From a group of farmers harvesting their crops to symbolic installations of various societal issues, the range of storytelling in Philippine contemporary art allows us to see our day-to-day lives from an omniscient point of view.
What is Philippine Contemporary Art?
Literally, contemporary art means “the art of today,” which makes Philippine contemporary art an umbrella term for the local art produced today and in recent times. Although the exact starting point of contemporary art in the Philippines and around remains unclear, many art historians agree that it flourished during the late 1960s or the early 1970s.
Because of its definition leveraging more on the time-conscious side rather than a specific style or genre, this makes Philippine contemporary art more diverse than ever.
How did Philippine Contemporary Art evolve?
Although the works of the “Triumvirate” which is composed of Victorio Edades, Carlos Francisco, and Galo Ocampo during the pre-war period were considered to be contemporary, their role in the development of Philippine Contemporary Art was rather transitional than iconoclastic.
Instead, the iconoclastic role was handled by a group of six artists with early linkages to the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) in Ermita, Manila. These artists include Cesar Legaspi, Hernando Ocampo, Ramon Estella, Romeo Tabuena, Vicente Manansala, and Victor Oteyza.
Years after the Edades and his painting, “The Builders” was seen, followed by exchanges between the practitioners of academic art and new expressionism, and eventually, the rise of Filipino artists studying abroad making Philippine Art into something international in geography, grammar, and spirit, Philippine contemporary art has significantly progressed. However, its most notable moment is the participation of abstractionist Jose Joya and modernist sculptor Napoleon Abueva at the 1964 Venice Biennial, which is a first-time occurrence in the Philippines.
How is Philippine Contemporary Art expressed?
Diversity is a common theme in Philippine contemporary art – diversity in themes, materials, forms, and even timelines. Much like the Philippines, it is a melting pot of different ideas and metaphors that creatively translates realities revolving around technology, society, education, and other issues into thought-provoking, multi-faceted, and even open-ended interpretations.
Conveying messages and sparking discussions as pivotal points of Philippine contemporary art allow its artists to explore various art media as vehicles of communication. Today, Filipino contemporary artists specialize in drawing, painting, and sculpting, and with the arrival of new technologies expanded into BioArt, algorithmic art, dynamic painting, pixel art, digital collage, vector drawing, and more.
How does one interpret Philippine Contemporary Art?
In the Bermuda Triangle of the arts which consists of the artist, the artwork, and the viewer, the ability of the audience, or in this case, the viewer, to “listen” or contemplate to the artwork is just as important as the ability of the master or the artist to “speak” or create the artwork. Simply put, appreciating the artwork requires both talents at looking and producing.
The charm of Philippine contemporary art lies in its unique way of motivating the public to start dialogues, interpret, and react. Its abstract nature awakens us and encourages us to move, which means that appreciating it does not only require analyzing the artwork, but also backing it up with personal experiences that can make one’s interpretation different from the other.
Art of the new and upcoming
Ever since the emergence and maturation of a new generation of artists who are heavily influenced by the art of the post-war period, Philippine contemporary art surely has gone a long way. Competent and highly conscientious, these Filipino artists work as the true heirs of Philippine contemporary art, and with the guidance of their spirited mentors, will largely determine the Philippines’ art of the new and upcoming.
