Art Talks
GSIS Art Tilt a Pillar of Contemporary Art in the Philippines
The GSIS and the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), the country’s apex organization for artists and art organizations, have been holding the GSIS National Art Competition annually since 2004; this year was the event’s 17th iteration.
Artists of Filipino descent who have reached the age of majority are eligible to enter the competition. Participants may submit one piece in each of the following categories: representational, nonrepresentational (or abstract), and outdoor/freestanding sculpture. Each year, the representational category has a different theme while the remaining two categories have a more general focus. Winners of the 2022 edition were awarded P300,000 for first place, P200,000 for second place, and P100,000 for third place. Each category’s four runners-up receive P25,000.Many previous winners have gone on to have successful careers as artists in their own right, creating new works, teaching others, and exhibiting their works both nationally and internationally.
Some of the notable awardees from this year and in the past include Ben Cruz (2017, 2018, 2022) whose strange worlds transform into our own and are populated with warped representations of real-world objects and genuine locales – the use of perspective and depth to transport viewers to environments that seem both familiar and otherworldly is a hallmark of his work; Binong Javier (2017, 2018, 2022) and his interpretations of human emotion, with the artist having full control over the trajectory of his drops, which may go in any direction, to create a mental image of the subject’s life; Ding Royales (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022) who is most well-known for his narrative murals and intricate weave paintings which need extremely steady hands; Elbert Caballero (2017, 2018, 2021) whose universe is a kaleidoscope of discordant hues rendered in the unorthodox pointillist technique by clustering innumerable small dots so closely together that they meld into cohesion when seen as a whole; Elberto Caballero (2021, 2022) and his monochromatic maze of lines and accents producing and alternate abstracted reality; Meneline Wong (2018) whose gravity-based style is achieved by meticulously examining the viscosity and density of the pigments she uses in her paintings, giving them a vivid, lifelike quality; Russell Balajadia (2012) whose works explain the connection between nature and humanity, tries to produce a metaphorical visual experience of the deteriorating environment by painting a picture of decline while also recreating and rebuilding a glimmer of optimism via recollections of naturescape; Sam Penaso (2014, 2016) whose works emphasize form and planar masses via tangled color geometries, which he develops by fusing together a wide spectrum of colors. Tao Butao’s (2019) works capture and reflect the balance that fascinates in the ever-changing behavior of nature – the gesture of his works represents harmony and the flow of artistic shapes that contrast the surroundings; and Valen Valero (2022) encodes her paintings with inscriptions, numbers, letters, and codes based on her thoughts, feelings and travel experiences.
Every year, the GSIS National Art competition is a much-awaited event and has become a much-coveted Art Award. Thousands of creatives from all over the archipelago enter this competition each year in hopes of winning not just the cash prize but also gaining widespread recognition. The future artistic creations of these talented individuals have much promise.The GSIS National Art competition is an event that is eagerly anticipated each year and has evolved into an Art Award that is highly sought after. Each year, thousands of creative individuals from all over the archipelago participate in this competition in the hopes of not only winning the monetary prize but also earning widespread recognition for their work. It is exciting to see all the creative works that our local artists will produce in the years to come.
The GSIS National Art competition is an event that is eagerly anticipated each year and has evolved into an Art Award that is highly sought after. Each year, thousands of creative individuals from all over the archipelago participate in this competition in the hopes of not only winning the monetary prize but also earning widespread recognition for their work. It is exciting to see all the creative works that our local artists will produce in the years to come.
