paintings i wanted to take home from ManilArt 2010

I wasn’t planning on buying art when I set out for SMX last Sunday, but wowowee, seeing so much beautiful colors on canvas just couldn’t stop me from (literally) reaching for the paintings that jumped at me!  Art gallery owners were friendly too, which was nice and encouraging, especially for an art newbie like me.

My philosophy? Good art is like wine. You like what you like.

My top picks:

Rovi Salegumba’s 4 works each depicting the seasons: spring, fall, winter, summer
Oil on canvas, 2010

I’m a yellow and sun girl, so was partial to the sun:

Would’ve been great to have the complete 4 but the red piece was taken by the time I got to the Tala Gallery booth!

Next was Carlo Ongchangco’s surreal balloon piece from the Village Art Gallery. One look, even from afar, and I knew it was a homage to Alice in Wonderland– when I saw the title up close, had a self-satisfied smirk on my face (very bad, I know)

“Follow Fish, Find Alice”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 36×48

We met Sam Galvez-Lorenzo, the gallery’s very accommodating owner and also an artist herself, and she patiently answered all my questions about the paintings and their artists. I think most of my top picks came from her gallery–too bad it’s all the way in Alabang Town Center. Would be great to be able to visit and revisit my favorite artists on her line up!

Sam said Ronante Maratas (below) is a young artist, and it shows– his works are so playful–something that tugged at my heart really

“Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 48×36

“When the Sun Sleeps”, Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 40×30

For overall delight, I knew Ronante Maratas had me, but the Village Art Gallery was just stop 2 in our 5-hour walk through the fair…

This was a surprise–a small work by singer Cynthia Alexander. Really loved the disarming, disrupting feel it had, but just wish it was done by hand (not digitally)…

“Snowflake”, Mixed media/digital, 2009, 20×15.6

Of course, who can resist the allure of a “National Artist”? When it was time for the Gallery of Davao’s booth, I was completely starstruck to be face-to-face with an Imao that was actually up for sale!

National artist Dr. Abdulmari Asia Imao
“Sarimanok Painting Series”, Acrylic on canvas, 2008, 3ftx4ft

It was a look-only-no-touch love affair, as the sarimanok was well beyond my budget…

Next to grab me were works of Bacolod artist, Junjun Montelibano.  There’ just something about the surreal that moves me, or awakens something in me:

“Check Point”, Oil on canvas, 2010, 48×32
Gallery Orange (Bacolod)

Candy Store”, Oil on canvas, 2010, 48×32

This puzzle painting by Leo Velasco was a welcome mental exercise:

“I Want Your Soul to Open Up for Me”, Acrylic, oil and object on canvas, 2010, 48×72

Did you figure it out?  We got until “Maybe I need to be honest to you fin…???… I want”.  Any ideas?

Was on the lookout for my favorites from last year: Marcel Antonio…

…and Rom Villaseran, who had this lone work for the whole fair (maybe some got sold on the first two days)!

Other happy finds:

These moving sculptures were such a joy! Already sold for P300,000 each, but with people still lining up as third reserve, just in case! Was insane!

Gabriel Barredo
“Tree of Life”, Mixed media
Art Verite

“Prosperity”, Mixed media

Other sculptures I liked–by the Cacnios:

Ferdinand Cacnio
“Timeless”, welded brass in corten steel, 2010, 22x16x12
Galerie Astra

Michael Cacnio
“Trio up-float”, brass, 2010, 30x24x7.5
Paseo Gallery

“Discharge”, brass, 2010, 72x17x12

Mm Yu’s photographs at the Manila Contemporary booth were also interesting– offered a bigger look at urban culture by way of sweeping, collective strokes.

Of note too was the fair’s one and only multimedia/installation art:

Poklong Anading’s “Furry Tongue”, 5:09-minute video loop/cocoa powder, water, wood panel, and video projector, 2010
P25,000 (edition of 5)

David Griggs’ “How’s My Politics? Tel. 666,2010″, Glass with bullet holes/smoky mountain tint/aluminum frame/silicon, 2010, 170cm x 200cm x 120cm
P216,000

Personally, I’m not a fan, but I appreciate it for the multi-sensory dimension it lent to the whole fair…Hopefully we’ll see more varieties of installation art in the coming years?

What made the event most successful was the personal interaction it offered among visitors, gallery owners, and even artists themselves. Here’s painter Angel Moreno, for example, who excitedly went up to us to narrate his lifestory and inspiration for his art:

Bumped into my old teacher, Erwin Leano, who had one of his works on display at the Boston Gallery. We got to catch up not over coffee, but over a Mahilum!

My BIG starstruck moment was definitely talking engagedly to Lynn of Gallery Y, who I found out half an hour later was the daughter-in-law of Romulo Olazo.  She asked if I wanted to meet him, and like a shy puppy, I hid behind my friend’s back and said no thank you.

Sayang, but I did enjoy a mild paparrazi moment:

Hihi Can you spot him?

All in all, it was another Sunday well-spent.  The ManilArt2010 is a great gift to the Filipino artist and art fan, and definitely something we should rally behind in full force.

View more pictures of the ManilArt 2010 on flickr.
Read my post on ManilArt 2009.
View pictures of ManilArt 2009.
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The second annual Manila art fair was held in SMX from July 30-August, and based on short exchanges with gallery owners, it seemed successful enough to do a repeat next year!  Event details and pictures can be viewed on ArtePinas, including auction results.  Check out Annie Cabigting’s “After Yves Klein”, an oil painting which st=tarted bidding at P220,000 and closed at P930,000!