Art Fair 2024: Pioneering Exhibits of Note From International Arts
Art Fair 2024 winds down to a close this weekend after a month of anticipation. And as such, it’s hard to grasp the variety of experiences offered by the fair to the people who went. You can check out our coverage of it so far, including the stand-out retrospectives and local art featured.
And yet, this year’s Art Fair made sure to include some interesting art pioneers breaking down the lines crafted with art today. It’s not just local artists, but international ones willing to push the boundaries forward. It’s not just traditional oil-on-canvas, but other mediums like plastic, digital art, and even sand that showcase the evolution of art today.
With that in mind, let’s dive into some of the standout artists at the Art Fair we’re excited to spotlight.
Be A Tree Now
Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia had a unique exhibit at the Art Fair this year with Be A Tree Now. It’s easily one of the most interactive booths in the fair. All you have to do is stand in front of the camera, move your arms around, and see the tree-like results.
The exhibit is done through “moving multiple-exposure image.” The end result creates a wiggly, jittery single portrait that looks like the silhouette of a tree. And yet, while it does look like a tree, it’s still a digital tree—and that’s the point.
Ampudia’s exhibit wants to effectively blur the line between nature and the digital world. It’s satirical because the tree isn’t an actual tree, but a poor facsimile of one. It reminds us of the need for a physical push towards the betterment of the climate crisis.
And yet, beyond its satirical ambitions, it reminds us that we are a part of nature. We are organic, natural, andone with the trees. Because of that, our efforts as human beings are needed to help nature in resolving the climate crisis we have today.
Mr. StarCity’s Speakeasy
Brooklyn-based artist David “Mr. StarCity” White has the most relaxing exhibit in the Art Fair this year. Called One Petal At A Time, the exhibit contains these giant, expressionistic portraits that seem to encompass a wide range of emotions from the artist. Its uniqueness also comes with the material: the portraits are made of sand and soil. The material further adds a feeling of roughness and groundedness that other portraits don’t have.
More than that, however, is the fact that One Petal At A Time’s exhibit was structured like a speakeasy, complete with a stage and a small, bar-like area for people to convene. Mr. StarCity himself invited people to his 7PM show, where he performed spoken word poetry, played the saxophone, and shared the story of his life.
It’s a very unique way to tell one’s story and to spread good vibes for everyone. And it’s easy to leave his performance feeling euphoric, or contemplate the artistic choices of his sand-and-soil portraits. It’s engrossing and interesting, perhaps more than most of what you saw in the Art Fair this year.
Leftovers From The Future
Romanian artist Andreea Medar’s Leftovers from the Future is a personal work that evokes a theme of neglect. She uses hand-stitched clear plastic sheets to create the exhibit; from maps of her province to her grandparents’ dilapidated home.
Her portrayal of her grandfather’s house is peculiar. It glows under UV light, highlighting the wild overgrowth that envelopes the entire structure. In her other works, she speaks about how children from the city were sent to the provinces as a way to live cheaply while their parents worked. Some parts are vibrant and intricate, while the rest are transparent and unfinished, almost ghostly.
As much as there is pessimism, there is also hope in the way Medar depicts the past and the future. The way she highlights the continued growth even in its aging and dilapidated state rekindles the idea of a better future for her country.
Art Fair: An Exchange of Ideas
Beyond our own local art scene, it’s always interesting to see how other countries explore new horizons. Art Fair Philippines has always existed to showcase the world’s art, not just our country’s. It gives even those living within the country access to the changing artscape of the world.
The Art Fair can show us where we stand in the international scene. Art is conversation, and this cultural exchange broadens what local artists can try in terms of medium or discussion. With that in mind, these stunning artworks from international artists show us how we can experiment further. It’s not just what we can do, but how we can use it to talk about the world as a whole.
