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Celeste Lecaroz returns to the public art scene with Many Marias: Callas by Lecaroz, a new cycle of paintings and drawings inspired by legendary operatic soprano Maria Callas.
The exhibition opened on May 15 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium Lobby inside RCBC Plaza and will run until May 30 in partnership with the Philippine Opera Company’s staging of Master Class starring Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.
The exhibit marks Lecaroz’s 11th solo show and her first major public exhibition since Redux in 2023. The two-year gap is reportedly the longest pause between solo exhibits in her career, during which she focused on private commissions and trained as a long-distance open-water swimmer.
Composed of five paintings and four pen-and-ink drawings, Many Marias examines the complexity and contradictions behind the iconic opera singer’s image.
One of the exhibit’s central works visually splits Callas’ face into two contrasting halves — one rendered in vibrant acrylic color and the other in grayscale tonal drawing — creating a deliberate tension between emotional intensity and restraint.
Another standout canvas overlays grayscale eyes drawn from archival photographs onto a fully chromatic body, while the exhibit’s largest work combines both artistic approaches into a single portrait where duality becomes part of the face itself.
The exhibition’s accompanying monograph references literary critic NVM Gonzalez and his ideas on the diachronic and synchronic dimensions of art, describing the collection as a moment where multiple versions of Maria Callas coexist at once.
Lecaroz continues to work within the Spontanrealismus tradition associated with Austrian painter Voka, blending expressive color work with figurative portraiture.
Over the years, she has become known for her reinterpretations of works connected to Fernando Amorsolo, as well as her widely circulated 2020 portrait of Kobe Bryant and portraits of Philippine leaders including Manuel L. Quezon and Corazon Aquino.
Her paintings have also appeared as cover art for several publications released by San Anselmo Press, including the Penguin Classics edition of Banaag at Sikat and Servant Leader: Leni Robredo.
The exhibit’s monograph, published by San Anselmo Press, features reproductions of all nine works, a catalog essay, and a poem by Jim Pascual Agustin.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Opera Company described the collaboration between the exhibit and Master Class as “the stage meets the canvas in one extraordinary celebration of art.”
For inquiries regarding the exhibit and monograph, interested visitors may contact San Anselmo Press Facebook Page.
Tickets for Master Class are available through Ticket2Me.
