Art Fair Philippines is back this 2024, bigger and better than before
Attention, artists and art lovers! Art Fair Philippines is back this 2024, bigger and better than before. From February 16 to 18, Filipino and international galleries, artists, curators and educators join forces in transforming The Link, a car park in Makati City, into a multi-level exhibition hub for Filipino modern and contemporary art.
The 2024 edition of Art Fair Philippines, the leading venue for showcasing Filipino modern and contemporary art, will be presenting an expanded program that highlights the Philippine visual arts, which is considered one of Southeast Asia’s most vibrant creative landscapes. Joining the country’s top artists are a wider roster of foreign galleries from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and more exhibitors from the Metaverse.
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Still not convinced to go to this year’s art fair or just wanting to know more? Here are some of the exciting exhibits and events that you can expect from Art Fair Philippines 2024!
ArtFairPH/Projects and special exhibitions
ArtFairPH/Projects dynamically showcases a collection of thoughtful and innovative works by various artists. Located in a contiguous space conceptualized by production designer and theater director Ed Lacson, it presents works by renowned Filipino artists such as Jonathan Ching, Jigger Cruz, Gean Brix Garcia and Rod Paras-Perez. Joining them are a selection of women modernists and a group of muralist painters mentored by Alfredo Esquillo Jr. and Renato Habulan.
Pambabae, another special exhibit at Art Fair Philippines 2024, aims to reappraise and highlight the contribution of Filipina women modernists—such as the likes of Ivi Avellana Cosio, Ileana Lee, Nelfa Querubin, Evelyn Collantes, Phyllis Zaballero and Lilian Hwang—who have largely been overshadowed by their male contemporaries. Spanning the years 1969 to 1989, the artworks in the exhibition represent the explosion of creativity, which was significant in the development of Philippine modern art.
The Projects section also features Brooklyn-based multi-disciplinary artist Mr. StarCity, Romanian conceptual artist Andreea Medar, and a special performance piece by Spanish artist Eugenio Ampudia, presented in partnership with the Embassy of Spain in Manila.
In addition, Art Fair Philippines 2024 marks the 10th anniversary and winding down of the Karen H. Montinola (KHM) Selection, a grant given to visual artist Gean Brix Garcia by the Montinola family in memory of a collector who championed the works of emerging Filipino artists. To commemorate this special milestone, Art Fair Philippines 2024 will have a retrospective exhibit curated by art consultant Norman Crisologo, featuring the recipients of the grant since 2014, namely: Pio Abad (2014), Mike Adrao (2015), Mac Valdezco (2016), Mark Valenzuela (2017), Alvin Zafra (2018), Liv Vinluan (2019), Carlo Villafuerte (2021), Melvin Guirhem (2022) and Faye Abantao (2023).
ArtFairPH/Residencies
In this year’s art fair, visual reports consisting of illustrations, photographs, videos, performances and objects highlighting the stories and experiences of selected residency artists in 2023 will be exhibited.
Created in collaboration with five partners nationwide, the Art Fair Philippines residency program allows artists to deepen their practice and develop networks beyond their usual context and studios. It’s transformative in the sense that the time artists spend in another place enables them to think of innovative ideas, work on a new project and collaborate with artists from the community they are immersed in.
The chosen up-and-coming artists for this year’s art fair include Mark Salvatus of Manila Observatory (Quezon City, Manila), Anna Miguel Cervantes of Linangan Art Residency (Alfonso, Cavite), Jett Ilagan of Emerging Islands (San Juan, La Union), Julian Tapales of Butanding Barrio (Puerto Princesa, Palawan) and Renz Baluyot of Orange Projects (Bacolod, Negros Occidental). Joining them are Iseult Perrault and Petr Hajdyla, two international artists who have joined the residency program in Orange Project this 2024.
Learn about art at #ArtFairPH
As the saying goes, art is for everyone. Part of the vision of Art Fair Philippines is the expansion of audiences for art, hence it created a comprehensive, timely and vibrant program that provides fair-goers with opportunities to deepen their exposure even more to various topics that will enhance their engagement with art. This year, Art Fair Philippines continues its partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery to present a series of talks that aims to provide insight into an artist’s work and life, art forms, artistic processes, collectors and interests.
The 2024 talks program, Art Fair PH/Talks, includes discussions on the intersections of art and science, photography as authorship, women in modern art and reading images from a historical perspective, among others. With a special participation from the Lopez Museum, there will also be a demonstration on basic stretching, matting and framing of canvas, as well as a discussion on the basics of artwork conservation.
ArtFairPH/Digital
Introduced just last year, ArtFairPH/Digital showcases digital media and works that incorporate and engage with computer technology, animation, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and the metaverse.
For 2024, Art Fair Philippines flies in David Gryn, founder of Daata, the foremost proponent of digital art globally. Gryn presents Best Dressed Chicken (Manila Version)—named after the brilliant classic 1970s reggae song by Jamaican singer and DJ Doctor Alimantado—a selection of great digital video artworks that engage with notions of vanity and choice.
This playlist focuses on Milo Creese, with his AI work A Complicated Dance and George Roxby Smith series Just Breathe, and the video works of Jane Bustin, who will be present at the fair.
Another key point in the digital section is a special exhibit in collaboration with CryptoArt PH, a vibrant community dedicated to empowering Filipino creators in the dynamic Web3 space, with a focus on presenting the talent and innovative ideas of Filipino artists in the realm of NFTs and blockchain technology.
Photography
The ArtFairPH/Photo section spotlights photography as part of the contemporary art landscape in the country. The photographs will be curated by Sandra Palomar, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. This year’s sole exhibitor is FotomotoPH, a Manila-based organization of visionary photographers curators and writers dedicated to promoting Philippine photography through an annual cycle of exhibitions, public programs and special projects throughout the archipelago.
Film
Imagine a place where you can converse about movies and the film scene over beer while the music is playing just loud enough so you can hear each other. ArtFairPH/Film presents NO SHOWING, a project curated by filmmaker Moira Lang, which is co-presented by Archivo Gallery in cooperation with Club Kino. This is a hangout, speakeasy, watering hole, listening party, dance floor and breathing space for filmmakers and filmgoers to weigh, diagnose and compare notes and remedies on the state of movie making and going in the Philippines.
10 Days of Art
The celebration of art in this year’s Art Fair goes beyond the confines of The Link car park. Complementing the festivities is the 10 Days of Art initiative—a series of events around the Makati Central Business District.
This much anticipated public art component will feature two locations. First, trans-disciplinary visual artist Derek Tumala presents A Warm Orange-Colored Liquid—his biggest and most ambitious work to date—at the Tower One Fountain area, which is visible along Ayala Avenue. Second, motion graphics artist and multimedia engineer, Isaiah Cacnio, collaborated with digital artists AJ Dimarucot and Carlos for an exciting video projection, Prismatic Embrace, which will be seen on the Green Wall of Ayala Triangle Garden Tower 2.
To kick off 10 Days of Art, Art Fair Philippines presents the Gallery Weekend from February 9 to 11, where everyone is encouraged to see the gallery exhibitions at their respective locations throughout this three-day effort. For schedule and updates, the 10 Days of Art website.
Art Fair Philippines will be held at The Link, Ayala Center, Makati from February 16 to 18, 2024. You may purchase your tickets (P750) now via the Art Fair Philippines website or at the reception area of the fair on the said dates.
For more information and updates, follow Art Fair Philippines on Facebook and Instagram.
Photos Art Fair Philippines
Art Macky Arquilla
