‘Journeys: Hope Through Art’: When art is a lifeline

‘Journeys: Hope Through Art’ runs until Aug. 30, 2026 at Art Lounge Manila at The Podium, Mandaluyong.

 Journeys: Hope Through Art brings together more than 30 established and emerging Filipino artists at Art Lounge Manila at The Podium, Mandaluyong, until August 30, 2026. The show supports free art workshops and psychosocial programs for underprivileged children aged 4 to 12. These exhibition-funded workshops are taught by educators from the Likhang Bata Creativity Center, the educational arm of the Erehwon Art Foundation.

Curated by prominent art critic and artist Cid Reyes, the exhibition centers on using art as vehicle for social renewal that provides a creative outlet to counter violence among marginalized children. It emphasizes art as a “lifeline,” while showcasing the personal artistic journeys of the creators.

In line with its subtitle “Hope Through Art”, the exhibit consists of works in multiple mediums, from large-scale paintings and intricate sculptures to mixed media and delicate works on paper. They represent the vast breadth of Philippine contemporary art.  

The exhibition is anchored on Janos Delacruz’s (b. 1985) What Now My Love. Named after a song about the devastation and despair of a sudden breakup, the piece explores the intricate complexities of romantic relationships. Delacruz utilizes a tight, complex composition filled with meticulous details, overlapping shapes, vibrant colors, and dense patterns. This visual density evokes profound emotional experiences, while the recurring symbol of the all-seeing eye introduces an element of spiritual conflict. 

The son of celebrated printmaker and painter Fil Delacruz, Janos is a multi-awarded contemporary visual artist widely recognized for surreal, highly intricate, and dreamlike visual narratives. His works masterfully blend Filipino folklore, religious iconography, and social commentary to examine contemporary anxieties, urban life, and the complexities of human relationships.

Omi Reyes, ‘Meditative,’ 2012

Omi Reyes (b. 1978) is an established Filipino contemporary visual artist known for his fluid transitions across artistic genres. His diverse practice spans commercial textile painting, deeply spiritual modern realism, and complex industrial mixed-media sculptures. Over a decades-long career, his art has evolved into a deeply personal vessel for prayer, philosophy, and reflections on time. 

Reyes’s work, Meditative, is a deeply cerebral piece of heavy impasto, visible scratching, and layered application techniques. The artwork combines smooth paint glazes with highly raised, plaster-like build-ups at its center, leaning firmly into Conceptual Abstraction. In this contemporary context, Reyes utilizes numbers not for mathematics, but as abstract visual symbols and conceptual markers—a technique that directly echoes the Neo-Dada approach pioneered by Jasper Johns in the 1950s. 

Eden Ocampo
‘Subtitle,’ mixed media,
24” x 24,” 2023

Eden T. Ocampo (b. 1963) is a prominent Manila-based multimedia artist, painter, art conservator, and restorer. She is widely recognized for her multi-layered abstract works that explore themes of global women’s issues, environmental consciousness, and the divine feminine. 

Subtitle is a three-dimensional mixed-media assemblage that utilizes structured card and mesh to create a projecting, four-sided central pyramid. The piece features thick layers of acrylic paint applied with heavy impasto texturing, alongside metallic paints that form a prominent central gold orb and metallic linings. Fine ink outlines define the runic stick-figure graphics, while spherical beads and small metallic objects are scattered across the quadrants. 

Lively oranges, fiery reds, and golden-yellows contrast with cool purples and deep blues, drawing the viewer’s eye toward the central gold orb. Thin, spindly black stick figures and geometric signs are scattered across the quadrants, giving the surface an ancient, ritualistic quality. 

Ocampo’s work frequently positions female figures on geometric, inverted triangles, symbolizing the creative power of feminine archetype as a compassionate and nurturing force in society.

Alduos Reyes, ‘San Pupunta at Sino Kasama,’ 2026

A sophomore pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Aldous Reyes is a rising social realist. His Saan Pupunta at Sino Kasama (Where to Go and Who to Be With) raises existential and socio-political questions about mass migration, collective identity, and the shared journeys of everyday workers. 

Growing up in Northern Samar and Zambales, Reyes witnessed the economic struggles of landless farmers and urban laborers. His formative experiences shaped his art, his commitment to establish a nationalist, mass-oriented cultural identity. In this piece, Reyes utilizes figure construction to capture the lower torsos, repetitive movement, and heavy legs of a moving crowd, through cross-hatched, texturized linework, adeptly handling technical illustration to create a gritty, print-like aesthetic. 

These selected works serve as allegories for the evolution of human consciousness, mapping its ascent across four essential dimensions of existence: the emotional, the mental, the spiritual, and the social. In these deeply personal odysseys, our awareness undergoes a profound transformation, transcending mere instinctual survival to construct deliberate, highly intentional frameworks of existential meaning.

Ultimately, this internal evolution mirrors the foundational mission of Journeys: Hope Through Art: proving that the act of creation is not merely an aesthetic exercise, but also a lifeline capable of transforming into a collective sanctuary of hope and social renewal. 

More than 30 artists are participating in the fundraiser. In addition to Janos Delacruz, Omi Reyes, Eden T. Ocampo, and Aldous Reyes, the roster features prominent creators such as Junyee, Julie Lluch, Pandy Aviado, Fil Delacruz, Addie Cukingnan, Allan Derain, Arlene Gonzales, Dansoy Coquilla, Demetrio dela Cruz, Dengcoy Miel, Ding Royales, Felix Mago Miguel, Florentino “Jun” Impas Jr., Glenn Gonzales, Glenn Martinez, Grandier Bella, Guia Anne Salumbides, Ianna Engaño, Joar Songcuya, Jose “Chico” Quizon, Jose Dalisay V, June P. Dalisay, Katti Sta. Ana, Kristoffer Tolentino, Lenore RS Lim, Lotsu Manes, Mally Potes, Melanie Libatique, Mitzi Aguilar-Reyes, Nasser Lubay, Otto Neri, Rex “Dasig” Aguilar, Vinty Lava, and Willie de Vera.

‘Journeys: Hope Through Art’ runs until Aug. 30, 2026 at Art Lounge Manila at The Podium, Mandaluyong.