Art Fair Philippines 2017

Feb 23, 2017 · 9 min read

AESTHET MIDTERM EXAM

Last 16th of February 2017, we went to Art Fair Philippines 2017. It was a fun filled day with my friends and block mates. We got to witnessed the world class artworks of numerous artists. We are grateful to have this kind of activity because we have an excuse to just relax and in a way to escape from our thesis thoughts.

The fair have around 40 galleries that showcase artists’ beautiful artworks. We are tasked to choose one among the 40 galleries, we are also tasked to chose three artworks shown in that gallery and to reflect on the message that these artworks convey.

Gallery Stephanie

Gallery Stephanie has showcased the works of different artists namely Kara de Dios, Nunzio Paci, Jinggoy Buensuceso, Michael Cacnio, Roby Dwi Antonio, Justin Nuyda etc. I chose this gallery because almost all of the artworks in this gallery were somehow tickled my feminine side since some of the artworks in it acknowledged woman as their subjects. I think that the artworks in it somehow made me empowered as a woman because seeing my fellow ladies in an artwork is making me proud and it somehow made me feel valued as woman. Because being a subject of an artwork can automatically lift up every woman’s self confidence. Furthermore, I found the vibe of this gallery as woman empowering because of the artworks that women were the subjects. It differs from the other galleries because as a woman it reminds me of how women can be a subject of an artwork that is very relevant and important for the artists and it’s audience. Also, it’s the only gallery that I took almost half of my time in the art fair and it was worth my precious time I swear. Given that I have chose this gallery, I also chose 3 artworks that stood out for me. Here are those artworks:

A Miraculous Self-Healing

by: Roby Dwi Antonio

The artwork above is a very interesting not just because of it’s title but because of it’s message. I think that the woman who has her eyes closed was the one who had experience a miraculous self-healing based on it’s title. I think that the message it’s conveying to the audience is that women are innately resilient to the point that they will endure the pain just to look perfectly fine. Thus, we should always give time to know and to ask not only women but everyone around us about what are they doing and how are they doing because it can somehow ease the pain that they’re experiencing. Moreover, I think that the people around the woman’s head are her relatives who came to see her but didn’t make it because she’s already dead. This implies that sometimes people don’t realize how much they are needed by someone who are suffering from some kind of pain because they don’t bother to spend time with them. They only realized these things if the person is already gone and for me that is wrong because we should always show and give our love and full attention to them when they are still breathing so that we will not regret anything in the future.

Wild Rose Garden

by: Nunzio Paci

This artwork was also an eye catching because of the keen details on the neck of the lady which I think that conveys a very mysterious message. Women and roses being a subject of an artwork above is undeniably a good representation of femininity. I think that having the rose details on the neck of the lady means that she isn’t just the usual woman who’s weak rather she’s a woman who can be as wild as a rose. Given her shyness because we can just see one of her eye, the thorns of the roses in the garden in her neck made me think that she has a wild personality. On the contrary, I think that her eye is also conveying that she is hurting and I think that the roses tangled on her neck are the reason why her eye looks so lame and lonely. Thus, this painting reflects how a woman can hide her true feelings even if she is already hurting and broken inside. Woman really tries to be as strong as she can be but her eyes can’t hide how much pain she’s going through.

The Shade

by: Michael Cacnio

The artwork above was just a head turner because of it’s being uniquely beautiful. The head under the umbrella like brass artwork is conveying something about something that is very deep. I think that the shade implies how it would like to protect the person being represented by the head under the brass umbrella. Maybe the person found the umbrella which can be his shade through the pain that he’s feeling. This can also imply how the person under the umbrella wants to hide himself from the cruelty of the world. Maybe the person was being judged by the people around him that’s why he just chose to hide himself under the shade of the umbrella. Furthermore, the sadness drawn on the face of the person under the umbrella shows how much pain he has. Thus, we people always want to have an umbrella in our own lives that will always shade us from the pain that the world will throw onto us.

In the art fair, there were 11 Contemporary Filipino Artists who also showed their artworks. They’re artworks are all really amazing and as a Filipino I was really proud of them. Though all of them really showed their talents and skills as an artist I have to chose only two to describe and I chose Jose Tence Ruiz and Ronald Ventura.

I’ve chose Jose Tence Ruiz because I think that his artworks made me travel in the past through the chairs he showed in his gallery since those chairs has contributed so much in our history for the past years. Moreover, these chairs will let us remember about the execution of the Gomburza in the past that wake us up to fight for our rights. Jose Tence Ruiz showcased the kind of artworks that was a part of our history. The seats that are replicas of those were used before to sanction convicted criminals are surrounding a cavelike piece in the middle. I think that these things are reflections of our current society where the art of speaking is the king. I also think that these seats that can be seated by the art fair goers are Mr. Jose’s way for us to experience seating on these kind of chairs. He made me feel how people at that time were feeling just seeing these chairs which were used to end somebody’s life. And the feeling was a bit strange because I feel kind of afraid to seat on those chairs since I associated those chairs to the people who died seating on those chairs.

I also chose Ronald Ventura because I got struck to the different artworks in his gallery. Those waves with creepy sound, the lights in that seven stars inverted and the horse in the remnants of journey. These artworks let me feel a roller coaster emotions by just one artist that’s why I chose him. This particular artwork by Ronald Ventura really struck me the most because of the message it’s conveying to the audience. I think that this implies how people see the distinction between humans and animals. This implies how humans seemingly behave as animals. Nowadays, humans are really don’t know how to act as humans because they’re being blinded by the material things which they believe are the most important things in life. These beliefs are not true because for me these materials things are just status symbols which are not very relevant because yes we are in that status but at the end of the day are we happy? Is this happiness is that kind of happiness that will stay forever or it’s just for a moment or so? I believe that people should never forget the distinction between humans and animals because we are different species from them. They just have instincts and nothing more unlike us humans we have more than that. Yes we need those materials things but it’s not the only that can make us complete as humans because we still have our family and friends and they are our treasures that we must value more than anything else in this world.

From what I’ve observed during my visit on the first day of the Art Fair Philippines 2017, people were kind of excited about taking selfies with different artworks. They can’t even decide if they will take a selfie or if they would just roam around each gallery. However, some of the people were too busy looking at the different artworks, it seems like every details of each works were so important. I feel that those people who are so keen on looking at those artworks are interested to buy those beautiful artworks. The Local Contemporary Arts is something that we Filipinos should be proud of because in this way we have shown our skills and talents through making artworks. For me, local contemporary arts is a modern form of art that is just so wild and fierce because the artists nowadays are very passionate in making artworks. Artists make artworks that kind of reflect their experiences and “hugot” in life. For me, it is somewhat the same with the artworks in the National Museum in a way that it reflects the experiences of people living on those time that these artworks are made. Also, the artworks in both times are kind of mirroring the life of the people, what kind of life they had in those times, and how they faced and fought the challenges they’ve encountered during those times. Their only difference may be the time and kind of people they have been with during their time that made them do those kinds of artworks. Audience of the both kind of arts also differ from each other in a way that they can see those artworks in their different perspectives because we all have different ways of how we see things. For instance, people may interpret those artworks in the national museum far different from the local contemporary art in the art fair because we have our own mind and eyes to see things from our own perspective. Thus, the audience of national museum are not that excited to take pictures with the artworks because of the people prohibiting the museum goers to make funny faces with the artworks. However, in the art fair audience can do whatever they want with the artworks as long as they will handle it with care.