A Synergy of Ventures: The Postwar Art Scene, the new exhibit at Ateneo Art Gallery, puts into historical context the massive shift of artistry in the Philippines after World War II. The exhibition seeks to highlight the different influential trends in the country at the time, from modernism to abstraction to Neo-Realism.
The name comes from an essay by Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez that discusses “the role of women in the development of art in Southeast Asia.” This focused on the founders of the Art Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Art Gallery: Purita Kalaw-Ledesma and Lydia Arguilla.
For this exhibit, the focus is on another important figure of the art movement, Fernando Zóbel, who helped create the Ateneo Art Gallery in 1960.
Much of the works shown will be from the collection of Zóbel. Other works come from the collections of the family of Purita Kalaw Ledesma, the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc. (KLFI), and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
“This exhibition offers a glimpse into the beginnings of artists who are now considered stalwarts in Philippine art history,” the exhibit notes said. “Some have also earned the country’s highest recognition — the National Artist Award. In their youth, their individual paths converged and helped pave the way for new ideas that have shaped the development of Philippine art.”
The most fascinating thing about A Synergy of Ventures is the diversity of the movements it highlights. Its curation takes care to involve as many influential and important artists to its roster as possible.
There’s the headline star Fernando Zóbel, whose birth centennial made the exhibit happen. But this also features other important figures like Arturo Luz, Lee Aguinaldo, Hernando Ocampo, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, and more. At times, it feels absolutely daunting to go through the exhibit with the large variety of works being displayed.
But going beyond that curational aspect, the exhibit also showcases written works that highlight the importance of the pieces. From newspaper articles to whole artbooks open for scrolling, it gives the context of these paintings for the country. Art students who go through this exhibit will likely come out more knowledgeable about the prevailing styles of the time.
It moves through different movements of artistry happening at the same time. From modernism to abstract expressionism to neo-realism, they emphasize the different congruent phases of art in the country—and more than that, how they ended up affecting us in the modern day.
Another curious thing about A Synergy of Ventures is just how much it features Fernando Zóbel. The works featured here mainly come from his collection, but it really does create a portrait of his importance to the period. It personalizes him to the viewers to make him relatable: one is greeted entering the exhibit with a list of his classes and grades while going to Ateneo de Manila.
He played multiple roles in his life, from curator to painter to collector. This exhibit contains a multitude of his paintings, with the gallery noting what awards it won while he was alive. His paintings skewed closer to abstraction, taking cues from expressionists in his use of color and paint splatter.
Even some of the works here feature him in action. A series of sketches shown in the exhibit, “Zobel Lecturing on Art” by David Medalla, portray his active role in defining art for the Philippines.
His collection goes beyond his work, however. Many of the paintings featured here come from his collection that he donated to the Ateneo Art Gallery, or from the Purchase Fund he established to help the gallery acquire paintings. The artists featured here spread across the world—not just Filipino artists but foreign ones like Edouard Manet, Francisco Goya, and Georges Roualt.
A Synergy of Ventures offers more than a lesson of history for its viewers. It reminds us that fostering artistry requires attention, funding, and effort. Developing our current future for art requires more than passivity, more than likes and sharing on social media. It requires the kind of focused intentionality that creates an environment of creation for artists in the country.
Zóbel ushered modern sensibilities into Filipino art through his own paintings, but also through his efforts and funding ensuring that artists can create for another day. The exhibit works as a celebration of his legacy, and as a way of showcasing the influential branches that his undertaking allowed.
Article photos by Elle Yap. Featured image courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.
Related reading: Drawing Room: A Complete Overview of a Historical Social Space
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