As it is in most cities, local galleries time their exhibits to coincide with the frenzy of art fair week. In Singapore for Art Stage, I had time enough to catch three.
Tag Archives: Don Salubayba
Don Salubayba Pops Up!
Don Salubayba takes on the role of storyteller in Lamat, his one-man exhibit now on view at Tin-Aw Art Gallery. He
turns to his inclinations as an animator, honed through his involvement with the Anino Shadowplay Collective, in this attempt to bring to life a legend on the origin of the Philippines. Continue reading
Dekalogo: Painting Patriotism
When Apolinario Mabini drafted the Malolos Constitution, he included a treatise outlining ten points which he felt incumbent upon every freedom-loving Filipino to hold dear. With The True Decalogue, Mabini called upon his countrymen to love and honor God and country above themselves, to continually strive for the nation’s independence, to treat each other as brothers, to make sure that they only allow leaders who have been duly-elected to rule over them. Continue reading
Thirteen Artists at the CCP 2009
With the crowds surging around me, it felt like Megamall a day before Christmas rather than the middle of July at the bastion of Philippine culture. Thirteen artists stood onstage, each one clutching what looked like mega-sized, brightly-colored, multi-layered snow cones. The ceremony marked the formal recognition of the triennial Thirteen Artists Awards, given to progressive artists below the age of 40, successors to the original Thirteen Moderns who had challenged the accepted notions of Philippine art seventy years ago. Continue reading
Power Tripping with Don Salubayba and Jonathan Ching
Two shows this week, one in Manila, the other in Kuala Lumpur, both by Filipino visual artists, explore the concept of power. Don Salubayba examines how we wield it in our everyday lives. Jonathan Ching observes the effects of power that has diminished over time.
THE UNOFFICIAL THEORY OF POWER, DON SULABAYBA
I first encountered Don Sulabayba’s art in in 2004. He transformed one gallery in the third floor of the CCP into Spoonful Discard, an installation of plastic spoons and used pre-paid cellphone cards. I found his materials a bit rough, but even then, thought him an artist that
should bear watching. How gratifying to see a more mature body of work in this show, paintings that still bear his signature drips, predominantly faceless subjects, and floating layers of objects, but rendered in richer, deeper hues.
People who only see Don as a visual artist working with paintings overlook his contributions to his other passions, performance art via Anino Shadowplay
and his social involvement with TutoK. His multi-faceted interests exert obvious influence in his works on canvas. You will always get some commentary on political or religious issues. But never too heavy, always nimbly handled, usually with a touch of humor. Here he muses on the control held over us by material and non-material substances, the power that innocuous objects have on our daily routines.
The Epitome of Pogi Points comments on how Henry Ford’s Model T, the first vehicle marketed under a brand name, has been transformed from a necessary means of transportation into an object to showcase one’s social standing or even as a chick magnet. The car then becomes a tool of power: the flashier the car, the more goodlooking or socially-acceptable its owner.
The haunting Fast Food Nations illustrates Don’s thought process on the bombing of Nagasaki, the first time man used an atomic bomb to show power over another race. How ironic that the Americans used a bomb nicknamed Fat Man to subdue the Japanese sixty years ago, when today, we know that many Americans suffer from obesity brought about by their penchant for the calorific fried delights of their fast food chains. As these fast food chains have proliferated all over the world, Fat Man brings destruction of a different sort, killing through heart disease and other health concerns.
The story of Adam and Eve as narrated in the Book of Genesis is the subject of The Great Delude. Here Don tackles the power of a story from the bible which, from constant telling and retelling, we have forgotten has no basis in fact. It remains a myth. Scheme of Order likewise takes on the effect of religious beliefs. Don portrays a ladder of indulgences, an image found in medieval art, to illustrate the control of the Catholic Church. We believe ourselves forgiven from sin if the church so grants this forgiveness,
even if in the past, the influential purchased clemencies as they saw fit.
Don departs for Sydney this week on a residency grant for his involvement with shadow plays. As always, we wish him luck as we look forward with anticipation to the work he will produce when he returns.
The Theory of Power by Don Salubayba is on view from 30 May to 20 June 2009 at The Drawing Room, 1007 Metropolitan Ave, Metrostar Bldg, Makati City. Ph (632)897-7877 or visit www.drawingroomgallery.com
DAYS OF THUNDER, JONATHAN CHING
In his first solo exhibit outside Manila, Jonathan Ching paints images of larger-than-life personalities who have to face the waning of their influence and confront their own mortality. He does this through a series of large scale canvases, each one pairing a legendary notable with a portent of his doom. We see former dictator Ferdinand Marcos asking for more life as he sees his legacy and hold over a society crumble. His famous gigantic cement bust falls to ruin due to the ravages of time and the disgust of a populace he once held absolute sway over. In the exhibit’s title piece, Days of Thunder, Jon paints Evel Kneivel, paunchy and middle-aged, still attempting to sail over a mountain of used cars, unable to
let go of his celebrity. Another large canvas depicts a proud matador and a bull, each one the nemesis of the other, fates intertwined. One’s loss is the other’s gain, no one will triumph without undoing the other.
He dubs his smaller canvases his We Were Immortals series. He paints Muhammed Ali, once the greatest, now wasting away with a crippling condition. Jon portrays the Lone Ranger as an aging superhero reliving his glory
days. Yul Brynner looks out from a tv screen, speaking against the effects of smoking in an infomercial released posthumously. And closer to home, Jonathan depicts his father as a younger man, at the age when to his son he seemed invincible.
In a bit of a departure from the rest, he does a portrait of himself asleep, dreaming of a childhood when he had no fears to limit him.
“Look at them now” may very well have been the catchphrase he used to jumpstart his discourse on power and immortality. If he asks that of himself, well, what would he see? A Civil Engineering
graduate who pursued his dream of becoming an artist, and look at him now.
Days of Thunder by Jonathing Ching is on view from 30 May to 13 June at Valentine Willie Fine Arts in Kuala Lumpur. Visit www.vwfa.net
or www.jonching.com
Tin-Aw Turns One!
When Dawn Atienza decided to finally open her own gallery, she knew the kind of place she longed for. Aside from an easily accessible location, she wanted her space to simulate the relaxed, informal atmoshpere of Art In The Park, the Museum Foundation’s annual affordable art fair. Continue reading
Homecoming From Beijing
In the great CS Lewis classic, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Professor Kirke’s seemingly run-of-the mill armoire becomes the portal to enchanted, magical Narnia. Upon entering its doors, four children transport from war-ravaged Britain into a world of pathos, quest, achievement, adventure. Continue reading
Map Ruminations: Apartment Art Series by Art Cabinet Philippines
Maps have fascinated for ages. Picture crude etchings discovered in caves, a diagram of the heavens crafted by ancient man to guide his destiny. Or the rudimentary representations of land and sea that steered Balboa, Columbus, and Magellan to historic conquests. In those days, cartographers depicted a flat planet that ended in a precipice, beyond which lay the great
unknown. What would the legendary explorers make of the GPRS features in cars and phones of today, when one touch of a button steers us precisely two kilometers to the east or west, or pinpoints locations with precision? Proof that maps serve both as guide and historic document, getting more sophisticated as man marches on to progress.
In this show, Art Cabinet Philippines challenges 12 artists to come up with their take on maps, each one alloted a space of their own choosing in a recently-vacated penthouse. The non-traditional venue, with its commanding views of the city skyline, help unleash the powers of their imagination, fueling creativity in what promises to be a truly unique show. Hopefully, this heralds the beginning of a series of great concepts, a different way of viewing and appreciating the visual arts.
2805B Map Ruminations by Anton del Castillo, Marc Cosico, Tina Fernandez, Mark Gaba, Mark Andy Garcia, Lea Lim, Leeroy New, Sandra Palomar, Alwin Reamillo, Don Salubayba, Brendale Tadeo, and Ian Victoriano is on view from 4 to 14 December 2008 at Apt. 2805B, Three Salcedo Place, Tordesillas St., Salcedo Village. Viewing times are from 5 to 8 pm. Contact (+63928) 5504816 or www.artcabinetphilippines.com
TutoK Tackles Crisis; Mike Goes Eclectic
TUTOKKK: KRISIS, KALUNASAN…ANONG K MO? AT BLANC COMPOUND
Three years ago, a core group of concerned artists came together to make a stand against the spate of extra-judicial killings that hit unrecognized, anonymous, mostly rural, Filipinos. Since then, this loosely-organized band of artists, headed by Manny Garibay and Karen Flores, have made it
tradition to put together an exhibit on or around December 1, Human Rights Day. To quote core member Noel Soler Cuizon, “Tutok employs art as medium, message, and motivation” to call attention to important issues affecting our daily lives, collaborating with NGOs like KARAPATAN and educational institutions such as the University of Sto. Tomas, St. Scholastica’s College, and Ateneo de Manila University.
For this, their anniversary show with an array of over a hundred 18 x 24 inch works, TutoK challenges both artists and the community at large: what do you make of a nation, and a world, in financial crisis?
The show is on view from 30 November to 10 December 2008 at Blanc Compound, 359 Shaw Blvd, Mandaluyong, Ph: (632)752-0080 www.blanc.ph
ECLECTIC BY MICHAEL CACNIO
Michael Cacnio’s brass sculptures, with their decorative, often humorous, take on everyday Philippine life may seem poles apart from TutoK’s more
thought-provoking pieces. Mike’s works are easy and whimsical and popular; his shows quickly sell out. But the underlying viewpoint perhaps falls within the same spectrum: that of celebrating one’s Pinoyness with aplomb, no matter what life hands you.
Eclectic by Michael Cacnio, 24 November to 7 December 2008 at 1/0f Gallery, The Shops at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Ph (632)901-3152 Email: 1of.gallery@gmail.com
30 Hours in Singapore: ArtSingapore, the Biennale, Christie’s Preview, Thai Encounter, and Dinner with a National Artist
Sometimes, a journey planned spontaneously turns out more interesting than one crafted around a carefully drawn up itinerary. About two weeks ago, this is exactly what happened to me when a last-minute trip to the Lion City yielded a surprising bonanza of memorable exploits.