Our Visions II

Works of Horacio Agosti, Angelito David, Maria Madonna Davidoff, Dulcie Dee,Trini Eckstein, Yimin Huang, Toots Magsino, Emilia Monroy, Melinda Munoz, Mae Palaci-Perez De Tagle, Eleni Pitzel, Dr. Rey Reyes, L Rufo, Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez, Bobby Yalong, Robert P. DeTagle

Contact: Jen Doman, 212.679.8833 x123

…that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and
awe-inspiring… - Rachel Carson, The Last Word

In January this year, works of a group of seven artists gathered by Emilia Monroy were exhibited at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue. An all-women's show, the exhibit was notable in bringing together individuals of different backgrounds but with compelling ideas on the world around them, shaped by their distinctive experiences.

As Ms. Monroy quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

On April 17 to 21, OUR VISIONS II expands on that event, now featuring the works of fourteen international artists, mostly from the tri-state area, at the Asian Fusion Gallery on 15 E 40th St. in Manhattan.

The organizers hope that the sense of discovery and kinship that permeated that first 'Visions' exhibit likewise infuses this new show and inspires both artist and viewer to new perceptions.

Still life by Trini Eckstein

Toots Magsino's print, Vintage

*The artists*
Horacio Agosti, from Argentina and Long Island, works with oil and acrylic on canvas. He has studied architecture and art, etching and ceramics, graduating as art professor. Trips for studying and mastering techniques have taken him from Buenos Aires to Madrid, Rome and Venice, as well as New York. Horacio has exhibited in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Montevideo, Salta, La Plata, Los Angeles and Soria, Spain.

Angelito David, the 2005 Hudson Artists' 'Artist of the Year' is a master watercolorist, art conservator and teacher. A Fine Arts graduate of the Univ. of Santo Tomas in Manila, then studied on scholarship at Rome's Accademia di Belle Arti, later taking up fresco painting and art conservation, and restoring rare documents and old books at, among others, the J.P. Morgan Library in New York. He is a member of the Garden State Watercolor Society, the New Jersey Water Color Society and the American Watercolor Society and is a co-founder of the Society of Philippine-American Artists (SPAA). "Watercolor, like life and nature, is full of surprises and 'accidentals' which make the medium the right tool in expressing my experiences."

Maria Madonna Davidoff has exhibited in shows since 1981, in the US, Japan, Austria, France, India, Canada and Switzerland, most recently at the Light My Ire show in New York. She studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines as well as at the Art Students League of New York. Her new works consist of mix-media scroll paintings inspired by the different countries which she has lived in and visited, using digital, linocut printing and traditional painting methods and fusing modern Western motifs as well as those native to Asian-Pacific cultures.

New York-born Dulcie Dee excelled as an art major at Fiorello La Guardia HS and received her BFA from the University of the Philippines and MFA from the Academy of Art University, SF. Traveling throughout Asia, she discovered the unique underwater world of Philippine coral reefs, whose conservation she has advocated through her works. Her work is a "Zen fusion of East and West" that "pulsates with rich, vibrant, tropical colors painted with clarity, precision and with a free-flowing sense of subject, shade and color." Dee has displayed her work in California, New York, Florida, New
Jersey, DC and Manila.

Trini Eckstein moved from pharmacy to art through her exposure in the Big Apple and via studies at the Art Students League of New York. Her style ranges from impressionism to realism; Her love of life and beauty is clear not only in her work but in her gracious way with people. One of her most cherished accolades is being awarded first prize for her oil painting, "My Porcelain Collection." Art, she says "makes me vibrant and makes my heart sing!"

Originally from China, Yimin Huang is a Fine Arts graduate who studied at the Art Students League of New York. An artist whose works "capture the connection between the emotions and surroundings of people through creating a surreal space with fantastic characters and symbol." Her works that "combine memory and fantasy in complex amalgams of ancient and modern images" (New York Times) have been displayed in mainly in various solo and group shows in New York.

Toots Magsino is an Ateneo de Manila graduate who has studied Advanced Oil ainting at the Ayala Museum in the Philippines and fine arts painting and printmaking at the Art Students League of New York. Her mixed media, painting and print works have been exhibited in Manila and Batangas in the Philippines, New Rochelle, New York, Japan and Italy.

Emilia Monroy, who again took the lead in organizing these artists, brings a palette of artistry to her work, reflecting God-inspired images that depict nature through vivid color combinations and mixed media, mirroring her joy and energy. Her newly blossomed talent in finger painting adds to the flair of that distinctive Monroy creation. She studied at the Art Students League of New York with Diana Willis, and with Manuel Rodriguez, and attended classes in Manila with the famous artists Diosdado Lorenzo, Cesar Legaspi, Jose Joya, and others.

Mae Palaci-Perez de Tagle studied at Ateneo in Manila and at NYU and, aside from being the official photographer for the New York area newspaper Newstar and a full-time IT and Java programmer, captures images of nature, history and architecture, and "scenes that invite the viewer into a moment of intimate conversation." She is a website designer who enjoys traveling and studying local culture, etching through her lens scenes of native color and people who define that city or town.

Eleni Day Pitzel is a self-taught acrylic painter who has also done work in ceramics and stained glass, exhibiting at Old Westbury Gardens in Long Island and in Queens. A church choir member, she also enjoys crochet and knitting, doing sculpture and collecting antique dolls.

Dr. Rey Reyes, a pediatrician in Long Island who studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila, is a self-taught artist who started with oil and now works with watercolor and pastel. He has exhibited in Long Island at Disney World, at the Philippine Center, and at Hofstra University, where he founded the annual Alumni Exhibits. Two of his works are in the permanent collection of the UST Medicine and Surgery Museum in Manila.

Linda Rufo is a graduate of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Cebu, She is a member of the National Portrait Society, Sunrise Tutorial & Art Academy in Queens. She is also a mural artist and art teacher in Queens. She is also an art model at the Arts Students League of NY and the Pastel Society. She had several solo and group shows.

Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez is an artist, illustrator, art director and teacher. A graduate of Fine Arts from Manila's College of the Holy Spirit, she paints in the social realism genre, recounting Philippine historical narratives with portraits of family and friends based on her own experiences with them. "It is my vision that through my paintings, I can give purpose to the young Filipino/Americans to take a second look at our vast wealth of Filipino culture and be proud."