Creativity fuels creativity at Art Fair PH
2 Pacita Abad_Kinokuniya_2004.
8 Taloi Havini_Dengung Hyena_2020 (video still).
Andreea Medar.
Andreea Menar – Solarium, The forever garden, 2022.
Eugenio Ampudia.
Eugenio Ampudia – Be A Tree Now.
FAIR 7.
Jigger Cruz.
Jigger Cruz 2.
Jonathan Ching.
Jonathan Ching 2.
KHM 10 YEARS BANNER 2.
KHM Gean Brix Garcia.
KHM Gean Brix Garcia 2..
Rod Paras-Perez.
TALOI HAVINI.
Tuklas.
20240116_112024.
20240116_115559.
20240116_121439.
0205back3.
Mr. StarCity.
Rod Paras-Perez(1).
There’s no denying that the Philippine visual arts landscape looks very different these days from how it did over a decade ago. The birth of Art Fair Philippines brought art to the public, and drew people to the arts at the same time.
“It’s gratifying to see the growth of the audience, not just in numbers but in terms of being open to all sorts of contemporary art,” says Trickie Lopa, who cofounded the much-awaited annual event with Lisa Periquet and Dindin Araneta 11 years ago.
“I think we really widened the audience, and also deepened their appreciation of the art and the art market,” Periquet says. “One thing that happened that maybe we didn’t foresee was developing a very young audience.”
“In a sense, art has become part of the landscape, which didn’t exist really when we were growing up. And I think because it’s part of the landscape, they want to see, they want to keep up with it, and that’s great,” said Lopa, adding that young people getting into creative industries are realizing that these are all interconnected: For example, interest in fashion relates to interest in other forms of art. “All this creativity fuels more creativity, fuels more interest.”
“In the Philippines, the visual arts is finally an industry,” Araneta says.
Complete ecosystem
Aside from an increase in the number of galleries, there is also a rise in activities involving museums, auction houses, independent art spaces, artist collectives, incubators and artist initiatives, according to Lopa. “We have a complete ecosystem now, and I think we had a hand in kind of having that growth.”
In fact, Art Fair Philippines seems to have inspired a blossoming of other art festivals in recent years, which Araneta takes as a good sign. “That’s part of industry growing, that you have more commercial platforms to show art,” she says. “It’s a sign of active entrepreneurship within the visual arts ecosystem, which I think is also very healthy because that provides more access to collectors and buyers and more work for the artists.”
Lopa applauds efforts to create art fairs based in other regions of the country, which are able to shine a spotlight on their respective local art scenes. “All these artists working on the ground who may not necessarily be featured by Metro Manila-based venues; it’s great that they’re finding a home there.”
Periquet says it shows how vibrant the art market is, advising organizers to give their art fairs their own character and quality. “For me, the most significant effort we do is really creating a program that has a lot of depth.”
For Araneta, staging an art festival every year takes a lot of grit and persistence. “You have to just keep pushing forward because there’s always room for you to share your ideas.”
Putting together such an exciting and extensive collection of artworks in one festival is something the organizers work really hard on, traveling to see other art fairs and meeting groups and artists to bring in something different each time and “not just fluff.” Lopa says that audience expectations get higher every year. “They’re ready to be challenged, and that’s wonderful. Nobody wants to see just the same old thing all the time.”
A lot to offer
This edition of Art Fair Philippines has a lot to offer. In fact, Lopa’s dilemma is how she’ll be able to enjoy everything.
Caramel Inc. owner Miguel Rosales says he’s looking forward to the variety that’s going to be shown.
“There’s so much going on this year. There’s video, photography, performance and rediscovering certain artists of a certain period that we’re trying to do with Gwen (Bautista).”
Kicking off the celebration is “10 Days of Art,” a series of complementary events starting Feb. 9 around the Makati Central Business District that includes two public components, featuring transdisciplinary visual artist Derek Tumala’s “A Warm Orange-Coloured Liquid” at the Tower One Fountain area, visible along Ayala Avenue, and motion graphics artist and multimedia engineer Isaiah Cacnio’s “Prismatic Embrace,” which will be projected on the Green Wall of Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2.
Then from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18, The Link car park in Makati City will be transformed into a multilevel exhibition hub for modern and contemporary art, including digital art, brought in by galleries from the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Established and young art galleries are given space at Art Fair Philippines. Silverlens, which is celebrating its 20th year and has been with the festival from the beginning, will occupy the fifth floor of The Link to exhibit works of over 30 artists from all over the world.
Throughout those 11 years, owners and co-directors Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo have seen for themselves how Art Fair Philippines helped shape the visual arts scene.
“Definitely, art has become so popular and very accessible. It’s no longer a high-brow thing, and the fact that they have it in the heart of the business district ensures that people from all walks of life come, and it’s really super vibrant,” Lorenzo says.
Great exposure
By extension, she added, a lot of people have been going to their gallery on Pasong Tamo extension after seeing their exhibit at Art Fair Philippines. “It’s great exposure for the galleries and the artists. It has become something to look forward to for Arts Month.”
“It’s about artists, whether they’re upcoming or someone who’s already passed, like Pacita Abad,” Rillo says. “It’s really their history or their journey. So I think that’s something that new art enthusiasts should also look at.” Silverlens will be presenting a solo show by Abad, who passed away in 2004, featuring pieces from her last ever show for the first time in 20 years.
It’s very different from an “online-digital-Instagram-TikTok” experience, she continued. “When you see the works in person, it’s just different in real life, and it’s always better, and there’s something when you can see and touch. When it’s tangible, it becomes much more. So, come see.”
Gravity Art Space was only two years old when it was invited to join Art Fair Philippines last year. On their second outing this year, they’re coming out strong with a total of 18 artists, including Gravity founding director Indy Paredes.
“Expect three different exhibitions during the Art Fair run,” Paredes says, explaining that each exhibition will be comprised of six artists for each concept of the day. But during the vernissage, all 18 will have a massive presentation altogether.
Gravity head of collections Melai Matias reveals that they will also be showing Riotaso’s Rio Estuar’s collection at the vernissage. Riotaso is a sustainable fashion brand that utilizes scrap fabric.
“We’re trying to show that art is not limited to sculpture and paintings. It’s also wearable,” said Paredes.
Art in book form
Another possibly surprising offering at the three-day festival is art in book form. Istorya Studios’ Marina Cruz will be launching on the seventh floor their latest publications, including those by Cruz herself, contemporary artist Doktor Karayom and street artist Archie Oclos.
“As visual artists, we’re all storytellers, and it’s not just through painting,” Cruz says. “It’s interesting because when you try to challenge an artist to create a book, it just excites them intellectually.”
According to Cruz, they want the audience to experience a different side of creative art making, as there are stories that can be amplified through the intimacy of turning the pages of a book one by one.
Gallery Paloma’s “Un|Tethered” exhibition also aims to liberate audiences from the notion that artists are limited to single forms of creative expression.
Not only will National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab (in collaboration with Jopet Arias), Basti Artadi, Carlos, Ernest Concepcion and AJ Dimarucot, Sarah de Vera and Hamill Buyco, Carla Gamalinda, Martin Honasan and Barbie Almalbis, Lindslee and Carina Santos have their works on display during the festival. It will also mark their first foray into digital art, collaborating to transform digital counterparts of at least one of their pieces.
For their part, Rosales and Mono8 Gallery director/curator Bautista are collaborating to reintroduce works of Rod. Paras-Perez from the ‘60s and the ‘70s for ArtFairPH/Projects. They are also presenting “Pambabae,” featuring female abstractionists from 1969 to 1989.
The special exhibit sheds a light on contributions of strong women modernists of that period who have largely been overlooked and overshadowed by their male contemporaries, including Ivi Avellana Cosio, Ileana Lee, Nelfa Querubin, Evelyn Collantes, Phyllis Zaballero and Lilian Hwang.
Pieces from other renowned Filipino artists will also be on display, including Jonathan Ching, Jigger Cruz, Gean Brix Garcia and a group of muralist painters mentored by Alfredo Esquillo Jr. and Renato Habulan.
Retrospective exhibit
Visitors will find works by Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Mr. StarCity and Romanian conceptual artist Andreea Medar during the festival. Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia’s participative performance piece, “Be A Tree Now,” is a call for climate justice that aims to train the audience’s attention to the climate emergency and get them to empathize with other species living in the planet.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary and winding down of the Karen H. Montinola Selection, Art Fair Philippines will have a retrospective exhibit featuring recipients of the grant from 2014: Pio Abad (2014), Mike Adrao (2015), Mac Valdezco (2016), Mark Valenzuela (2017), Alvin Zafra (2018), Liv Vinluan (2019), Carlo Villafuerte (2021), Melvin Guirhem (2022), Faye Abantao (2023) and Gean Brix Garcia (2024).
Selected residency artists who will be exhibiting their works include Mark Salvatus for Manila Observatory in Quezon City, Manila; Anna Miguel Cervantes for Linangan Art Residency in Alfonso, Cavite; Jett Ilagan for Emerging Islands in San Juan, La Union; Julian Tapales for Butanding Barrio in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and Renz Baluyot for Orange Projects in Bacolod, Negros Occidental. Two international artists—Iseult Perrault and Petr Hajdyla—have also joined the residency program.
Art Fair Philippines continues to partner with the Ateneo Art Gallery to provide an insightful look into an artist’s work and life, art forms, artistic processes, collectors and interests.
The 2024 talks program will hold discussions delving into the intersections of art and science, photography as authorship, women in modern art, and reading images from a historical perspective, among other interesting topics.
Art Fair Philippines trains audience attention to digital media, which it started last year. This includes works that “incorporate and engage with computer technology, animation, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse.”
Art Fair Philippines will fly in Daata founder David Dryn to present “Best Dressed Chicken (Manila Version),” a selection of digital video artworks that “engage in notions of vanity and choice.”
CryptoPH will hold a special exhibit flaunting Filipino talent in nonfungible tokens and blockchain technology.
Manila-based FotomotoPH will be the sole exhibitor for photography this year, curated by former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila Sandra Palomar. For film, renowned filmmaker-slash-writer Moira Lang will curate “No Showing,” a speakeasy-type of space for filmmakers and filmgoers to weigh in on the state of moviemaking and moviegoing in the country. Co-presented by Archivo Gallery in cooperation with Club Kino, “No Showing” will be a festival not of film screenings, but of conversations. INQ
Tickets are available through artfairphilippines.com, or at the reception area of Art Fair Philippines on Feb. 16-18. Follow @artfairph on Instagram and Facebook.
