CEBU, Philippines - Thunderstorms and muddy grounds didn’t stand a chance against Manila’s art creme de la creme, who were raring to snap up affordable art at the latest incarnation of Art in the Park.
Held on a muggy Saturday at the Jaime Velasquez Park that, for one dismal hour, suffered pelting rains that turned the immaculate grounds to slush, the dismal weather failed to deter the weekenders, as the joyous celebration of artists and their creations lured them irresistibly in.
Dr. Joven Cuanang, benefactor of the latest destination museum, Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo, was proudly beaming beside his Boston Gallery booth, which showcased his stable of talents.Canvas Gallery proprietor Gigo Alampay hovered near his stall, while Chitti Cometa of Metro Gallery had her hands full trying to keep up with the demands of greedy patrons.
Indeed, all the schools of thought were pretty much represented in the cross-section of galleries, with Vinyl on Vinyl and Secret Fresh on the pop youth end of the spectrum, and Art Verite and Silverlens on the more sober, adult-oriented swing of the pendulum.But no matter the persuasion or the temperament, the selections were there to appeal to the buyers, and if one did not like surreal, there were abstracts or realists aplenty.
The Fine Arts departments of leading schools like the University of Sto. Tomas and Technological University of the Philippines let their students have their first taste of success or failure, as booths from art schools competed with established galleries.
The Visayas was represented by at least two outfits: the Orange Gallery (with guru Charlie Co leading the Bacolod delegation of Negrense artists, including Raymond Legaspi, Roderick Tijing and Dennis Ascalon) and Cebu Contemporary, representing young artists such as, surprise surprise, Vanessa Amman, former Ms. Cebu finalist.
Nearby, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala strolled along with a little shadow in tow, while Ricky Carandang and Ces Orena Drilon sipped delish alky at the Straits Wine booth manned by the dashing Spencer Ty.Designers Rajo Laurel and James Reyes kept their followers up to date with regular posts in the facebook and twitter accounts, and meanwhile the rest of the world just imbibed the generally convivial atmosphere that was the fair.
Dotting the park were metal sculptures fashioned by Pete Jimenez, while plastic was the material of choice of Mac Valedezco, who lent huge objets for further atmospheric effect.
Some notables from the thousands of works on display (and one has to realize that there was no chance to view all of them, as art works were snapped up from opening hour and carted off before they could even be seen by other buyers) included a powerful 12 x 24 oil piece by Melanio Bualauitan entitled “Persuasionâ€, which depicted a face scrunched up against water liberally flowing on brows and cheeks and mouth, the stream of water depicted so realistically that it was breathtaking.
Astrid Castillo contributed a potent rendition of just the lower half of a beautiful face, but a golden zipper snaps the mouth shut.
The message was obvious: secrets stay secret.This piece will soon grace the walls of a young plastic surgeon - a soothing reminder to clients worried about the privacy of their tummy tucks and face lifts.
On the pop art realm, delightful examples could be seen with architect by profession Hilario “Doods†Campos III’s quirky watercolor entitled “Libertyâ€, a hilarious rendition of a gigantic carrot (or was that a bird) riding a canary yellow jeepney bound for Libertad.This was a fine sample of the works that had led the Bangko Sentral museum curator to eye Campos’ works last year.Meanwhile, Bacolod artist Jay-r Delleva teased with “The Proposed Victimâ€, an acrylic version of a colorful kid clown holding on to an even more delightful gunmetal silver bunny balloon. The title begged a deeper introspection into the message of the painting: it wasn’t just a cute candy piece, but a reminder, perhaps, of what could tempt a kidnapper or trigger a bullying.
The buying was furious, the art was hot, and the event, a roaring success.If anything, this proved that Philippine market for art is vibrant, and thirsty for the next big name.Whether a lucky buyer was able to snag a windfall from the next Amorsolo, we’ll have to wait with bated breath, as “starving†artists wait for their turn to step into the spotlight.Meanwhile, art lovers would do well to already plug into their calendars the next edition of Art in the Park, same time next year.