A Disruption, a Play and a Challenge…
07102009
“The award is for work that is yet to be done,” Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, one of the three judges, says. “Something that lies ahead of the awardees’ current practice rather than something they have definitively accomplished.” (Quoted from a quote.)
I went to the 13 Artists Awards formal opening to see the new works. I was with my nephew, Mio, eager to initiate him to a major art exhibit. I was trying to convince him to take up fine arts. This only happens every three years. I was very excited. I have tried not to miss seeing this Awards in the past. I remember the very first one I saw in 1994. It made a lasting impression on me. Some of the artist awardees then had been inspirations for me to follow through the years. Some were current frustrations but that is another story. Now we come to an almost full circle.
2009 is a very eventful year and I doubt few would forget it. Icons of our time were created like Manny Pacquiao and dues given to those that passed away like Michael Jackson. Crisis like H1N1 created alarms around the world. Impending international confrontations, terrorism attacks locally and recessions are felt and are taking toll. Even the local video scandals created images we long to forget and hope would not show in future art works. With so many challenges, awakenings and inspirations, a recognition for young artists happening this year is quite timely. To think more about it, not one considered those iconic images in their work. Might be a case of denial that the current awardees were trying to forget were happening around us. Still, the Thirteen Artists Award is all set to go!
I tried to gather some information before I attended. I read through some of the articles that were posted locally and online. It was well covered. A few writers were eloquent and a few were outright ballistic. I guess it would create the right atmosphere for a good hype. “Ha ha ha ha.” Or spiraling disappointments. There was ample time to explain to my nephew the importance of recognitions and reviews. Especially for the young artists in their growth. We rarely have them even as older artists. I am hoping that there would be more to come once the exhibit was opened to the public. Everyone was a buzz with the preparations for the past few months and I guess some could use the time to silently withdraw. I have been going to different openings and tried to gather some more info. I have been hearing about attitude problem but who am I to repeat them. “Ha ha ha ha.” We could always claim that we are just misunderstood!
I visited Louie Cordero’s studio a few weeks back and saw the work he did for the trophies. “Sigh.” That alone made my day. These are good and lucky individuals. Still, to put facts first I wanted to see the opening since I have been hearing a lot about the new set of young artists and their works. There were some of the artists I worked with before for years at Kulay Diwa Art Galleries. I wanted to see their development like Pam Yan-Santos, Racquel de Loyola, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez. There were some artists I have been able to meet like Don Djerassi Dalmacio, Jaypee Samson, Kawayan De Guia, Don M. Salubayba, MM Yu, Patricia Estaquio, Christina Dy and Winner Jumalon. I saw previous works from their past exhibits. There were some new ones and am sorry to say I am at a lost about half of their works. I am familiar with some of the artists but regretfully not all. I might have visited their shows but some of the names and works were completely unremembered.
I am for supporting young artists for their potentials and that credit be given to what was accomplished but not to what is still not done. Choosing the artists for the potentials that they still need to prove? It made me think a bit. That was quite farfetched. But with great odds might come great works too. Am really the optimistic person though. “Ha ha ha ha.” Never mind that they would be prima donnas in the long run. I am happy to see works done by a few of the awardees and most particular ecstatic about one or two. I agree that some of them long ago should have been given their due but not all the set at this time.
Some still needs to focus. But who am I to complain though? “Ha ha ha ha.” But I am happy that this award came out this year and scrutinized for all the lessons to be learned.
With the “Brave New Works” exhibit this is now a fact. We have a new batch to look forward to and hopefully not forget. I admired some works but I disliked some too. I couldn’t really wait for the crowd to disperse to see the space and the play between works. Only then would I give a full appreciation of the exhibit. I was disappointed that without the frills and the crowd, some of the works did fell short. It was not all a mess though. Some really shined.
The previous 13 Artist Awards had equal spaces marked and bordered. I wanted to see this. I expected to see this. Challenging them to excel and surpass their previous works was a rather hard task. Giving them too much a leeway to expand their space was I guess over. The exhibit would be a time for some to reinvent themselves. They will always have different capacities. Ideally this would be their peak and a time to redirect it to fruition but that hardly could result simultaneously. It was a bit unfair. For younger ones it would be an expected show of force. For others a redemption. For many I hope had been a challenge to fire them up to continue years from now. To all the awardees, it should be an undoubtable acknowledgment, great acceptance and ultimate recognition to a job well done. ‘Ideally.”
I did observed that there were less important spaces. “Sigh.” The artists should have worked with their given space. I hoped they would have been responsible. I had wanted their pieces to have worked with each other. Some really defined their concepts and interacted with each other like works of Pam Yan-Santos, Kawayan de Guia and Winner Jumalon.
I really liked Winner Jumalon’s work not only for the sheer tongue in cheek but equally for his painting prowess. I never imagined that I would vote for a back to back painting. Yet I found myself rooting for this contemporary painter. I give equal importance for the simplicity of forms and concepts in Pam Yan-Santos’ installation and prints. The wall piece alone with the sofa could have stood ground with the best exhibits I have seen. Racquel de Loyola’s performance captured and viewed in the installation reminds us what could be done still with relevant issues. There are leanings to being too theatrical but her composition was strong. I would still suggest less implied is more. It should have fallen on the curator’s shoulder to lead a semblance of order, preparation and equal opportunities but that was missed. That was overlooked on works by MM Yu and Raya Martin. It did help Christina Dy’s work but the others suffered for it. Raoul “Iggy” Rodriguez for all the challenges and idealism he represents created a glorification of the reality of what we are faced with rather than a critical piece. Tyrannically representing this is me and my work! Don Salubayba’s piece was elegant in itself but should not have the obstruction of a projector in center piece. It distracted and worried viewers on stepping on the contraption. Kawayan de Guia’s work was constricted with his veneration of a jukebox. Too sentimental and a bit overcrowded. A public installation artist without the public space he thrives and works on is revealing. Patty Eustaquio’s pieces in simplicity should have worked. The neon light’s were too strong, noisy and attention grabbing. It could have been less glaring to play with her dark sculpture. A waste that it had to contend with unglamorous hype around. It could have been a calm amidst the storm after too much storm overcast by Christina Dy’s monument to charcoal. Jaypee Samsons paintings were executed superbly. Technically he would be a very good stable artist to follow. The layout though should have been thought a bit more. Less on the right part of the wall and more to the center. “Ha ha ha ha.”
A pity that some had to be located outside of the main gallery away and obstructed by bulky spotlights lining the walls during the event. We wanted to see them well-prepared on the opening night as expected. Technical props were set up for the awarding so they affected the works by Don Djerassi Dalmacio and Jaypee Samson. If I remembered it right, a wall space was lacking some works by Don Djerassi Dalmacio. On the other hand, if there were no more spaces then it should be the small gallery and hallways. The main gallery participants should have been lessened. MM Yu’s, Raya Martin’s or even Christina Dy’s and Kawayan de Guia’s should been given a different space. Some were delegated to crooks and crannies and resolved to volume up their works to get the mileage on. Never mind if this could be worked over with creativity. That would be a handicap. There was so much for some and so few for the rest. I have never seen this happen ever in the past for any formal awarding. I see it happen with competitions and contests when there are no more walls to hang the works. My stand is that there should have been equal spaces for each artists. If the artists were ambitious then they should work with their given spaces like previous artist awardee Antonio Leano’s revolving pieces in 1994 and make it happen with the constraints. If all else fails then they should have followed suite with other major exhibitions in CCP and could have charged big and enveloped the whole CCP. The small gallery, open glass space, the 4th flr corner gallery and the 2nd floor hallway were still available. Extensions are pathetic and disrespectful to the works. It is a glaring downplay of importance in the context of an individual award.
This year’s crop of recipients artists are Christina Dy, Raya Martin, Pamela Yan-Santos, Patty Eustaquio, Buen Calubayan, Racquel de Loyola, Don Djerrasi Dalmacio, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez, Kawayan de Guia, Winner Jumalon, Don M. Salubayba, Jaypee Samson, and MM Yu. They could still pull it through.
Tantamount to a bigger blow I would suggest that they be given a chance to fulfill their potentials rather quickly. I would wait with bathed breathe until then. Not too long I hope. I hated seeing live animals out on the floor for exoticism, shock effect and primal novelty. The mandala installation reminds me of Gary Pastrana’s work years back. Pastrana also included a large number of small birds let loose in a room with ceiling fans turned on. That was gruesomely unexpected for the traumatized artist. I hope the stinking rat on Buen Calubayan’s work would not ruin the whole exhibit nor its implication. I remember an urban legend in my college about a tied dog exhibited in the classroom. Seeing Php 60,000 dog of Raya Martin guarding supposedly a video work shown and not shown and later going home for the night made me laugh. I really enjoyed shouting ‘Attack’ to a few of the guests and see their reactions as they step back. It rather leaves a stale aftertaste though on the pun and the joke. Seeing a pathetic feed-the-rat-kill-the-rat piece mirroring an almost similar hype really blows me off. I’ll try to forget it again tonight.
I encourage the young emerging artists to do your research, to savor your accomplishments and enjoy life. But please not at the expense of your viewers. You have thinking viewers. Learn from past exhibitions and artists. They should recognize that there are responsibilities particularly in a group exhibit or 13 individual spaces? There should be a vision to follow through. I will charge those older people who encouraged mediocrity, hype, political maneuverings to follow through every step that these young artists will have in the future and those same people who maneuvered to put them in this predicament to be accountable to what ever would happen to them.
The Thirteen Artists Award has lost its luster through the years and at this point its oxidizing rather quickly. This new batch would and should not be forgotten in a year’s time. It is sad that this major event could be stained too as what happened for the past awardees. “Sigh.”
I can only count on their viability and novelty of now. I really hope that they would overcome this to be better and more consistent. The art scene has had it share of lows. It should not pile up.
We all are responsible still. We are all keepers in the end. I don’t want the artist awardees to stop though but to follow through. If they could do this now then they should bear the consequence and continue with their concepts through the years. This would hang over their heads or stepping stones in being the best they can be.
The catalogue statements for the artists are a bit distant but comprehensive in documentations and scope. It is long overdue to give equal importance for documentation materials for exhibitions. I say ‘Kudos!’ to this improvement. I am happy for the awardees this year for this. The food though I completely missed. Ha ha ha ha. It might have lasted the whole eight minutes before it was completely gone.
Christina Dy, Raya Martin, Pamela Yan-Santos, Patty Eustaquio, Buen Calubayan, Racquel de Loyola, Don Djerrasi Dalmacio, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez, Kawayan de Guia, Winner Jumalon, Don M. Salubayba, Jaypee Samson, and MM Yu would be the new trailblazers for the next years to come. Let us support their future efforts and give them the accolades that they could still earn.
Come to think of it, I did see lagging works in previous awards so I would just be tolerant for now. It is hard work to prepare for a major show and all the pressure would be there. These are quite young people and we should give them a slack. It will never be this easy again for some of them.
We found then a few year back that there were very few venues for young emerging artists. This need created the Artist-Run-Spaces in the late 1990’s. We also recognized that there were no places for young artists. We were not empowered and well-versed. We were always excused and taken advantage of. The system created a hierarchy that only established and named artists enjoyed. Some of the institutions were biased and misled. Some were outright cruel. Ideas, works and concepts were dismissed from young people. It might not be different now. It was not a scene one would want to paint in or wish for. But this is our passion still. It is your call. Words and critiques might hurt now but we want to do what we want to do. That is the zest of youth! Enjoy it! The challenged and empowered young people doing their best at all times -- always learning, surviving and growing.
We were nameless people once who struggled and learned the basics. We created concepts to challenge the norms of our time. Who would take that away? Who would want to give it up? Still we can be content with our choices if the right recognitions would be given.
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
*** visit me at
www.amiel-roldan.tk
www.amielroldan.tk
www.amielaceremoroldan.tk
at my blogs:
www.amielroldan.wordpress.com
www.amielroldan.blogspot.com
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/a-g-roldan.html
www.myspace.com/amiel_roldan
www.amiel_roldan.multiply.com
www.face-pic.com/amiel_roldan
please comment and tag if you like my compilations.
amiel_roldan@yahoo.com
amiel.roldan@gmail.com
“The award is for work that is yet to be done,” Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, one of the three judges, says. “Something that lies ahead of the awardees’ current practice rather than something they have definitively accomplished.” (Quoted from a quote.)
I went to the 13 Artists Awards formal opening to see the new works. I was with my nephew, Mio, eager to initiate him to a major art exhibit. I was trying to convince him to take up fine arts. This only happens every three years. I was very excited. I have tried not to miss seeing this Awards in the past. I remember the very first one I saw in 1994. It made a lasting impression on me. Some of the artist awardees then had been inspirations for me to follow through the years. Some were current frustrations but that is another story. Now we come to an almost full circle.
2009 is a very eventful year and I doubt few would forget it. Icons of our time were created like Manny Pacquiao and dues given to those that passed away like Michael Jackson. Crisis like H1N1 created alarms around the world. Impending international confrontations, terrorism attacks locally and recessions are felt and are taking toll. Even the local video scandals created images we long to forget and hope would not show in future art works. With so many challenges, awakenings and inspirations, a recognition for young artists happening this year is quite timely. To think more about it, not one considered those iconic images in their work. Might be a case of denial that the current awardees were trying to forget were happening around us. Still, the Thirteen Artists Award is all set to go!
I tried to gather some information before I attended. I read through some of the articles that were posted locally and online. It was well covered. A few writers were eloquent and a few were outright ballistic. I guess it would create the right atmosphere for a good hype. “Ha ha ha ha.” Or spiraling disappointments. There was ample time to explain to my nephew the importance of recognitions and reviews. Especially for the young artists in their growth. We rarely have them even as older artists. I am hoping that there would be more to come once the exhibit was opened to the public. Everyone was a buzz with the preparations for the past few months and I guess some could use the time to silently withdraw. I have been going to different openings and tried to gather some more info. I have been hearing about attitude problem but who am I to repeat them. “Ha ha ha ha.” We could always claim that we are just misunderstood!
I visited Louie Cordero’s studio a few weeks back and saw the work he did for the trophies. “Sigh.” That alone made my day. These are good and lucky individuals. Still, to put facts first I wanted to see the opening since I have been hearing a lot about the new set of young artists and their works. There were some of the artists I worked with before for years at Kulay Diwa Art Galleries. I wanted to see their development like Pam Yan-Santos, Racquel de Loyola, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez. There were some artists I have been able to meet like Don Djerassi Dalmacio, Jaypee Samson, Kawayan De Guia, Don M. Salubayba, MM Yu, Patricia Estaquio, Christina Dy and Winner Jumalon. I saw previous works from their past exhibits. There were some new ones and am sorry to say I am at a lost about half of their works. I am familiar with some of the artists but regretfully not all. I might have visited their shows but some of the names and works were completely unremembered.
I am for supporting young artists for their potentials and that credit be given to what was accomplished but not to what is still not done. Choosing the artists for the potentials that they still need to prove? It made me think a bit. That was quite farfetched. But with great odds might come great works too. Am really the optimistic person though. “Ha ha ha ha.” Never mind that they would be prima donnas in the long run. I am happy to see works done by a few of the awardees and most particular ecstatic about one or two. I agree that some of them long ago should have been given their due but not all the set at this time.
Some still needs to focus. But who am I to complain though? “Ha ha ha ha.” But I am happy that this award came out this year and scrutinized for all the lessons to be learned.
With the “Brave New Works” exhibit this is now a fact. We have a new batch to look forward to and hopefully not forget. I admired some works but I disliked some too. I couldn’t really wait for the crowd to disperse to see the space and the play between works. Only then would I give a full appreciation of the exhibit. I was disappointed that without the frills and the crowd, some of the works did fell short. It was not all a mess though. Some really shined.
The previous 13 Artist Awards had equal spaces marked and bordered. I wanted to see this. I expected to see this. Challenging them to excel and surpass their previous works was a rather hard task. Giving them too much a leeway to expand their space was I guess over. The exhibit would be a time for some to reinvent themselves. They will always have different capacities. Ideally this would be their peak and a time to redirect it to fruition but that hardly could result simultaneously. It was a bit unfair. For younger ones it would be an expected show of force. For others a redemption. For many I hope had been a challenge to fire them up to continue years from now. To all the awardees, it should be an undoubtable acknowledgment, great acceptance and ultimate recognition to a job well done. ‘Ideally.”
I did observed that there were less important spaces. “Sigh.” The artists should have worked with their given space. I hoped they would have been responsible. I had wanted their pieces to have worked with each other. Some really defined their concepts and interacted with each other like works of Pam Yan-Santos, Kawayan de Guia and Winner Jumalon.
I really liked Winner Jumalon’s work not only for the sheer tongue in cheek but equally for his painting prowess. I never imagined that I would vote for a back to back painting. Yet I found myself rooting for this contemporary painter. I give equal importance for the simplicity of forms and concepts in Pam Yan-Santos’ installation and prints. The wall piece alone with the sofa could have stood ground with the best exhibits I have seen. Racquel de Loyola’s performance captured and viewed in the installation reminds us what could be done still with relevant issues. There are leanings to being too theatrical but her composition was strong. I would still suggest less implied is more. It should have fallen on the curator’s shoulder to lead a semblance of order, preparation and equal opportunities but that was missed. That was overlooked on works by MM Yu and Raya Martin. It did help Christina Dy’s work but the others suffered for it. Raoul “Iggy” Rodriguez for all the challenges and idealism he represents created a glorification of the reality of what we are faced with rather than a critical piece. Tyrannically representing this is me and my work! Don Salubayba’s piece was elegant in itself but should not have the obstruction of a projector in center piece. It distracted and worried viewers on stepping on the contraption. Kawayan de Guia’s work was constricted with his veneration of a jukebox. Too sentimental and a bit overcrowded. A public installation artist without the public space he thrives and works on is revealing. Patty Eustaquio’s pieces in simplicity should have worked. The neon light’s were too strong, noisy and attention grabbing. It could have been less glaring to play with her dark sculpture. A waste that it had to contend with unglamorous hype around. It could have been a calm amidst the storm after too much storm overcast by Christina Dy’s monument to charcoal. Jaypee Samsons paintings were executed superbly. Technically he would be a very good stable artist to follow. The layout though should have been thought a bit more. Less on the right part of the wall and more to the center. “Ha ha ha ha.”
A pity that some had to be located outside of the main gallery away and obstructed by bulky spotlights lining the walls during the event. We wanted to see them well-prepared on the opening night as expected. Technical props were set up for the awarding so they affected the works by Don Djerassi Dalmacio and Jaypee Samson. If I remembered it right, a wall space was lacking some works by Don Djerassi Dalmacio. On the other hand, if there were no more spaces then it should be the small gallery and hallways. The main gallery participants should have been lessened. MM Yu’s, Raya Martin’s or even Christina Dy’s and Kawayan de Guia’s should been given a different space. Some were delegated to crooks and crannies and resolved to volume up their works to get the mileage on. Never mind if this could be worked over with creativity. That would be a handicap. There was so much for some and so few for the rest. I have never seen this happen ever in the past for any formal awarding. I see it happen with competitions and contests when there are no more walls to hang the works. My stand is that there should have been equal spaces for each artists. If the artists were ambitious then they should work with their given spaces like previous artist awardee Antonio Leano’s revolving pieces in 1994 and make it happen with the constraints. If all else fails then they should have followed suite with other major exhibitions in CCP and could have charged big and enveloped the whole CCP. The small gallery, open glass space, the 4th flr corner gallery and the 2nd floor hallway were still available. Extensions are pathetic and disrespectful to the works. It is a glaring downplay of importance in the context of an individual award.
This year’s crop of recipients artists are Christina Dy, Raya Martin, Pamela Yan-Santos, Patty Eustaquio, Buen Calubayan, Racquel de Loyola, Don Djerrasi Dalmacio, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez, Kawayan de Guia, Winner Jumalon, Don M. Salubayba, Jaypee Samson, and MM Yu. They could still pull it through.
Tantamount to a bigger blow I would suggest that they be given a chance to fulfill their potentials rather quickly. I would wait with bathed breathe until then. Not too long I hope. I hated seeing live animals out on the floor for exoticism, shock effect and primal novelty. The mandala installation reminds me of Gary Pastrana’s work years back. Pastrana also included a large number of small birds let loose in a room with ceiling fans turned on. That was gruesomely unexpected for the traumatized artist. I hope the stinking rat on Buen Calubayan’s work would not ruin the whole exhibit nor its implication. I remember an urban legend in my college about a tied dog exhibited in the classroom. Seeing Php 60,000 dog of Raya Martin guarding supposedly a video work shown and not shown and later going home for the night made me laugh. I really enjoyed shouting ‘Attack’ to a few of the guests and see their reactions as they step back. It rather leaves a stale aftertaste though on the pun and the joke. Seeing a pathetic feed-the-rat-kill-the-rat piece mirroring an almost similar hype really blows me off. I’ll try to forget it again tonight.
I encourage the young emerging artists to do your research, to savor your accomplishments and enjoy life. But please not at the expense of your viewers. You have thinking viewers. Learn from past exhibitions and artists. They should recognize that there are responsibilities particularly in a group exhibit or 13 individual spaces? There should be a vision to follow through. I will charge those older people who encouraged mediocrity, hype, political maneuverings to follow through every step that these young artists will have in the future and those same people who maneuvered to put them in this predicament to be accountable to what ever would happen to them.
The Thirteen Artists Award has lost its luster through the years and at this point its oxidizing rather quickly. This new batch would and should not be forgotten in a year’s time. It is sad that this major event could be stained too as what happened for the past awardees. “Sigh.”
I can only count on their viability and novelty of now. I really hope that they would overcome this to be better and more consistent. The art scene has had it share of lows. It should not pile up.
We all are responsible still. We are all keepers in the end. I don’t want the artist awardees to stop though but to follow through. If they could do this now then they should bear the consequence and continue with their concepts through the years. This would hang over their heads or stepping stones in being the best they can be.
The catalogue statements for the artists are a bit distant but comprehensive in documentations and scope. It is long overdue to give equal importance for documentation materials for exhibitions. I say ‘Kudos!’ to this improvement. I am happy for the awardees this year for this. The food though I completely missed. Ha ha ha ha. It might have lasted the whole eight minutes before it was completely gone.
Christina Dy, Raya Martin, Pamela Yan-Santos, Patty Eustaquio, Buen Calubayan, Racquel de Loyola, Don Djerrasi Dalmacio, Raoul ‘Iggy’ Rodriguez, Kawayan de Guia, Winner Jumalon, Don M. Salubayba, Jaypee Samson, and MM Yu would be the new trailblazers for the next years to come. Let us support their future efforts and give them the accolades that they could still earn.
Come to think of it, I did see lagging works in previous awards so I would just be tolerant for now. It is hard work to prepare for a major show and all the pressure would be there. These are quite young people and we should give them a slack. It will never be this easy again for some of them.
We found then a few year back that there were very few venues for young emerging artists. This need created the Artist-Run-Spaces in the late 1990’s. We also recognized that there were no places for young artists. We were not empowered and well-versed. We were always excused and taken advantage of. The system created a hierarchy that only established and named artists enjoyed. Some of the institutions were biased and misled. Some were outright cruel. Ideas, works and concepts were dismissed from young people. It might not be different now. It was not a scene one would want to paint in or wish for. But this is our passion still. It is your call. Words and critiques might hurt now but we want to do what we want to do. That is the zest of youth! Enjoy it! The challenged and empowered young people doing their best at all times -- always learning, surviving and growing.
We were nameless people once who struggled and learned the basics. We created concepts to challenge the norms of our time. Who would take that away? Who would want to give it up? Still we can be content with our choices if the right recognitions would be given.
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
*** visit me at
www.amiel-roldan.tk
www.amielroldan.tk
www.amielaceremoroldan.tk
at my blogs:
www.amielroldan.wordpress.com
www.amielroldan.blogspot.com
www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/a-g-roldan.html
www.myspace.com/amiel_roldan
www.amiel_roldan.multiply.com
www.face-pic.com/amiel_roldan
please comment and tag if you like my compilations.
amiel_roldan@yahoo.com
amiel.roldan@gmail.com
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