Galeria Paloma will be presenting The Gallery of Giving, an exhibition and fundraising auction at ArtistSpace, in Makati City. The auction and exhibition will include works of art, objets d’art and jewelry by renowned Filipino masters, as well as notable contemporary artists and designers. Proceeds from this auction will be donated to Ayala Foundation in support of U-Go, a scholarship grant program for deserving but underprivileged young women, in celebration of National Women’s Month.

The event will commence with an onsite exhibition and viewing from 13 to 26 March. The online/silent auction will continue until 10 April online at www.galeriapaloma.com/auction.

The auction will offer works of art by masters like sculptor Julie Lluch, painter Onib Olmedo, esteemed contemporary artists such as National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, Soler Santos, Bjorn Calleja, CCP Thirteen Artists awardee Ernest Concepcion, Carina Santos, Isabel Echevarria, Lina Llaguno-Ciani, Aba Dalena, Martin and Barbie Honasan, Basti Artadi, Sarah de Veyra-Buyco and Hamill Buyco, Carlos and many others.

A section will be composed of notable digital artists like Luis Buenaventura, Skye Nicolas, AJ Dimarucot and Isaiah Cacnio, with another section featuring emerging artists.

Lluch, known for her feminist themes and distinctive, powerful point of view on the female experience in her pieces, presents in Georgia Lily, an homage to feminist artist and icon Georgia o’Keefe by building on O’Keefe’s abstracted “flower paintings” with her own signature, sculptural piece.

Expressionist art legend Olmedo’s The Widow, previously exhibited at the artist’s retrospective at the Ayala Museum, is a poignant and haunting portrayal of longing. His other work, Portrait, a watercolor artwork (recto) features a back-to-back pairing with an unusual subject, Flowers (verso).

Among the notable digital art offerings is Skye Nicolas’ Don’t You Worry About the Situation [WM-17]. In Nicolas’ signature pixel paintings, remixed images are reduced to their essential structure, with graphic elements streamlined into nebulous shimmering pixels dancing across the digital canvas. Declarative statements glide across the screen, serving as an internal dialogue and a crucial visual detail completing the digital painting’s overall composition. This artwork is paired with a unique readymade piece, an original Sony WM-F17 Walkman with a mix tape compiled by Nicolas himself.

Also, among the unique digital works are those by Luis Buenaventura (aka Cryptopop), one of the artists of Curio Cards, the first work of NFT art minted on the Ethereum blockchain and the first lot offered in cryptocurrency in the history of Christie’s (hammer price: 393ETH, or about P88,000,000 in current ETH value).

Predominantly composed of hands drawn by the artists, Buenaventura spotlights a running joke among traditional artists and AI-proponents alike: the inability to “draw” hands, at least, in AI’s current iterations.

Also on auction is the collaboration Plenteous, a fully handmade chair made from vintage and recycled materials, including vintage beads, fully handmade as a collaboration between the respective ateliers of Vogue Italia talent Ken Samudio and Seph Bagasao, a designer also known for his concern with environmental and ethical issues within the fashion industry.

Fine jewelry by noted designer JJ Jiao will also be auctioned, each piece showcasing her signature filigree patterns and intricate detailing.

Interested bidders are encouraged to visit the exhibition at ArtistSpace at the ground level of Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City. Contact Galeria Paloma at +639178225673, or e-mail [email protected].