Last year, one of my good friends, Bambi Reyes Javelosa, introduced me to an artist.
The artist, Migs Villanueva, was her Aunt, the sister of her Mom, Tita Edith
I was at her home and she showed me one of the works of Migs and I instantly loved it. The subject of Migs’ paintings are children. Migs told me that she started out doing abstract paintings, but she felt something was lacking. Then she started drawing children and immediately she knew this was what she wanted to do. She is the only Filipino artist that uses the subject of children in her work. This is what sets her apart from the others and brings out her unique form of expression through art.
She left the corporate life and started a career in literary arts where she won three Palanca Awards in 2002 and 2006 and two NVM Gonzales Awards in 2001 and 2002. And even if she was busy as a visual artists, she continued her fiction and was also a screenwriter. This career was further nurtured when she became a member of the Saturay Group of well respected artist Mauro Malang Santos. She is now the current President of the club.
She recently exhibited at the FilipinaZ Art and Fashion fair
Last October 15 to 19, she launched her fifth one man show at the ManilArt entitled Sweet Cheeks and Velvet Apple, exhibited under Galerie Francesca.
Migs is a mother of four and a grandmother. She told me that her only granddaughter, Rafa, was her inspiration
One of my favourite artwork in the show was that of a little boy wearing a barong. I also liked the little girls in three dimensional dresses. All the faces of the children are the same with three dots representing the eyes and the mouth. That is her signature face and it leaves the viewer to interpret the emotional state of the child in the painting.
She invites each viewer to put their own childhood experiences in her works. We become the characters in her works. And that is what it totally does to me when I look at her painting. It brings me back to my childhood. It makes me remember who were my friends and who I used to play with when I was a child. All happy memories during an innocent childhood. How soothing and calming it is to look at such artwork which is so light, so bright, so happy and so innocent.
The works are not only for a child’s bedroom but can be part of any room in the house. Migs can even commission work for you and draw your children.
Migs Villanueva exhibits under Galerie Francesca. For more information, please call them at (632 ) 570 9495, ( 632 ) 659 2667 or email galeriefrancescaSchedule for Monday
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