Danilo Dalena was born on January 4, 1942 in the town of Pakil in Laguna. His father was a lawyer, and a prominent personage in their hometown. Dalena grew up in a house overlooking the town plaza where as a child he got a front seat view of the town's festivities. His first contact with the visual arts and initial attempts at drawing began with comic books. He was an avid komiks reader, claiming to have collected three drums full of Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel and Classics Ilustrated comics. Dalena was in the third grade when he was transferred to Manila. Displaying a natural talent for the visual-arts arts in elementary and high school, Dalena decided to take up Advertising Arts with an elective in painting at the UST. His teachers there were Victorio Edades, Galo B. Ocampo and Tenon Rivera. A short time after graduating from college in 1965, Dalena was making illustrations and political cartoons for the Free Press Magazine and then for the Asia Philippine Leader.

His first one-man show at Joy T. Dayrit's Print Gallery in 1969 was composed of oil paintings which he now dismisses as the work of a beginner. After two other exhibits using improvised materials sculpted into erotic shapes, Dalena's first major exhibit was held at the Solidaridad Galleries in 1972. This exhibit featured the illustrations he had done for the Asia Philippine Leader Magazine, some political sculptures, and a series of drawings of urinals begun in the late 60s which he called the Toilet Series. The Toilet Series was composed of on-the-spot pen and ink drawings of urinals in the bistros and beer gardens which he frequented.

In 1974 shortly alter the declaration of martial law caused the closing down of the Philippine Leader, Dalena found himself without work. He then began the Jai A/ai Series that portrayed not the game itself but the swirling mass of bettors who arrived hopeful but left as losers. One of the paintings in his series grabbed the grand prize in the Art Association of the Philippines competition the following year.

An exhibit of 27 large oil paintings held in 1978 at the gallery of the Regent of Manila was the event that brought him unanimous critical acclaim. Two years later, he won the 1980 Mobil Art Awards with paintings from the same series. Critics commented on his use of color and the penetrating political allegory implicit of a country in crisis. While he was completing the Jai Alai Series, he started working on another set of oil paintings of strippers and dancers in a beerhouse on one of Manilas major thoroughfares.

The Alibangbang Series named after the beerhouse, was exhibited at the Alegria Gallery in l981 and was once again well received. Later, in a marked departure from his previous subiects, Dalena began painting scenes of his hometown Pakil, a subject to which he would increasingly be drawn. In l990, Dalenas work from his early illustrations in magazines and including part of the Pakil Series made up of 24 oil painting's featuring the old church of the town, and the komedyas and moro -moros which are town traditions.

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goal of the gallery is to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)