Art Fair Philippines once again asserted itself as the most important art event in the nation and the one art lovers from elsewhere in the region find as “more fun.”
This year’s Art Fair was bigger than ever. It was more crowded with onlookers eager to snap selfies with artworks. It was protected by burlier bouncers. It was more commercialized, with the first floor devoted to sponsored exhibits, some with arguably dubious artistic value. Nonetheless this year’s Art Fair was, on the whole, more artistic.
Held once again at The Link Carpark Ayala Center, Makati City, Art Fair Philippines 2017 was open to the public from February 16 to 19.
This year included several special exhibits: Jose Tence Ruiz; Agnes Arellano; Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay, and Mark Justiniani; Patricia Perez Eustaquio; Maria Jeona Zoleta; WSK; Mark Valenzuela; Christian Marclay; Arkiv Vilmansa; and Ronald Ventura.
Bouncing back
Founded in 2013, Art Fair Philippines came at a time when the auctioning of Filipino art at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s was radically transforming the business of art in the Philippines, catapulting several artists into international fame and elevating prices sky high. Just two years before in 2011, Ronald Ventura, then 38, set a new record during Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings auction in Hong Kong, his painting valued at HK$8,420,000 (Php47 million).
The region was also transformed by an influx of big time buyers—not true art lovers, but investors who saw paintings and sculptors as safe havens for their cash that would appreciate with time. With the Chinese economy in overdrive at the time, there were many buyers who did not necessarily have an informed taste in art. There was a proliferation of works for this new market that were not necessarily created or curated for art’s sake. The use of memento mori made these buyers feel philosophical and anything with a skull was hot property. Another overused theme was the combination of cute pop culture with morbidity—think Micky Mouse drenched in blood.
With the Chinese economy today slowing down, it still was heartening to see the local art scene was as vibrant and creative as ever.
In comparison to other Asian art markets that have longer histories of censorship and shorter histories of independence, the Philippine art scene is relatively more exciting and boisterous.
Noticeably, there was more participation by foreign galleries. There were also a few iconic photogravures by Man Ray and Brassaï.
Local affair
There were less memento mori and less cute-meets-morbidity pieces. There were more artworks that resonated with Philippine culture and history. The Kalye Kollektib portrayed Philippine national heroes as astronauts and aliens. There were even several that bravely spoke against the rising tide of fascism. Kiri Dalena’s “Erased Slogans” series was comprised of archival photographs of protesters with their slogans on their placards digitally erased—a strong statement against censorship, the muzzling political opposition, and revisionist history.
There were also many more local novice collectors contemplating on filling their new condominiums and houses with artworks even days after the serious collectors had already had their first pick during the vernissage held before the formal opening.
Most conspicuously, the galleries were savvier this time around. There were not many labels to be seen with the red dots that indicated their artworks had been sold. This was not because there were fewer buyers. This was because art brokers quickly replaced sold paintings with others for sale in order to maximize their limited display space. In an art fair that is getting more and more crowded, to go missing so soon became a good thing.
