MANILA, Philippines ? On view until August 7 is a quartet of solo exhibitions, all of them members of the Arte Pintura Group: Addie Cukingnan, Flor Español-Baradi, Rey Aurelio and Azor Pazcoguin, bonded together, under the curatorial management of Renaissance Gallery.

The last and greatest of the French Impressionists, Claude Monet, remarked: ?I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.? It is a wondrous revelatory statement which Addie might herself have expressed.

As an artist, Addie reaps a double harvest of floral delights. On her canvases, she immortalizes into luxuriant timeless bouquets the perishable petals that are now a mute memory of their former splendor.

Flowers are, by their very transitory nature, perfect metaphors for man?s mortality. The vanitas paintings of the Dutch and Flemish painters of the 17th century are exemplars of floral still lifes that remind as of the transience and uncertainty of life. Around their lush bouquets hover some butterflies, frail creatures with their flimsy gossamer wings, themselves symbols of man?s fragility.

Indeed, in several of Addie?s bouquets, butterflies are also a poignant presence. The combination of bouquets and butterflies intensifies the lyricism of the paintings.

Addie?s current show, inspiredly titled ?All Things Bright and Beautiful,? is still anchored on her favorite subject of flowers. But a noticeable quality differentiates these works from her previous florals: a stateliness in tone and expression.

The experience of viewing these new works is akin to the formality demanded in the presence of a dignitary whose regal bearing seems as natural as one?s breathing. That is the initial impact of these works: magnolias and calachuchi, sanggumay and water lilies, birds-of-paradise and champaca, all emblematizing the artist?s renewed self-expression.

As if assuming their rightful place, the leaves share center stage, together with the blooms. No longer excrescences in the visual scenario, Addie?s leaves magisterially fan out like peacock feathers, preening in the pleasure of the flowers? company.

In ?Chinese Magnolias,? the sharply pointed leaves, so touching in the imperfection of an insect?s savagely gnawing assault, nestle the bulbous white magnolias with a sensuous tenderness, while in ?Enchanting Torches? the towering stalks and leaves catch the luminous sunlight.

Looming large in ?Banana Blossom? is the spread of banana leaves which seem to sway rhythmically in motion. At the heart of the painting is the purple banana blossom, unfurling with all the grace and delicacy of a rose.

Coming as a delightful surprise in the show are a couple of carp paintings, in a vista of still water where the plump, speckled kois serenely swim in peace. Titled ?Bencab, Malang and Me? and ?Aurelio, Pazcoguin at Olazo??indeed, that is how Addie has affectionately named these kois in her garden pond!?these are works that are evidence of friendships she formed in the art community.

The exhibits are located at the Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. Contact Renaissance Gallery at tel. 6373101.