ART FAIR PHILIPPINES 2017

Clinton Cano
Feb 23, 2017 · 3 min read

The gallery I’ve chosen from all the 40 exhibitors is Galerie Anna. As I roamed around, Galerie Anna caught my attention because of its showcased artworks.

Galerie Anna. It’s theme is about mother nature that is why it showcased about bonsai, paintings of women who signifies “mother”, and outerspace. Each paintings conveys meaning and signifies something. It has a refreshing vibes that attracts people. Compared to other galleries, it has unique vibe because it makes you feel relieved and happy because of the bonsai displayed that ease your emotions.
List of the artists in Galerie Anna

The artworks which I really like the most are the following:

This is made by Ferdinand Cacnio entitled “Tender Moments”. It is made of welded brass and natural stone on glass. From its title itself, it conveys a meaning of refreshing and remembering the good memories you have as you’ll see in this artwork. Whenever you look at it, it triggers the feeling of joy and relieved you from stress.
The artist of this artwork is Fil Delacruz entitled “Dialogo ng mga Maskarados” made from oil on canvas. From my perspective, it conveys a message that there is a mask we put in our face to hide our true identity and nature. For women, masks signifies their beauty and so it helps them to protect it and hide from undesirable man.
For me this artwork, is about there are times and moments that we look back. A time wherein we want to rewind those moments with a dream that somehow we can make a time loop. It may also signifies to look forward and wait what we’ll happen next. All of this things are in our hands, we are the one who can manage our time properly so it really depends us on what and how we use our time.
This is entitled “Diwata, Hiwaga” made by Fil Delacruz made from oil on canvas. This painting shows that our mother nature is full of mystery. There might be other living things aside from human that lives and protect the mother nature, it is what we call “diwata”. They are beautiful living creatures that take care of our nature and they may also provide us what we need. Therefore, we must take care of our environment so that we’ll still be able to see its beauty and benefit from it.

Among the 11 Filipino artists showcased in the art fair the following are those who caught my attention:

a. Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay and Mark Justiniani

“TAGADAGAT”. This artwork is the first collaboration of these three artists for more than twenty years. The painting is about different individuals in the same boat surrounded by water. The artists were able to reaffirm and reveal the power of empathy and the value of maintaining a humble respect for competing ideas. This painting conveys a message that we are all different individuals with different dreams, fears, aspirations, ambitions, beliefs and religion. There is always ups and downs as we forward but only by pulling together we could rise and so we could fall with everyone. We are in a situation wherein there are a lot of hindrances and so empathy is what we need to help us move forward in this unpredictable and changing environment. By helping together, we will be able to have a strength and confidence to face all our struggles.

b. Dex Fernandez “Garanimation Project: Video Animation and Drawing Installation”

It is about different kinds of parasites living in different hosts and is always present everywhere. This artworks conveys a message that there are different kinds of parasites that feed themselves on a hosts they want. It says that these parasites don’t care what they do to their victims, all they care is their survival. It will do whatever is necessary to endure. Just like us, we always carry our courage and determination to keep us move forward and fight for all the circumstances we’ll encounter.

My over all reactions to art fair.

This is my first time to visit art exhibition and it was really overwhelming. It is because I have seen so many artworks with different meanings and themes which some of it I do understand but mostly not. It was fun visiting the art fair especially you’ll be able to meet different people. The people who visit art fair are students, business men/women, and foreigners. There are some them that only go there to take photos, and some also want to buy artworks for collection or whatever purpose. There are also people who are “maarte” and critic.

My experienced from this art fair was so fun. It widens my understanding about art and appreciate it more. It makes me feel proud as a Filipino that we are really good when it comes to art. The artworks showcased were all amazing and requires audience participation. If I’m going to compare the art fair to my visit in national museum, they’re somehow different. It is because in the national museum, it is so peaceful(silent) and only few people visit there. Apart from that, I don’t like the smell as you roam around the area. The art fair, has an energetic vibe that influence audience mood and it also requires more participation of the audience. Art fair allowed close selfies and snap chat which is not allowed in national museum.

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