Art is artifice. And all this while we have been looking at what the decoy pretended to be; we have been looking at the ideas behind the work rather than the work itself.

Déja Vu: Essays on Art, Culture, and Style brings together a selection of essays by B. Carlo M. Tadiar on the topics of Philippine art, culture, and style. The essays are a selection from three decades of Tadiar's writings previously published in The Manila Chronicle, The Philippine Daily Inquirer Metro Some and Essertaining, Esquire and Forbes. A prominent writer and editor working iD the mos influential cultural newspaper pages and magazines from the lace 1980s to 2017. Tadiars insightful, acute, and witty pieces on major Philippine artists (Roberto Chabet, Pacita Abad, Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, Fernando Amorsolo, Manuel Ocampo, Frankic Callaghan, Mark Justiniant and Karen Ocampo Flores) and art exhibits, popular culture and travel, and everyday style are important not only for their critical commentary on the high art, cultural landmarks, and fashion of an era.

These pieces are important also for thee singalar perspective and critical, aesthetic sensibility that Tadiar brings to every subject.

Published in 2023 by Puon Books

134 pages / Paperback