Ateneo Art Awards 2011: Anatomy of Autonomy

I look forward to the Ateneo Art Awards every year.  I believe that it does a credible job of recognizing the best works by young visual artists.  I do not always agree with their

Bembol dela Cruz and Kawayan de Guia

selections, and I do have an issue with the awards’ age limit.  But overall, I still find it relevant and prestigious, a worthy acknowledgement of efforts undertaken in the past twelve months.  All the chatter that rolls in along with the announcement of winners just adds to the fun!  Yes we get names that appear every year— but doesn’t that just prove that those who always make it to the shortlist consistently do great work?   A key component to the judging process requires artists to recreate an exhibit for the benefit of the panel of jurors.  Yes, this imposes an onerous burden on the artists, one that the galleries must pitch in for. Having exhibits properly documented certainly helps.  But it does prove difficult to capture an exhibit’s original flavor, despite the galleries’— and the artists’—best efforts. Perhaps, this should be addressed.

Since 2004, the Ateneo Art Gallery has bestowed the Ateneo Art Awards on three artists below the age of 36 who have exhibited outstanding work in the past year.  A panel chooses the three winners from a shortlist of 12.  The winners then have a chance at four overseas artist residency programs.

Bembol dela Cruz, "House Blends"

The Jorge B. Vargas Museum deserves a pat in the back as the unacknowledged fourth winner of this year’s awards.  They mounted two of the three winning exhibits, and these serve as testaments to their programming.  They have displayed a real commitment to showcasing the best of contemporary Philippine art.  I even think that this year’s panel missed out on a third Vargas exhibit, one that should have been in the shortlist:  Rodel Tapaya’s Bulaklak ng Dila (10 December 2010 to 5 March 2011).  But that’s just me, kibitzing from the sidelines.

I have to admit,though, that I am more than happy with the two Vargas exhibits that won.  Maria Taniguchi’s Echo Studies

Kawayan de Guia, "Bomba"

(30 March- 28 May 2011) definitely stood out as one of the most thought provoking of the group.  Her works, contemplations on absent objects presented through drawings and a video installation, evince a fastidious and polished approach to art making.  She has been awarded the residency to the Common Rooms Network Foundation in Bandung, Indonesia.  Kawayan de Guia won his second Ateneo Art Award for Bomba (15 June-18 Dec 2010), his installation of disco mirror bombs that rotate along to the soundtrack of a video on porn and violence.  If you ask me, he should have also won for his  2009 jukebox/jeepney pieces (from the exhibit Katas ng Pilipinas:  God Knows Hudas Not Play).  But I’ve stated before that I think these mirrored torpedoes are worthy successors to that series.  He gets the La Trobe University Residency in Sydney.

Poklong Anading with a video from Maria Taniguchi's "Echo Studies"

Congratulations to Bembol dela Cruz for this much-needed shot in the arm!  Bembol has continuously documented a subculture of skaters and tattoo artists through photorealistic paintings.  He’s back in the radar with this win, for House Blends (Blanc Compound, 9 – 30 April 2011), an exhibit on anarchy via homemade bomb making. Bembol will undertake two of the residencies, in Singapore at Artesan, and in the UK, at the Liverpool Hope University, the first time this has been offered to the Ateneo Art Awards.

Ateneo Art Gallery's Richie Lerma and British Ambassador Stephen Lillie

The other artists on this year’s shortlist:  Renato Barja Jr. (The Jungle and the Rain), Frank Callaghan (River of Our Dreams), Olivia d’Abboville (New Frontiers: Olivia D’Abboville, Chasm of Fantasies), Nona Garcia, (Fractures), Sam Kiyoumarsi (Inalienable Dreamless), Tatong Recheta Torres (Make My Day!), Rodel Tapaya (Simple Depictions), MM Yu (Waste Not Want Not), and Maria Jeona Zoleta (Sure Sure, Happy Happy, Picture Picture).

Kudos to the Ateneo Art Gallery headed by Richie Lerma and Yael Buencamino Borromeo!  The Ateneo Art Awards turns eight this year, a worthy contributor to the enrichment of Manila’s art scene.

Ateneo Art Awards 2011 Anatomy of Autonomy runs from 5 to 15 August 2011 at the Grand Atrium of the Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Shaw Blvd, Mandaluyong City.  The exhibition continues from 20 August to 10 September at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.  Phone (632) 426-6488 or visit http://www.ateneoartgallery.org

Candy Reyes, Christina Dy, and Ateneo Art Gallery's Yael B. Borromeo

Tatong Recheta Torres and Tina Fernandez with "Make My Day"

Sidd Perez, Catalina Africa, and Maria Jeona Zoleta

Dex Fernandez stands beside pieces from Maria Jeona Zoleta, "Sure Sure, Happy Happy, Picture Picture"

From Olivia D'Abboville's "Chasm of Fantasies"

Ramon Roco, Dr. Leo Garcia, and Louie Ojeda

MM Yu, "Waste Not Want Not"

From Nona Garcia's "Fractures"

Renato Barja Jr., "The Jungle and the Rain"

Sculptures from Renato Barja Jr., "The Jungle and the Rain"

Rodel Tapaya, "Simple Depictions"

The crew behind the awards: JV Castro, Thea Garing, IC Jaucian, and Joel de Leon of the Ateneo Art Gallery

Alex Tan and Mike Tomacruz

Frank Callaghan, "River of Our Dreams"

Sam Kiyoumarsi and Eloha Laurel

Sam Kiyoumarshi, "Inalienable Dreamless"

From Sam Kiyoumarsi's "Inalienable Dreamless"

Romeo Lee and Pow Martinez Wreak Mischief and Mayhem

Romeo Lee and his mural

The exhibit may have taken its name from Manuel Ocampo’s favorite wine,  but Mischief and Mayhem perfectly suits the works of Romeo Lee and Pow Martinez.  Those who follow these two know that their art hews closely to the messy, racy, and raunchy aesthetic, favored by the likes of Jonathan Meese and indeed, by Ocampo himself.

Another view of Romeo Lee's mural

The Department of Avant-Garde Clichés or DAGC Gallery supplies something fresh to Metro Manila’s art landscape.  As the only gallery entirely devoted to prints and multiples, the folks behind it have brought our attention to the possibilities of extending printmaking to works of artists who lean to the lowbrow. These have

Examining Pow's prints

included artists from Spain and Germany.  Like all who exhibit in the gallery, they showed pieces produced within the premises. One gets the impression that artists enjoy working in-house. Perhaps, this provides a break from their routines.  The last exhibit, Misprint Messiahs, featured pieces by Louie Cordero and Carlo Ricafort.  Prints and multiples also allow for more affordable pieces, perfect for the young urbanites who flock to the gallery.

Lee and Pow developed prints in black and white, pieces that complement Lee’s mural on the gallery’s long wall.  Pow bound some of his images together, like a comic book one can flip through— a nice alternative to the works on paper installed on the walls.

Image inside Pow Martinez book

Mischief and Mayhem runs from 3 August to 17 September 2011 at The Department of Avant-Garde Cliches (DAGC Gallery), 2289 Pasong Tamo Extension, UPRC III Bldg, Makati.  Phone (632) 8172042 or visit http://www.dagcgallery.com

Framed print by Pow Martinez

Framed print from Romeo Lee

Pow's books and another framed print

 

Brouhaha at the CCP

At first I was inclined to dismiss the debate as a tempest in a teapot.  But when my favorite daily read (www.artdaily.com) carried the story of the furor over Mideo Cruz’s piece, Poleteismo, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, I thought I had better make time to see for myself what the fuss was about.  I admit, I had no plans to drive down to view Kulô, a group exhibit of UST alumni, during the show’s run.  From photos I had seen of its opening night, I figured that majority of the artists who participated in the show chose to submit old works, most of them I had already seen before.  But with the issue of blasphemy vs. artistic freedom dominating the headlines and television news programs, how can any observer of the Manila art scene not take a stand?

As has been said elsewhere, the merits and demerits of the piece, whether it can be classified as “good” art or not is beside the point (Frankly, I find Mideo’s performances more interesting).  Other Filipino contemporary artists have expressed their disdain for the Catholic Church’s local hierarchy in stronger, more provocative terms. Although I personally did not find the piece offensive, I acknowledge that this may not be true for others (an understatement given the passions that have been ignited).  But the artist deserves the right to express his views, especially one consistent with the exhibit’s concept. Calling his work illegal and immoral, and subjecting Mideo to harassment, should not be tolerated.  It smacks of the Inquisition!

If it’s any consolation to Mideo, he stands in good company.  One of Sandro Botticelli’s paintings served as kindle to Savonarola’s Bonfire of the Vanities in Renaissance Florence.  The Taliban dynamited the Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001 because they considered these ancient stone carvings as idols. Ignorance and mass hysteria have gone hand in hand before. The CCP has at least stood firm against any attempts to close the exhibit, and has chosen to encourage dialogue and debate instead.  In that, they’ve done better than the Smithsonian.  Late last year, the museum’s director caved in to pressure and removed a piece by artist David Wojnarowicz that had proved too controversial.

What a pity that this whole brouhaha has taken the attention away from Kulô. Despite my earlier reservations, I found that I enjoyed the show.

For more on the exhibit and Mideo’s piece, check out Sam Marcelo of Businessworld:

 http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=35478

The photo that appears on this post is taken from http://www.filipinofreethinkers.org

Postscript:  I suppose it was too much to expect a government institution to stand steadfast against a bloodthirsty mob.  The CCP Board decided to close the exhibit down five days after I originally posted this.  Worse, all the politicians now think they can weigh in with their pompous opinions. How depressing that censorship and intolerance have prevailed.

A Return to Megamall, Street Art at The Crucible

As recently as five years ago, checking out Manila’s entire art scene essentially meant a stroll down the fourth floor corridor of SM Megamall in Pasig.  Perusing art did not differ much from malling, the Pinoy’s favorite pastime.  While having the galleries stand side by side along that stretch certainly made art more accessible and democratic, we didn’t get much of the diversity and multi-sensory experiences we enjoy today.  Unless, of course, the exhibit was “big” enough to merit booking the Art Center; definitely, this space hosted its share of memorable shows.

I thought I’d swing by Megamall, for old times sake.  Crucible stood out from among the row of shop windows hawking paintings. A Soundtrack To Nothing converted their small space into a setting for street art.  The same group of artists had done this before, at Manila Contemporary in November 2010 (for Painting With A Hammer To Nail The Crotch of Civilization:  A Group Show of Wall Works and Tattoo Imagery) and earlier this year, at West Gallery, in an installation paired with Manuel Ocampo’s solo (Boycotter of Beauty and the Theoretical Steroid Defiled Modernist Chicken). 

A repeat of the concept did not make the exhibit any less attractive.  The vibrant splashes of paint beckoned to passers by, especially on a rainy, gloomy afternoon.  The group collaborated on several small-scale canvases mounted as part of the installation, ensuring their fans could take home pieces of their work. Having graffiti-inspired work in Megamall, however, just proves how conventional this genre has become.

A Soundtrack to Nothing with Nemo Aguila, Bjorn Calleja, Rommel Celespara, Jigger Cruz, Don Dalmacio, Dex Fernandez, Epjey Pacheco, Edric Go, Dave Lock, Jason Montinola, and Beejay Esber runs from 26 July to 7 August 2011 at The Crucible, 4F SM Megamall.  Phone (632) 635-6061 or visit http://www.thecruciblegallery.com

 

The Origin of Symmetry by Wesley T. Valenzuela

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of The Origin of Symmetry, Wesley T. Valenzuela’s solo exhibit at Art Informal.  A chat with the artist revealed that his intent had been to simply create balance and harmony among discordant pairs.  Hence, we are confronted with figures that combine Darth Vader and Buddha, man and machine, skulls and guns set in patterns that echo mandalas.  Indeed, as one enters the gallery, the show’s installation gives off an air of serenity and peacefulness:  the gallery’s pristine walls, freshly coated in white, set off the precisely placed pieces in red and black.

Wesley draws from his background in graphic design, a subject he teaches at Asia Pacific College concurrent to his involvement with the artist groups TutoK and Pilipinas Street Plan.  Influences from pop culture and a penchant for collecting toys and action figures come out in the processes he adopts for his work.  He has used silkscreens to create his patterns and images on canvas, while his sculptures have been fabricated from resin.

Wesley T. Valenzuela, The Origin of Symmetry runs from 20 July to 8 August 2011 at Art Informal, 277 Connecticut St., Greenhills East, Mandaluyong City.  Phone (632) 725-8518 or visit http://www.artinformal.com

 

Riel Hilario’s Recreates the Night Sky while Neil Arvin Javier Packs Them In

Riel Hilario, "From The Wreckage, A Silent Reverie", detail

RIEL HILARIO, ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

Karl Jung defines projections as issues that our consciousness cannot face, concerns we may end up expressing via our dreams.  Riel Hilario has mined this explanation, along with a youthful obsession for astronomy, to create two sets of works for Astral Projections, currently on view at The Drawing Room.  The exhibit features his most recent series of sculpture, pieces that draw on his background as a wood carver from an Ilocano family of santo makers. This heritage continues to frame

Riel Hilario, "Traveller, Repose and Dream Among My Leaves"

his current work. The chiseled gessoed faces of his figures, and the severe, muted palette he adopts, hark back to traditional Filipino religious sculpture.

Riel Hilario, "The Virgin Setting On The Mountain"

Riel describes one group of works as portraits of the night sky.  As he explains, “I took specific constellations, part of the celestial sphere, and reinterpreted them as sculptural objects.”  The four-legged I have all the riddles to all your answers borrows from the constellation Leo, while Bearing The Burden of Light and A Cartesian Enigma: Joshu’s Dog look to Canis Major and Minor.  The female figures of The Crab Ascendant and The Virgin Setting On The Mountain follow the configurations of Cancer and Virgo.

Riel Hilario, "All Dreams of the Soul End Up in the Body"

Observing the stars has led Riel to dreams of the forest, the inspiration for the second set of works in the show.  One may describe the female figures in this group as tree maidens.  They either stand with their arms spread out, mimicking branches, or tall and sturdy, with leafy outgrowths.  We find familiar devices in this bunch, Riel’s signatures if you will.  For instance, the birds that populate the steel branches of From the Wreckage, A Silent Reverie sport human faces; he uses these hybrid creatures repeatedly, calling them guardians or aniwaas.  The monkey, symbol of the primal and the playful, appear in two of the works: They Are Often Most Profound When They Seem Most Crazy and Traveller, Repose And Dream Among My Leaves.

Riel Hilario, "Astral Projections", exhibit installaiton view

Riel Hilario, "They Are Often Most Profound When They Seem Most Crazy"

NEIL ARVIN JAVIER, PACKED!

Meanwhile, the other side of the gallery hosts art of an entirely different nature, but not any less interesting.  Neil Arvin Javier, street artist, punk musician, and self-published comic

Neil Arvin Javier, "Ang Mamatay ng Dahil Sa 'Yo"

book creator mounts an exhibit of his collages.  I first saw Arvin’s work at the homecoming show of TUP Alumni in October 2010 at the CCP.  For that show, Implosion, he submitted a large-scale collage, and since then, I’ve always been curious to see more.

Neil Arvin Javier, "Ako...Ikaw...Kami...Sila...Tayo"

Arvin creates his psychedelic pieces from found paper products:  empty pizza boxes, stickers, magazines, cut out gallery catalogues.  He then finishes them off with drawings or painted flourishes, either done by hand or sprayed on graffiti style.  While he may work with less of Riel’s intellectual examination, his pieces are just as carefully considered.  I’ve always taken a shine to well-made collages, and I find Arvin’s work, tinged as they are with an urban Pinoy edginess, quite appealing.  Moreover, a conversation with him will reveal an artist genuinely committed to the lowbrow, skater lifestyle.

Neil Arvin Javier, "Hell...O Hayop, Pure Open Slot"

Neil Arvin Javier's collection of small collages

Astral Projections and Packed! run until 6 August 2011 at The Drawing Room, GF Metrostar Bldg, 1007 Metropolitan Avenue, Makati City. Phone (632) 897-6990 or visit http://www.drawingroomgallery.com

Thank you to Yorkie Gomez for the additional photos of Riel’s show.

Riel Hilario, "Call No More For Penguins (The Unicorn)"

Riel Hilario, "When Safely Ashore Take Not The Raft On My Back"

Riel Hilario, "From The Wreckage, A Silent Reverie", detail

Riel Hilario, "Bearing The Burden of Light"

Riel Hilario, "The Crab Ascendant"

Luis Lorenzana appreciating Arvin's work

Neil Arvin Javier, "Mahal Kita Ba't Di Ka Maniwala"

Neil Arvin Javier, "3 Mini Cheese Past"

Neil Arvin Javier, "Hate Will Tear Us Apart"

 

Pete Jimenez Puts Together Body Parts

"Body Parts" exhibit installation view

It’s a bird!  It’s a plane!  It’s a life-sized bloom with slightly rusting petals ready to unfurl!  Pete Jimenez relishes nothing more than taking on a backyard full of scrap and transforming it into whimsical metal sculptures.  This man of steel creates art using discarded materials and found objects, a practice borne out by more than ten years of solo exhibits.  An advertising professional with a degree in Visual Communications from the University of the Philippines, he turned to sculpture in the late 1990s after good friend, artist and gallery owner Rock Drilon, encouraged him to do so.  Both belong to the UP Artists’ Circle Fraternity. This month, Drilon’s Mag:net Gallery in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City welcomes Jimenez back for Body Parts, a suite of sculptures put together from a dismantled VW Beetle and other vehicles.

Pete Jimenez, "Family Outing"

“Part of my creative process is to have fun while doing my work,” Jimenez shares.  This mindset helps him fulfill his multiple he roles: running Optima Digital Inc. as its General Manager during the week, and bending and welding iron to his bidding on weekends.  Assembling his material includes regular forays into junk shops, a task he cheerfully takes on alongside the progressions of a multimedia career, one for which he has received awards in animation and art direction.

Pete Jimenez, "Red Riding Hood"

Jimenez’s jocularity translates to pieces that brim with playfulness and wit.  He imbues his visual puns with generous doses of Pinoy humor.  In his last solo exhibit, 2009’s If The Shoe Fits for Alliance Francaise de Manille, he constructed his sculpture around a collection of old wooden shoe lasts fused with an assortment of metal objects.  The facetious Its Unpairis a tabletop piece made from short metal pipes that hold two shoe lasts – both for the right foot. On another piece, a bunch of shoe lasts hang like fruit sprouting from metal bars that jut

Pete Jimenez, "Puppy Love" and "Ball Park Figure"

out from a tall steel pole, literally forming a Shoe Tree.  Three years ago, large nails salvaged from construction sites metamorphosed into the twenty works that came together in West Gallery’s now defunct Megamall space, a show Jimenez dubbed Nail Spa.

Body Parts, which runs from July 2 to 28, is the 15^th solo exhibit for Jimenez.  For this, he has fabricated large pieces from sections of whole vehicles, some sourced from as far north as Pampanga.   Among others, the show incorporates an old Combi’s sliding door and its fender into works that seem to bounce and wiggle, an illusion of movement that decidedly draws on the artist’s background in animation.

Pete Jimenez, "Bill's Gate"

In the future, Jimenez hopes to secure a commission for a public project, something that will allow him to put one of his works on permanent display and give pleasure to a larger group of viewers.  In the meantime, he continues to produce the unexpected from his stash of iron.  And enjoy himself as he does.

Pete Jimenez, "Raise The Roof" (foreground)

Body Parts runs from 2 to 28 July, Mag:net, 335 Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.  Phone (632) 929-3991 or visit http://www.magnetgalleries.com

This post has been reproduced from a short article I wrote for the July 2011 issue of Town and Country Philippines http://www.facebook.com/townandcountry.ph