How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Paint The Ways

Painted like a fashion magazine spread, Ronald Caringal's works are tongue-in-cheek renditions of his own encounters with love

FORGET jewelry, flowers, chocolates...forget everything you thought that would make a sweet Valentine's Day gift. Why don't you surprise your lover with a Ronald Caringal painting instead? In the artist's first overseas exhibit (he is from Manila where he runs his own art gallery called "The Cubicle"), he rips open his heart, dips his paintbrush into the blood, and comes up with a witty, tongue-in-cheek collection that looks like they were torn from the pages of a fashion magazine.

The reference to chic and style should come naturally to Caringal, who has spent many of his nights in Manila's wild party scene; even hosting some all-nighters at his gallery, where local bands perform on the top floor of the three-storey apartment building, to the chagrin of his neighbours.

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