The Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID) celebrated its 60th Anniversary last October 5 at Centro de Turismo in Intramuros, Manila. Interior designers, architects, suppliers, and various industry partners attended the event held at the old San Ignacio Church, which PIID rehabilitated and transformed into the country’s tourism center. “In Chinese tradition, 60 years is […]
In Review: Five Art Exhibits Highlighting May’s Unique Offerings
In recent weeks, BluPrint published its continued coverage on some of the happenings in the local art scene. Art exhibits daring in its approach and its ideas sprouted up across the country, battling the summer heat with its own version of passionate fervor.
With May coming to an end, here are some highlights we wanted to share with our readers as we prepare for the next month of offerings from our local artists.
Running Backwards into the Future
Curated by James Clar and shown at Modeka Art, this assemblage of great Filipino artists expresses snapshots of our local art scene and its continued evolution. It pushes back against Westernized ideas of what art can be, and gives us local artists that shoves against hierarchies and colonialism.
Standout artworks like Angel Velasco Shaw’s “1985” or Judy Freya Sibayan’s “Lemon Cake” take audiences to a journey of identity and definition. Works like Bernie Pacquing’s violin sculptures or Isabel Aquilizan’s “Sunog na Kanin” and other works featured here blur the lines between archiving and artwork.
Or is there really that much of a difference between archiving and art? In its own way, isn’t art as much a way of preserving our lived realities and emotions in that specific period when the work is created? Running Backwards Into the Future brings those questions in the forefront for us to ruminate on.
Read more on our coverage here.
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Artist Josephine Turalba’s recent exhibition in Salcedo Auctions sews a tale of post-colonial existence for the Filipino through her own personal experiences.
The work, made of colorful leather pieces sewn together to create a giant tapestry, brings us to Turalba’s travels from the Philippines to the United States and Turkey. And in that journey, she links together these seemingly-disparate cultures into one comfortable whole.
She finds the common thread between the brownstones of Boston to the crowded streets of Manila, our churches and the mosques in Turkey, our own societal problems with the problems of other countries. It blends them together and tells the story of our common human connection even in other countries—that despite the differences in culture, we might not be as different as we thought we were.
Read our interview with Turalba regarding the work..
Violent Camote
Roxlee’s exhibit in Gravity Art Space strikes a balance between the strange and the humorous. Paintings of humanity bordering on the cartoony, evocative in their emotions, give a sense of the independent filmmaker’s subversive streak even as he battles with meaning within a society.
In a recent talk about the exhibit, the artist admitted that much of the works came about due to boredom during the pandemic. In a way, that makes a lot of sense because which of us haven’t done the odd project or so while we were stuck in our homes?
And yet, it also exemplifies the freedom that exists in his work. In a career of advocating for independent local art, he has pushed for Filipino artists to explore strangeness instead of marketability. And what better way to delve into the strange than the kind of subversive sexual humor that borders on obscene?
Check out our coverage of the exhibit.
I ought to nail down the sky, it keeps getting away from me
Displayed in Vinyl on Vinyl, Koki Lxx’s work continues to elude easy definition. It comments on imperialism and colonization, and it works as a pretty showcase of scattered, colorful lights across a spectrum. How does it define the fleeting nature of beauty? And how strongly does it connect to the evils of imperialist powers within our country?
The work festers on in your mind quietly. The images’ vagueness works to its advantage as it creates in us a meaning reflected in the living conditions of our world today. It shows that, as fragile as beauty is, it’s also one that sticks with you as you seek understanding for what you don’t know.
Read here for further discussion.
Piña, Why is the Sky Blue?
Stephanie Comilang and Simon Speiser’s exhibit at Silverlens Manila portray the effects of capitalism and colonialism in our world, and suggests the further progression of society from these terrible pasts through the use of technology.
It’s an incitement, in other words, against the idea of culture as a stagnant thing. More than anything, Piña, Why is the Sky Blue? portrays indigenous and traditional cultures as alive, not something stuck in museums gathering dust. The artists believe that the progress of technology doesn’t mean the death of one’s way of life.
Rather, the exhibit encourages us to adapt to the times and find the ways one can reconcile the old and the modern together. Life coexists together, and with how tech has evolved, nothing is truly dead and nothing is truly extinct.
Read our coverage here, and this article, which discusses the tech aspect of the exhibit further.
Pushing Art Forward
These highlights only give a small glimpse of the diversity of art exhibits in the country. But they do give an idea of the discussions happening within the community. As we battle through pursuing a selfhood away from our colonial past—a selfhood we can call our own—it leads to great, thoughtful works that balances the societal discourse with our personal struggles.
Kasalukuya’t Kasaysayan ng Artista ng Bayan (ABAY), 1985-1994, is an important historical exhibit in today’s stormy political times. Containing twenty-one artists and former members of Martial Law-era group ABAY, it displays the important work of cultural workers in mass movements in changing the world today. Lisa Ito curated the works of the exhibit. In a […]
Jason M. Allen, the “artist” infamously known for winning an art contest with AI-generated artwork, sued the U.S. copyright office over their decision to reject his petition for copyright protection for the award-winning artwork. The artwork, “Théâtre d’Opéra Spatial,” became controversial after it won the Colorado State Fair’s art competition in 2022. Allen created the […]
You might have encountered the ‘very demure, very mindful’ trend all over social media platforms these days. It’s not easy to escape when everyone seems to have their own forthright or ironic interpretation of this phrase. While this is mostly displayed through an individual’s behavior and aesthetics, did you know that this phenomenon can also […]
M+ typically creates exhibitions based on their collection, but the I. M. Pei Retrospective is an exception. Although the museum only had three items from the architect, the city in which it stands and where he once lived resonates with his global influence. Born out of a decade-long research process, helmed by Shirley Surya and […]
Bang & Olufsen, the renowned luxury Danish audio and video brand, relaunched its flagship store at Shangri-La Plaza Mall. Spanning 124 square meters, the newly renovated space reflects the brand’s signature Scandinavian aesthetic and cutting-edge technology. The store showcases a full range of premium products that deliver unparalleled audio and visual experiences. An Immersive Journey […]
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