From Ronald Ventura becoming the biggest-selling contemporary Southeast Asian artist when his painting “Grayground” sold for US$1.1 million, 24 times its original high estimate, during the Sotheby’s auction, to 31-year-old Rodel Tapaya beating 14 older and more established artists to win the Grand Prix in the Asia-Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize, 2011 was another watershed year for Philippine art. Here are other smashing developments in Philippine art for the year.
Chabet, Father of Conceptualism, consolidates his influence
A yearlong series of shows in the Philippines and around the region marked 50 years of artmaking of Roberto Chabet, arguably the most influential art pedagogue since National Artist Victorio Edades. In his practice and teaching, Chabet has done for Conceptual Art what Edades had done for Modern Art in the Philippines.
Organized by King Kong Art Projects Unlimited, “Chabet: 50 Years” ran at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, which brought together for the first time several of the artist’s signature installations using plywood, neon and various found objects; the Osage Kwun Tong in Hong Kong (a two-part exhibition that showcased over 80 contemporary artists from the Philippines, all of whom studied with or were mentored by Chabet); and Finale Art Gallery, West Gallery, Mag:Net, Mo Space, Manila Contemporary, Galleria Duemila, Ateneo Art Gallery, Lopez Memorial Museum and Paseo Gallery in the Philippines.
Picasso suite in Manila
Perhaps the most important international art show of 2011 is Pablo Picasso’s “Suite Vollard,” on view until Jan. 7 at the Metropolitan Museum (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila; tel. 7087829, visit metmuseum.manila on Facebook, www.metmuseum.
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“Suite Vollard” was commissioned by the art dealer and editor Ambroise Vollard. The set is composed of 100 copper etchings done between Sept. 13, 1930, and March 1937. The suite shows the genres in which Picasso has established his unique imagery—the bathers, the jugglers, the circus. The public has to thank Fundación Mapfre, Fundación Santiago and the Met for bringing the exhibit here.
3rd edition of ManilArt fair a success
With only 24 galleries exhibiting, the third edition of ManilArt 2011 on Aug. 25-27 at NBC Tent in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, was a more rationalized, better-managed and more focused affair, firmly establishing it as a key regional art festival.
Organized by Bonafide Art Galleries Organization (Bago) with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the fair had brisk sales, higher than the earlier editions. It also got major corporate support, especially from taipan Lucio Tan’s Allied Bank and Philippine National Bank.
Orlina’s ‘QuattroMondial’ unveiled on UST’s 400th year
Inarguably 2011’s most famous public sculpture was Ramon Orlina’s “QuattroMondial,” the very dramatic 10-meter-high bronze-and-glass monument rendered by artist Ramon Orlina for the 400th anniversary of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), whose yearlong celebration is winding down this month.
What added to the excitement over the monument were the models for the nude figures representing the young Filipino eager to embrace wisdom and conquer the world in the name of humanity and the Christian faith. Beauty queen Charlene Gonzales-Muhlach and actor Piolo Pascual had modeled for the statues and graced the unveiling of the monument.
The public interest it generated has led to a boom for more public sculptures. Orlina is now building a monument for Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City.
More notable art events of the year next week
