A. B. Weng Gavino

A d v e n t u r e s   i n   I n t a g l i o - M u r a l - A r t

What is Intaglio-Mural-Art (I-M-Art)

The Prophet 30X30" Aluminum Painting ...Click picture to view 12k jpeg Artist adaptation of the frontispiece of Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet [Link to an illustrated webpage for the book.]

Intaglio-Mural-Art is a staining process discovered in the Philippines in the middle of the 20th century, which transforms metal sheets into massive and moving textures of bronze, brass, copper, silver and gold. This "creative violence" of chemicals rippling through sheets used for metal tooling, particularly staining aluminum relief, evolved into what is now hailed as a uniquely impressionistic Filipino Art Medium with classical potential and modern art realism.

After his apprenticeship with this medium, Weng immigrated to the United States in late 1977. In less than a year of introducing I-M-Art to the Pacific Northwest, he negotiated a successful first exhibit at the Seattle First National Bank in 1978. It attracted quite an interest that no less than the Seattle Times' Tom Stockley featured Weng and his exhibition in the Times Sunday Magazine for its Christmas issue that year. Business and private commissions occupied most of the artist's art projects to-date, except in 1979 when he entered and won lst Place in the Seattle Urban League 3rd Annual Art Competition for the 10-foot "Threshold of a Dream" and, in 1984 when he produced the first unveiling of the 37.5 foot mural "Perlas ng Silanganan" (Pearl of the Orient Festivals) for the Filipino Community Center in Seattle. In another of the rare occasions when he entered art competitions, he won another 1st Place award in the 1991 Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund Art Show. It is no wonder that when the WingLuke Museum featured 10 select contemporary artists for its "P.I (Made In America): Filipino American Artists in the Pacific Northwest" in 1998, he was among them with his "Sari-Kaalaman" (Mandala of Self-Knowledge).

And in preparation for the new Millennium, the Seattle Center Artworks Project has selected him along with 36 other artists from their respective ethnic communities in the larger Seattle area to exhibit their artworks and proposals during the multi-cultural, turn-of-the-century celebrations after Christmas 1999 and throughout the year 2000.  His most recent work in 2002 is a virtual gift to former Philippine President Cory Aquino---a rendition of the Pacific NorthWest Eagle.