Artist Rene Cuvos, 28, has never been married, but his recent exhibit, “Happily Ever After,” at Kaida Gallery is a satirical look on the ups and downs of married life.

Not drawing from personal experience, Rene’s third solo show is inspired by his neighborhood in Las Pinas, where more women than men are employed.

In the morning, he says, it’s the wives who wake up, dress up, and walk out the door to work. The husbands stay at home and watch the kids. “Sometimes I overhear them brag about how they’ve perfected their cooking,” shares the fine arts graduate from the Philippine Women’s University.

A feminist Rene is not, but in his collection of paintings in “Happily Ever After,” the male figures are lazy husbands who drink, sleep late into the morning, and do not help around the house.

“Para silang si Juan Tamad, high na high sa katamaran [Like Juan Tamad, these husbands are consumed in their indolence],” explains Rene.

Some of the problems that couples living together face may seem trivial: the man’s annoying habit of forgetting to put the toilet seat down, leaving his stinky socks lying around, or not taking out the trash.

Rene’s “Happily Ever After” is the commentary of a bachelor examining other couples’ lives, concluding that simple things left unresolved can blow up and lead to deeper problems. Married or not, you shouldn’t miss this exhibit. It runs at Kaida Gallery until November 26, 2008.

Kaida Gallery
2F GFO Building
122 Kamuning Road
Quezon City
(632) 4144777
info@kaidagallery.com.

Photos: Rene Cuvos’ “Hari at Kumander” (top) and “Lunes ng Umaga” by Abbie Maquiling