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More Historic Hocus Paintings at the National Museum
By: Jojo G. Silvestre | February 23, 2023
Andres Luna de San Pedro – The Making of a Great Architect
By: Jojo G. Silvestre | July 15, 2022
Quadricula (Hocus II)
The Hofileña-Custodio Paintings
By Sylvia L. Mayuga and Xiao Chua | March 2020
A Hocus II: The return of the two-headed beast
By: Eric S. Caruncho | September 22, 2019
“Quadricula” marks the return of Hocus, the singular two-headed creature who took the local art world by storm in April of 2017 with an eponymous six-month exhibit at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA).
Pressreader: A Hocus II: The return of the two-headed beast
By: Eric S. Caruncho | September 22, 2019
“Quadricula” marks the return of Hocus, the singular two-headed creature who took the local art world by storm in April of 2017 with an eponymous six-month exhibit at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA).
Quadricula/Hocus II: History as art
by: Jenny Ortuoste | September 19, 2019
Stern friars stand against a backdrop of blood-red, hands raised in blessing or accusation. A skeleton hunches over, peering without eyes or brain at a book. Men crowd around a Bible in flames, the pages spilling Hebrew, Roman, and Greek letters that they attempt to catch in vain.
Everybody Wiki: Saul Hofileña Jr.
Saul Hofileña, Jr. was born in Cavite City on September 9, 1959. He graduated with a degree in law at the Ateneo College of Law in 1985. He passed the bar in 1986 and began practicing law. He taught at the San Beda College of Law in Manila and Alabang at Centro Escolar University in Makati. He was also the Dean of the College of Law of the Asian Development Foundation College. In 2012, he was given the Patnubay Award for history by the City of Manila.
Hocus: reimagining colonial Philippines through the paintings of Guy Custodio in collaboration historian Saul Hofilena Jr as curated by Gemma Cruz-Araneta
By: Adobo Magazine | May 31, 2017
The paintings in the exhibit are the artworks which Saul Hofilena Jr, a lawyer and a historian and Guy Custodio , a conservator of the church’s treasures, made during the period of almost 4 years. In their collaboration, their purpose was to meld in oil, wood and woven cloth out nation’s history.
A MAN AND HIS BOOK: UNMASKING DUPLICITIES OF THE PAST
By: Sylvia L. Mayuga | August 29, 2017
Hocus — An Exhibit of Paintings by Guy Custodio Envisioned by Saul Hofileña, Jr.
By: Marketmanila | May 14, 2017
Betchay, a long-time marketmanila.com reader, had graciously invited Mrs. MM and I to the opening of this wonderful, unusual and visually stunning exhibit, now at the National Museum.
Hocus exhibit wants to spark curiosity, critical thinking
By: Jekki Pascual | June 1, 2017
The National Museum presents a unique art exhibit dubbed “Hocus,” a collaboration between artists Saul Hofileña Jr. and Guy Custodio. The name Hocus comes from the first syllable of their surnames.
Art and history meet in ‘Hocus’
By: Iza Iglesias | July 1, 2017
Exhibit features collaborative artworks of visual artist Guy Custodio and historian Saul Hofilena
Cultural Notes
February 24, 2020
On view at the National Museum till March 15 is Quadricula (Hocus II) a collection of paintings by Guy Custodio, presented by Saul Hofilena Jr., and curated by Gemma Cruz Araneta.
SC declares Philhealth ruling as ‘illegal’
September 9, 2019
The Supreme Court declared as illegal in its Resolution of July 30, the suspension of Dr. Mario Reyes, a practicing ophthalmologist and former head of the Ophthalmology Department of the Ospital ng Maynila. According to Atty. Saul Hofileña Jr., lawyer for Dr. Reyes.
Three Free Museums in the Philippines
If there’s one place in the Philippines to learn about the country’s identity and heritage from the past until the present, that would be the museums in Manila at the National Museum Complex.
Carlos Celdran feature in Instagram
PH National Museum receives valuable Philippine artifact
The artifact was donated by lawyer Saul Hofileña Jr., acting in behalf of Daniel Soriano Hofileña. The gift is part of the HOCUS donation that includes Philippine history-themed paintings envisioned by Hofileña Jr.
A Tale of Two Flags
A book by Saul Hofileña Jr.’s book entitled “Under the Stack” recounts how there was a time that it was a crime to display the Philippine flag. A law was passed on September 6, 1907, the Philippine Commission prohibits the display of the Philippine flag or any semblance or article that was used in the Philippine-American War.
The Bride at Majayjay
(After the painting Puente de Capricho
at the HOCUS exhibit, the National Museum*)
El Canto Boholano (The Song of Bohol)
From the museum:
The painting shows the title page of the “Antifonario de esta de Baclayon”. It is a kyriate or liturgical song book of Gregorian chant for the Ordinary of the Mass sang by a congregation.
‘Hocus’ focus: Freedom or Slavery?
By: Sylvia Mayuga
There’s a sense of the fullness of time in “HOCUS,” a new exhibit in the National Museum of Fine Arts. Its leap of consciousness, to my mind, is the closest contemporary Filipino art has come to recreating the trauma of colonization thus far.
‘The Tarot and Human Fate
By: Sylvia Mayuga
Here’s new delight for artists, historians, symbologists, and students of the occult: Cartas Philippinensis, Philippine Tarot cards by the prolific lawyer-historian and wildly imaginative Saul Hofilena Jr. drawn by the artist Guy Custodio.
‘The Nation: Thailand | Which Country owns Sulu?
The Bates Treaty, says the writer Saul Hofilena Jr in his book “Under the Stacks”, led to the enactment of laws that caused the distribution of Moro ancestral lands to Christians and Americans. These actions sparked a war whose after-effects continue to be felt until today.
‘Consummatum est’
By: The Manila Times
March 15, should have been the last day of Saul Hofileña Jr. and Guy Custodio’s “HoCus 2: Cuadricula” exhibit at the National Museum (NM) of Fine Arts, but the coronavirus disease 2019 community quarantine has forced the closing of the museum. It would have been the eve of the 499th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines.
Cuba and the Philippines are sister countries
By: The FilAm Magazine
Cuba and the Philippines have shared heritage – both former colonies of Spain for centuries and both independent republics under the influence of the United States for many years after Spain. To visit Cuba feels a lot like going home to the Philippines. Even the climate and the vegetation are similar.
Review: Cartas Philippinensis
By: Jenny Ortuoste | Manila Standard
The product of a collaborative art project and an intense interest in history, ‘Cartas Philippinensis’ (2016) by lawyer and professor Saul Hofileña Jr. is a reimagination and revisiting of our colonial past, the effects of which still reverberate through our present.
Puerto Parrot: Life with Tarot
By: Sylvia Mayuga
A strange sight greeted me in the middle of rice fields in Jaen, Nueva Ecija sometime in the late ‘80s. The Agrarian Reform program had just begun. My clan, heirs of my farmer grandma, was waiting for a dialogue with her tenants. I noticed a group of them waiting around a small table with … was I seeing right? Tarot cards?
Under the Stacks
By: Ellen Tordecillas
In last Monday’s commemoration of Bataan day, Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe once again expressed his country’s “heartfelt apologies and deep sense of remorse of the tragedy” that occurred 70 years ago.
The 33rd Manila International Book Fair
By: Pengtography
So I walked through various booths, making the most out of the free entrance tickets I got from a kind officemate, when a book entitled Under the Stacks by Saul Hofilena Jr. caught my attention. Sadly, the price was too steep and their customers can only pay in cash. If they had a cheaper version of that book, say a paper back or e-book, I could have bought one!
Vestments of the Golden Leaf
By: Gemma Cruz Araneta | Pinoy Kollektor Blog
It was not the delightful tale of how Nicotiana Tabacum came to our shores in the pocket of a friar aboard a galleon that grabbed my attention but the stunning inventory of intricately rendered wrappers (read vestments) that fill this edifying volume. It may look like one, but VESTMENTS OF THE GOLDEN LEAF by Atty. Saul Hofileña,Jr, is not just a decorative book to adorn your coffee table.
Philippines 2020: How Much We Spent in our DIY Spa Vacation
By: Caroline | Costa Rica FIRE
One fascinating exhibit we saw was Quadricula (HOCUS II), a series of 26 paintings co-created by Saul Hofilena Jr., a lawyer-historian (who doesn’t paint!) and Guy Custodio, the painter of the duo. HOCUS is a combination of their last names.
Hocus Focus at the National Museum
“HOCUS: The Hofileña & Custodio Paintings” is a collaboration between two unlikely people: historian Saul Holifena Jr. and painter Guy Custodio. Curated by Ms. Gemma Cruz Araneta, the exhibit focuses on art that tells the story of the Philippines and the Church during the Spanish times.
The Bravest of the Brave
By: Saul Hofileña Jr. | Inquirer
I lived for years with the drunks, the dregs and the sublime. Everyone to the last soul was being trained to deal with what was said to be the coming conflict.
Historian and artist create a heritage book
By: Amadis Ma. Guerero | Lifestyle Inquirer
Saul Hofilena Jr. is a lawyer who specializes on international law and is, as well, a historian who has written the acclaimed “Under the Stocks,” a book with an unconventional approach to Philippine history.
Guy Custodio is a visual artist who lived for many years in Spain, restored religious Spanish art and later in Bohol restored heritage churches.
The Filipinized Tarot
By: The Philippine Star
Now comes scholar, historian, lawyer and writer Saul Hofileña, Jr. with his version of the Filipino Tarot: an actual deck of the Major Arcana as “the only playable Tarot cards with Philippine themes,” together with a book that explicates and extrapolates so learnedly on the choice of images created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Guy Custodio — who has had sold-out exhibits in Manila and assisted in the restoration of heritage churches in Bohol.
Hocus: Sining sa Panahon na Binabaligtad ang Kasaysayan
By: GMA News Online
Kontroberysal at may saysay. Ganito maaaring ilarawan ang isang kakaibang eksibisyon na ngayon ay nasa National Museum of Fine Arts ng sa isang “historian who cannot paint and a painter wary of history.”
Hocus: Lecture Series 5
There comes a time in the lives of men and nations when ruling ideas that no longer give life must be laid to rest for the sake of the living. However, there are better ways to mark a turning point with powerful art like the presence of the Hocus exhibit.
HOCUS: Reimagining Colonial Philippines
The paintings in the exhibit are the artworks which Saul Hofilena Jr, a lawyer and a historian and Guy Custodio , a conservator of the church’s treasures, made during the period of almost 4 years. In their collaboration, their purpose was to meld in oil, wood and woven cloth out nation’s history. When they are asked to identify who the real artist in these works , they refer to a trinity, Hofilena, Custodio, and that little icon they call the anghel de cuyacuy whose given name is Hocus.
HOCUS: Gemma Cruz-Araneta curates a one-of-a-kind exhibit at the National Museum
By: Eric S. Caruncho | Philippine Daily Inquirer
Adventurous minds just might find out by viewing “Hocus: The Hofileña & Custodio Paintings,” easily the most unique art exhibit to open this year.
HOCUS: A Leap of Consciousness
By: Sylvia Mayuga
HOCUS, a new exhibit in the National Museum of Fine Arts, is a clear leap of consciousness –the closest contemporary Filipino art has come to the trauma of colonization so far. These 26 oil paintings are no less than a silent call for ruling ideas dangerous to the living to be laid to rest in the fullness of time.
Sunday through Square Lenses
The Philippines was colony of Spain for about three hundred thirty three years. Yes, 333 years! 333 years divided by 20 years, for every generation, equals 16.65 generations.
Heroes and Duplicities
By: Gemma Nemenzo
Another history lesson, this time from lawyer Saul Hofileña Jr., whose book Under the Stacks, unearths some previously ignored or unknown facts of Philippine colonial history. Veteran journalist Sylvia L. Mayuga introduces us to “A Man and His Book: Unmasking Duplicities of the Past,” an eye-opener and a must-read (both the book and this review) to understand the deep roots of the Muslim conflict in Mindanao.
National Museum of the Philippines
The #NationalMuseumPH concluded the first of a series of Quadricula Lecture at the National Museum of Fine Arts.
An Intimidating Book
Manila Bulletin
Hundreds of Simultaneous Diggings to Worsen Traffic
By: Jarius Bondoc | Philippine Star
For two years lawyer-historian Saul Hofileña Jr. and artist Guy Custodio regularly met to discuss Spain’s conquest of the archipelago. With time-worn photographs and manuscripts Hofileña gave animated narratives. Custodio egged him on with playful, if probing, questions. How could colonization and Christianization have been in flesh and blood, they imagined. The result: 39 collaborative paintings on that theme, as the indios must have experienced it.
Anghel de Cuyacuy
Only in a state of complete rest
Can the Angel of Swing-Legs
Let the mind walk.
Anghel de Cuyacuy, or in Rizal’s
Orthography, twice infixed
With the Katipunan’s K,
Offending Religion: the Case of Carlos Celdran
By: Jenny Ortuoste
Many in the art community and general public mourned the passing on Tuesday of performance artist, history advocate, and cultural gadfly Carlos Celdran, who in his short but eventful and productive life helped bring matters of societal import to the forefront of public discourse.
The Curious Case of Dr. Reyes
By: Jenny Ortuoste
According to Reyes’ counsel Atty. Saul Hofileña Jr., the resolution also states that the PAO does not determine who may practice medicine, but rather it is the government, specifically the Board of Medical Examiners.
The Tarot and Human Fate
Here’s new delight for artists, historians, symbologists, and students of the occult: Cartas Philippinensis, Philippine Tarot cards by the prolific lawyer-historian and wildly imaginative Saul Hofileña Jr. drawn by the artist Guy Custodio.
Beauty Queen with a heart for art
Gemma Cruz-Araneta first rose to fame when she earned the right to represent the country in the 1964 Miss International pageant by being chosen as Miss Philippines, sponsored by the City of Manila that year. Her historic win—becoming the first Filipina and Asian crowned as Miss International—also set the tone for the Philippines as a powerhouse in global beauty pageantry.
A worst-dressed-list can have more nominees
By: George Sison | Inquirer
Your mantra for the week: “My beautiful thoughts always show on my face.” Recently I was asked why some people who have perfect features become less attractive than those who seem imperfect but exude greater beauty. I have come up with 10 attributes of people who project an aura of loveliness.