A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Linked together even if poles apart

REVIEW:
RELEASE AND TRANSFORM
A Visual Arts Exhibit
The Small Gallery, La Herencia

And

OBRA
A Visual Arts Exhibit
The Residence, Azuela Cove
 
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 30 Aug) – Once more asserting their dominance in the field of cultural arts across Mindanao – and in Davao City – visual artists continue to regularly put together exhibits of their obra. In the post-Kadayawan weeks, two exhibits are worth noting in Davao City. They are linked together in their desire to show to the public – at least those interested in following the progress of visual arts – a continuing desire to improve on their craft.
 
And yet, these two exhibits are on opposing poles for various reasons. RELEASE AND TRANSFORM and OBRA are poles apart in terms of the artists’ profiles, the sizes of paintings, the range of schools represented as well as style and schools, the main intent of putting up the exhibit and the quality of the paintings. The former are mainly women and mostly in their teens who are tutored in workshops, paintings are mainly 24” X 30” in size, the works are mainly culled from nature and everyday life and mostly mirrors of actual reality, the show aims to exhibit works of promising young artists as a way to nourish their budding talents and mostly showcase works that may not yet interest collectors given the level of their quality.
 
On the other hand, the latter are works of established and known artists who have participated from local to international exhibits, who have either studied art (in schools such as UST, UP Diliman and the Ford Academy of the Arts) or have undergone various studies and workshops, sizes range from 5” X 14” to 36” X 40”, following all schools and styles (from modernism to impressionism, abstract to pop art), it was organized to showcase the works to be sold by drawing collectors with the needed finances (price range from P20,000 to P170,000).
 
Their venues are also quite revealing of their intent: while RELEASE is in a small gallery located in a building solely for art exhibit in the downtown area, OBRA is in a sizable room which is part of an office for real estate located uptown in a choice village meant to draw the rich. Some of OBRA’s works are even integrated into a design of a model condominium unit to show how such art can be made more attractive in such a setting. There is no question about it, OBRA is a way to make sure our visual artists are given their financial due. And to show that there is already a market of such works within such a price range, some works were sold on the spot. (When the reviewer viewed the collection, 10 paintings have already been sold and unfortunately carted away by the buyer.)
 
A question that begs to be asked is: for all their differences, what links the two exhibits together? Could we begin to assert that they all fall within a nascent Mindanao school of painting? If a movement means sharing a common style, theme or ideology, there may not yet be a Mindanao school as our visual artists follow all kinds of style.
 
But there seems to be some commonality in terms of theme (earlier it favored iconic symbols as the Philippine eagle, Lumad cultures, landscapes especially Mt. Apo, and tropical fruits and flowers especially the ilang-ilang; however, there are less works now on these subjects) and a shared ideology (to assert a Mindanawon identity). This ideological assertion has framed the two previous Mindanao Art Exhibits held in the city in the past two years.
 
Perhaps it is still too early to make such a conclusion as the process has not reached its maturity as yet. But anyone observing the visual arts’ scene of the past two decades could easily discern that a nascent movement has arisen and Mindanawon artists collectively are holding on to this dream that they, too, will attain recognition beyond the local towards the global and benefit financially from their efforts. For after all, in an age of globalization, the hungry artist may already be an anachronistic figure!
 
Which is why it is to their credit that our young, promising, as well as established, recognized artists are encouraged to continue producing works and finding ways to exhibit them. And while many of the viewers may not have the means to purchase such works for their private collection, nonetheless, our lives could be enriched with the availability of the exhibits to the public. And for this alone, we are grateful to the art groups and their patrons who do face all kinds of odds to showcase such works.
 
There are 17 artists whose 41 art works are exhibited in RELEASE. Most of the painters are in their teens who are all tutored by Amanda Fe Echevarria, who runs workshops, and in this group are categorized as junior, student and novice artists. Except for the paintings of Ms. Echevarria, all paintings follow the same size: 24” X 40”. There is no indication that works are to be sold (as there is no price tag). What helps the exhibit is to give a short description of the artists’ background.
 
The labels that accompany the paintings show the usual data (name, title, medium) but also reveal the context of the artists. We are then informed as to why the title of this exhibit is RELEASE AND TRANSFORM, for most of them have undergone various trauma in their lives from sickness to being abandoned, as well as the effects of the lockdown during the pandemic. These paintings are meant to provide the artists with the healing that comes with painting and these show in the works.
 
This is very evident in the works of Quiana Rubinos (19 years old and a cancer survivor) whose five works done in oil painted on canvas (titled Sedation, Fluid, Biopsy, War and Post-op) are whimsical pop art rendition of her hospital experience where she comforted herself in the company of a giraffe). Himig Dousel, 14, has three abstract works (Alienation, Turn of the Check and Above One’s Head) in mostly dark shades devoid of colors that show the alienation that comes with city life. Cara Gabriella Pacioles, 13, whose works (Entangled, Set to Swim and Finally Blooming) are nature studies of underwater scenes that show how strangulation can led to blooming.
 
The rest of the works are mainly representations of flora and fauna (especially bright-colored flowers), landscapes and people (celebrating family relationships). Most are realistic paintings but there are attempts at pop and abstract art. There is a mixed media sculpture of a whimsical telephone made of cotton balls in bright colors. Amanda Echevarria – who is the students’ tutor – is the only established artist in this exhibit.
 
She has five acrylic paintings in this show (including Beauty of Solitude, Of Whispers and Kisses, Trees in Heaven) whose sizes ranged from 24” X 36” which show images from those dealing with shadows to bright lights with an eruption of colors as a re-imagined, huge pink flower blooms. As expected, her works stand out in a sea of sincere attempts of promising young artists who still have to mature both in age and in the quality of their works.
 
As for OBRA, given the background and long practice of the artists, there is no question that collectively their works are much more accomplished and thus, impressive! Given the intent to sell these pieces to high-paying collectors, the artists and curator may have chosen the marketable ones from among their works. Unfortunately those that got sold on the spot were immediately taken out of the exhibition and the reviewer did not have a chance to view them.
 
But the 42 pieces that remained should eventually find buyers in the market although some of the prices are prohibitive of those whose budgets are limited. These paintings are viewed as perfect for condominium living, and as there has been a boom in condominium construction in the city, demand for such paintings may continue to rise. In fact, there has been an offer for the same collection of Davao artists to be exhibited in Cebu where there is a similar demand.
 
The artists were supposed to show five pieces of each and the most impressive among the 12 are those of Alfred Galvez (watercolor paintings of women Lumad/Moro dancers with nature landscapes), Elenita “Boots” Dumlao with her abstract figurative paintings (mostly in acrylic bursting with rainbow of colors), David Escallar’s portrait paintings of the Philippine eagle’s face with those piercing eyes seen from various angles (in mixed media), Alex Alagon whose colorful figurative paintings seem to adhere to some kind of pointillism but reminds the viewer of Yayoi Kusama’s polka dots. And lastly there is the abstract art of Aurelio “Boyaks” Peňa whose works are also in acrylic combining mainly sharp colors of red, white and black (Kline’s Ghost, Magntitude 5, Deconstruction, and The Abyss).
 
Some individual works stand out, including the still life of Vic Navales, acrylic work of tropical plants and flowers of bird of paradise where the leaves painted seem to come alive in the canvas as if real. Another astonishing still life is that of Jane Ramos whose painting of mangoes in various shades of ripening while still attached to the tree (Hinog sa Puno in acrylic) can take the breath away.
 
There is Nino Sepulveda’s 16 Kois in oil, an impressionistic take on thriving despite murky waters, as brightly-colored carps seemed to have gotten lost in an abyss. Elenita Dumlao’s figurative painting of waters mirroring itself (The Pond in acrylic) is a riot of colors in numerous shades one gets mesmerized by viewing it at length. And finally, there is the only exception in this collection, as Brando Cedeña’s is more a sculpture than painting (3 Kois in stonecast resin). He follows a multiple-step process in creating such a piece that ends with a bronze finish, although it also appears as if carved in wood.
 
So what is our take-away after viewing these two exhibits? Apart from adding on to the data that visual art is thriving in the city, that there are as many budding artists as accomplished ones. That there seems to be a bright future ahead as the matured and elderly are still pursuing their honed talents even as the next generation of artists are waiting at the wings. That their collective works are now exploring all kinds of styles and schools, covering a vast range of subjects and many are into experimentations.
 
That there are now buyers who are willing to be patrons of the art. Unfortunately, these are not the good times for social realism that seemed to have become passé, in so far as collectors are concerned. There are those who claim – mainly in the West – that painting is now dead, as the artists of today are just reinventing what artists in the past have already accomplished. But in a place like Davao City, it seems to come fully alive and may prove that this burgeoning city will welcome its growth.
 
However, there is also the other side to this. It also shows that most of the initiatives that support our artists come mainly from the private sector, from providing them gallery space to sponsoring such exhibitions. The State has a long way to provide support to our artists and our local government unit has hardly provided an iota of support so this art form will thrive to the benefit of civil society.
 
[MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar is a professor at St. Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute (SATMI) in Davao City and until recently, a professor of Anthropology at the Ateneo de Davao University. Gaspar is author of several books, including “Manobo Dreams in Arakan: A People’s Struggle to Keep Their Homeland,” which won the National Book Award for social science category in 2012, “Desperately Seeking God’s Saving Action: Yolanda Survivors’ Hope Beyond Heartbreaking Lamentations,” two books on Davao history, and “Ordinary Lives, Lived Extraordinarily – Mindanawon Profiles” launched in February 2019. He writes two columns for MindaNews, one in English (A Sojourner’s Views) and the other in Binisaya (Panaw-Lantaw). Gaspar is a Datu Bago 2018 awardee, the highest honor the Davao City government bestows on its constituents.]