art” and…

Internationally renowned artist Lenore RS Lim, a Filipino printmaker based in New York & Vancouver will present a twenty-year retrospective of her art. The major exhibit of more than 70 pieces of work will include her early prints crafted from carborundum, collotypes, solar etching, monotype from plexiglass markings, xerography transfers, etchings, serigraphy, to solar intaglio, computer processing, inkjet enlargements, lithography, chine colle and giclee works based on her nature & nostalgia series. Lenore’s most recent work with images using brushes and ink on rice paper will be also on display. On view until April 30 at the CCP Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery).

Manila Contemporary is pleased to present the latest solo exhibition by this multidisciplinary creative practitioner. Known for his work as a filmmaker and as Chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Santos is also an accomplished visual artist working across painting, photography, assemblage and installation. Numbers Revisited contributes Santos’s on going photo media and installation practice. Utilising the philosophical concept of ‘being’ that refers to consciousness rather than the individual, he presents complex combinations of photography and painting as well as tunnel installations that distort perception. The exhibition runs from April 2 until May 1 at Manila Contemporary, Whitespace, Don Chino Roces Ave Makati City. Call 844-7328, email [email protected] or visit www.manilacontemporary.com for more details.

Japanese ceramics master Shoko Mafune and Filipino terracotta artist Mark Valenzuela present their latest works in a two-person show that manifests the expressive quality of sculpture. Shoko Mafune’s “Has it stopped raining?” takes its name from a piece depicting an elegant bust of woman with her hair adrift in the wind. The title piece is one of the nearly two-dozen stoneware, some of which will be shown in the gallery for the first time. Each hand-made piece has been fired at 1,200 degrees centigrade; some forms she admits took her years to perfect. Mark Valenzuela addresses the fragmented nature of memory. For “Excerpts from a not too distant past,” he has produced several installations made with terracotta, wood and metal. The two-man show is on view until April 17 at the Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Philippines. Contact 831-9990 and 833-9815, email [email protected] or visit www.galleriaduemila.com for more details.

In celebration of Women’s Month, the museum presents an exhibit showcasing a selection of women paintings from the museum’s permanent collection. Among the artists on display are Fernando Amorsolo, Angelito Antonio, Romulo Galicano, Cesar Legaspi, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, and H.R. Ocampo. On view until April 20 at the 3/F Bridgeway Foyer, Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza Makati. Call 889-1234 or email [email protected] for more details.

The tenth oil painting exhibit by JR Diaz. On view until April 28 at Ricco Renzo Galleries located at the 2nd Floor LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia St, Bel Air 2 , Makati City. Contact 0927-3244013, 0923-6588779 and 8982545 or log on to www.riccorenzo.com for more details.

Fine artist Marty MC Corkle explores legends and folklore of both the Philippines and Classical Greece through his “deconstructive” painting style. Curated and moved over from Ricco Renzo Galleries. On view this month at Lolo Dads Brasserie, 6750 Ayala Avenue, Makati City. Contact 0917-8356235 and 813-6750 or log on to www.lolodadsbrasserie.com for more details.

In his recent works, he continues his exploration on issues of representation through collages and collage-based paintings wherein disparate images appropriated from exhibit invitations and art magazines are combined to create a complex matrix of collisions between the abstract and the familiar, painted and printed matter, geometric and organic forms, the real and the artificial. By using pre-existing images, usually those depicting other artists’ works, Tan redirects meaning into his work and internalizes the disjunction of images while probing concepts of originality and personal style. Given his conceptual background, he treats the surface of his paintings as an arena where meanings and styles are simultaneously made, subverted and consumed.

Gerardo Tan has participated in various local and international exhibitions. He has had 34 solo exhibitions to date. He was a 13 Artists Awardee in 1988 and a Fulbright Fellow in Painting at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1990-1992. His most recent group exhibitions include Blind Field: Photography and Place at Silverlens Gallery, Manila, Inversion of the Ideal…

Manila Contemporary cordially invites you to the opening of Direct from the studios of Felix Bacolor, Jon Cuyson, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Joseph Tecson and Costantino Zicarelli on Saturday, April 2, 6PM at Whitespace located at 2314 Pasong Tamo Extension, Brgy. Magallanes, Makati City. The exhibition ends on May 1, 2011 and coincides with Briccio Santos: Numbers Revisited, concurrently on view in the 2nd floor gallery. Works can be viewed online at www.manilacontemporary.com except for Joseph Tecson, all the artists will be working in their Manila Contemporary studios for much of the exhibition period from April 2-May 1, 2011.