6 reasons to check out Art Fair Philippines 2014

MANILA, Philippines – If you missed last year, or if you’ve been meaning to introduce yourself to the local art scene, or even if you just want tangible proof that the creative mind is alive and well in our country, Art Fair Philippines is the way to go.

“We’ve always felt that Philippine contemporary art should have a place in our national psyche,” explains Trickie C. Lopa, one of the event organizers along with Lisa O. Periquet and Dindin B. Araneta. The three established Philippine Art Events Inc., which oversees the management of Art Fair Philippines. The fair itself is an interesting initiative on the part of the private sector to further contemporary arts in the Philippines.

By Louie Cordero (art seen on ping pong table)

Whether you’re an art student feeling out the scene outside your school for the first time or a longtime collector waiting for the big time, here are six good reasons why you should go to the art fair this February:

It’s still in the car park. Last year saw the transformation of a typical metropolitan space into urbane exhibition hall, and this year’s fair aims to set the bar higher. The fair has now expanded up the second floor of the Link car park, and staging is set to happen by architect Leandro V. Locsin and designer Kenneth Cobonpue. A car park it may be, but if a team of artists can’t transform a car park into a fantastic smorgasbord of visual feats, what hope is there?

It’s like a sampling of all the best galleries. Galleries are a side of the art business that doesn’t immediately get recognised, but anyone interested will soon learn the influence, power, and responsibilities that fall on the gallery. Curating is a bit of an art on its own, so a perusal would give you on idea of which gallery’s eye you like best. The art fair makes it blessedly convenient, and even has some galleries from Malaysia and Singapore participating.

Kick-Ass by Demetrio Dela Cruz (oil on acetate, mixed media)

It’s got Christie’s Art Forum. The series of seminars and discussions look promising this year — a live panel with BenCab, Geraldine Javier and Mark Justiniani is happening, while Eric Chang of Christie’s Contemporary Asian Art along with six field experts from different backgrounds are to discuss the place of Philippine art in the international art scene. If there was ever a thing to demonstrate how the art scene is full of people beyond the artists, it would be this.

It’s full of art especially made for the fair. If there’s an artist you like or admire, there’s a good chance their work is going to be in there somewhere. There’s also a fair chance they’ve got new things to debut, as there are a number of artists who have been commissioned especially for the fair. As an added bonus, our art scene has recently been trending towards the “new media” side of things, so you’ll get see a lot of non-conventional materials being used.

It’s got special solo exhibitions you do not want to miss. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume, you would not being doing a bad thing if you picked an artist or two to focus on and absorb slowly. There are a total of seven solo exhibitions this year, and all of them are artists who have significant critical and commercial success. BenCab is the big one, with new sculptures coming out for the fair, but there’s also the greatly successful Ronald Ventura. Other huge art world names abound, with work by Jose Santos III, Rodel Tapaya, Pio Abad, Marina Cruz and Louie Cordero all debuting at the fair.

Ax by Eugenia Alcaide (thread on silk)

It’s a show of interest money can’t buy. Events like these would not happen, could not happen, without the participation of a great number of people, but all of it is for naught without enough of the average person taking an interest. There are reasons we can have great events like this in Manila, and it would be a mistake to assume your interest doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Scheduled for February 20-23, at the Link car park building between the Makati Shangri-La Hotel and the Landmark Department Store in Makati, Metro Manila. Tickets are Php150 and Php50 for students. More info: www.artfairphilippines.com.