The Bizarre and the Beautiful
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. That means I earn commissions from my sponsored links or I make money when readers (you) purchase items through my links. Your purchase allows me to continue working as a stay-at-home dad who moonlights as a farmer and a musician. Needless to say, this post contains affiliate links.
I just attended The Bizarre and the Beautiful – Exhibition for a Cause with Maharlika Charity Foundation at Art Resource Center Library and Gallery and had a really good time.
I went as the sole representative of the Davao Bloggers Society to witness the event and write about it… well technically, I wasn’t the only one, but Glenn being one of the exhibitors isn’t counted.
I’ve always been fascinated with the Bizarre and the Beautiful. Having grown up on a steady diet of comics and cartoons, odd visuals and bright colors have always appealed to me.
One comic book fascination and collection that I shared with my two younger brothers, was the X-Men and all other mutant related content that extended far beyond Marvel or DC.
And while waiting for the exhibit to start (I got there a wee bit early), I just started reading the books and graphic novels that were free to read.
I especially loved the one covering the creation of the X-Men Animated series and spent a really long time reading the Alex Ross tabletops.
The artwork in those books were Bizarre…
Beautiful…
And then I stepped out to get a breath of fresh air and clear my mind, record a few of my thoughts into my phone’s recorder and saw the recently burnt Davao Convention Center…
I remembered how my wife said the buildings of her childhood were slowly disappearing… earlier that afternoon, I had just passed by Victoria Plaza another city landmark that closed down…
And before that the Choice Mart at Nova Tierra that also closed down…
It’s sad how we get to witness the passing over of these structures because of the city’s progress… and for the former (Dav Con)… tragedy.
These are memories that will etch themselves into my mind and I doubt I’ll forget for the next few years… somehow, they’ve become a part of my “childhood” in Davao for I am still a newly transferred person in this beautiful city
How bizarre…
How beautiful…
That two POVs result into two different memories.
The event started with a prayer… a prayer blessing the event, the artists and the ultimate outcome that it brings blessings to the intended.
This was a more solemn with far fewer art pieces than the DAFI Art Fest which I also attended last month.
Nevertheless, it was attende by the same prominent people who are revered in the Davao Art Scene.
Plus, this time, there was a pug in attendance.
So we didn’t get the native dance… er… dancers… cultural? Take whichever sounds more respectable, but we did get a support animal doing the rounds, socializing with everyone, huffing and puffing as he went clickety-clacking on the wood floor.
For such a small event, the room filled up quick and for a quick minute, I startedworrying about the total weight of the participants and that teeny tiny second floor space’s ability to support that number of attendees.
What was great about the place was that despite it’s rather, more limited er… space, it still felt er… spacious… ooohhh redundancy… you cruel beast.
As you enter the space, you go through a tiny hall with a utility room and a comfort room which hides the fact that there is something wondrous as you reach the stairs.
And then up you go two short flights with a landing in between and you reach the receiving area of the small library.
A quick turn to the right an you are greeted by the sight of naked trusses seemingly barring your way to the rest of the space.
The trusses in a way adds to the industrial feel of the place and yet despite that massive, looming metallic uhhh something, something… the room still feels warm.
Maybe the lights?
I’ll say the lights.
And then we get back to the wooden floors.
A weird mix of hard and soft, of the light’s warmth and the coldness of exposed steel, of the once vibrant representation of life in the wood we were stepping on to the unemotional presence of the trusses… the place, to me, had a bizarre feel and it was beautiful.
And all around the room, the art pieces were in full display.
And I know you didn’t come here to read about the room, and so I say, on to the Bizarre and the Beautiful.
The Bizarre and the Beautiful
The first painting I saw, and I believe the most apt one, and I can now say my favorite amongst all the paintings in full display has to be “The Invitation” and… to my surprise, it was one by Glenn…
It immediately sparked a thought in my head how the apple was closely connected to Adam and Eve and theGarden of Eden…
And when I told Glenn about my thoughts about it, he confirme that it was about the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve…
That painting was so… perfect, thematically, artistically, creativ…ally (heheheh).
The Photographer – Glenn P Magallano
“My works celebrate the beauty of being yourself and the difficulty of existing exactly as you are.”
Glenn P. Magallano is a Davao-based contemporary visual artist working across photography, curatorial practice, writing and community-based cultural intiiatives. Rooted in Mindanai narratives, his work explores queer visibility, intimacy, regiona identity, and overlooked everyday histories through documentary and cultural approaches.
Committed to ethical and sustainable art-making, he develops a Zero New Waste Art practice using upcycled and discarded materials as par of his engagement with memory, impermanence, and environmental consciousness.
Glenn is the founder of the Davao Phone Photography (DPP) and currently serves as the Content DIrector of the Davao Bloggers Society (DBS).
It was the start of my journey as I went from that painting to the next, and off to the next, and so on…
But not before my eyes landed on the piece of art called “To Dive For”.
Witty.
Yes.
Pretty.
Yes.
Interesting.
Absolutely.
I kept coming back to it. Checking every detail that I could see. Every time I came back, something new, a texture, the way the paint brush revealed the strokes, the way the light shone on it.
It was feminine.
Floral.
Fairy like.
Frivolous.
Fantabulous.
“My works thrive in the space between disciplines, where ideas take shape through experimentation, adaptation, and discovery.”
Lala Chua holds a degree in Fine Art from Far Eastern University (FEU) and later studied Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines (FIP) Makati.
With construction experience, her practice blends industrial sensibilities with creative expression, earning recognition in Davao City for her innovative designs.
In 2023, she conducted NUDISTRY, a life drawing workshop focused on figurative arts, while her current visual art practice explores unconventional materials and tactile composition of form and texture.
Known for her creativity, wit and playful experimentation with convepts and art elements, she continues to push the boundaries of her artistic expression.
I moved on the the next set of art pieces, dodging the exposed trusses to get to what initially appeared to me as charcoal pieces.
Where the previous set was whimsical, the next was a bit more stark.
Moody.
I was drawn to the piece called “A Satisfying Itch” and who hasn’t experienced that? Trying to remove what seemed to be a small overhanging piece of skin and when you try to pull it, it seems to unravel the entire fingernail bed.
Ouch.
And at the same time, satisfying to do…
His style was easy on the eye if you think of the technique used but jarring if you view the image as a whole.
The technique said tattoo on silicon but I think I recognize it more as pointillism which my best friend demonstrated to me way back when we were in high school.
In a way, it is a tatoo as the same motion is applied, the tip of the pen hammered against the silicon surface as if needles burrowing into your skin to deliver pigments within.
“My works explore subtle human emotions that often escape perception. Each piece is composed of more than 500 million dots, meticulously placed to reveal an image.“
Veil, also known as veil.ttt is a echanical engineer and a self-taught tattoo arist based in Davao City.
He first picked up a tattoo machine in 2021, and it quickly became his go-to instrument for expression and exploration.
Veil draws inspiration mainly from the darkness of the natural world and the abyss of the subconscious, creating pieces he’s known, surreal, fine lin, and illustrative.
Currently working as a design engineer, Veil is also pursuing his passion project, ODT.Atelier, aiming to provide a platform for local artists, or oddities, showcasing creativity and innovation, particularly in the field of body arts.
Who knew something as practical and industrial in nature could be turned into something artistic, beautiful, and aesthetically pleasing?
Plumbers putty… I never thought you could turn plumbers putty into art pieces worth spending time examining… and yet there it was.
In front of me…
Busts made of plumbers putty….
I had an enjoyable conversation with Rob Tanedo as he explained the process by which he created his pieces of art. How each one was meticulously shaped with patience and a clear vision in mind before the putty hardened into a rock hard permanent sculpture.
How each layer of lacquer contributed to the final metallic sheen that deceives casual viewers into believing the miniature busts on display were cast from metal and not from something viewed as lowly art materials as plumbers putty.
He detailed how the flowers found on his artpieces were from miniature jewelry hand picked and chosen purposefully to add to the beauty of the final product.
How damaged pieces were resurrected with care and utmost attention to detail.
His passionate narration of his process made me very interested in pursuing sculpture as the next art form to consider should I ever go back to creating art pieces by hand.
“My works draw from myth and imagination, giving shape to the storiesthat exist between memory and wonder.“
Wilfred Dexter Tanedo a.k.a. Rob Tanedo, is a visual artist, former art educator, art writer and current arts events manager at La Herencia Davao Art and Events Pavilion.
His artistic practice spans sculpture and illustration, drawing inspiration from comic books, mythology, and folklore, while his work in education and curriculum development led him to serve as a consultant and national trainer for the Department of Education from 2012 to 2022.
During the global pandemic in 2020, together with his family through Gutierrez Development Company, Inc., he helped establish La Herencia Davao as an arts and events space that continues to support artists, creatives, and cultural initiatives in Mindanao.
After enjoying the sculptures immensely, the next set of art pieces was a welcome relief back to the familiar.
Years ago… decades ago… sheesh… almost three decades ago, I dabbled in art and oils were my preferred medium. Secondary was watercolor. And just when I was about to start exploring acrylics, I just quit.
I just lost the drive to create more.
Maybe because it was out of despair. I just felt that there was nothing new I could contribute to the conversation… and then I saw Seth’s pieces.
A bit rough-hewn. Smeared with the palette knife. Hurried strokes at first. And then delicate details that must’ve taken hours to perfect with the amountof layers piled on top of the other.
And then back to suggestive lines that make your mind connect the dots to create a solid recognizable image.
I’ve come to realize that there will always be something new if you only knew how to deliver the right strokes on the canvas.
“Nirvana” made me reach nirvana the first time I saw it. And then the second time.
The amount of details on that artpiece.
The way it made you think.
The way it made you look at that seemingly incomplete hand only to realize that it was done on purpose. That there were no clear lines to spoon feed the image of the hand with splayed fingers because our fingers often do seem to blend into each other if seen through a quick glance.
Or through a hazy fog.
Or when viewed underwater.
The figure of the woman was created with such high realism that I thought at first it was a photograph. But after donning my glasses and peering through them at a distance of nearly just a foot, I saw the brush strokes.
The tattooed lightning-like arcs.
Nirvana indeed.
“My works invite viewers to encounter the figure in its purest state, where opposing forces do not compete.”
Seth Cabahug is a Filipino visual artist whose work moves between realism and emotional abstraction. Working primarily in oils, he explores the human condition through expressive figures, layered atmospheres and psychologically charged compositions.
His paintings emphasize gesture, mood, and tension.
Influenced by classical draftsmanship and contemporary figurative art, Cabahug approaches painting as a dialogue betweencontrol and spontaneity.
I’d been so engrossed in viewing each and every painting in the gallery that I failed to notice that I was one of the last remaining patrons there.
I was lost in thought with each piece of art in front of me. Trying to find the cohesiveness in the pieces as a whole and as individuals. One thing I deduced… it revolved around flowers, adam and Eve, the garden of Eden and a celebration of the human body frm head to foot.
I had such a great time… it was an experience only best described as…
Bizarre…
and beautiful…
how apt.
The Bizarre and the Beautiful – Exhibition for a Cause with Maharlika Charity Foundation at Art Resource Center Library and Gallery will run from June 17 to June 30, 2026.
This group exhibit featuring Seth Cabahug, Glenn Magallano, Lala Chua, Rob Tanedo and Levi Batuigas showcases the richness of art in Davao City.
About The Author
