Art aficionados, patrons, and artists alike gathered at the Ateneo Art Awards held at the Shangri-La Plaza's Grand Atrium. Photo by Aliana Gimena, InterAksyon.com.
The rains may have been raging and floods may have affected most parts of the metro last week, but that didn’t stop art patrons and artists alike from convening at the much-awaited Ateneo Art Awards. If anything, the well-attended affair only showed the yearly awards’ important place in the art community.
The art award was first established in 2004 in honor of its founding benefactor Fernando Zobel de Ayala (1924-1984) whose legacy included his relentless support for young Filipino visual artists. The Ateneo Art Awards are given to Filipino visual artists below the age of 36, for their outstanding works in exhitions mounted between 2 May of the previous year and 1 May of the current year.
Three “co-equal” winners were named on Thursday (August 9) at the Shangri-La Plaza Grand Atrium. Out of 12 shortlisted candidates for the awards, themed as “Sneak Peak,” Riel Hilario, Maria Taniguchi, and Martha Atienza were bestowed with the top prize. Ateneo de Manila University President Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ presented the winners with unique “green” trophies with young plants.
Maria Taniguchi's 'Untitled (Celestial Motors).' Silverlens Gallery. Photo by Aliana Gimena, InterAksyon.com.
Hilario was lauded for Perro Amoroso / It was a Paradisiacal State: The Body was Allowed to be a Body; Taniguchi for Untitled (Celestial Motors); and Martha Atienza for Gilubong ang Akon Pusod sa Dagat (My Navel is Buried in the Sea).
Martha Atienza's 'Gilubong ang Akon Pusod sa Dagat (My Navel is Buried in the Sea).' Office of Culture and Design (Madridejos, Bantayan Island) Gallery Orange, Pablo X. Photo by Aliana Gimena, InterAksyon.com.
Winners of the Ateneo Art Awards are invited to apply to studio residencies funded by the Ateneo Art Gallery and its partner institutions, including Artesan Gallery in Singapore; La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre in Bendigo, Australia; and Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Those granted studio residencies were also announced during the awarding ceremonies, with Atienza getting accepted into all three of the aforementioned studios. British Ambassador Stephen Lillie and Australian Deputy Head of Mission Andrew Byrne were there with Villarin to present the awards from the studios in their respective countries.
Artist Riel Hilario's 'Perro Amoroso/ It was a Paradisiacal State: The Body was Allowed to be a Body,' Art Informal. Photo by Aliana Gimena, InterAksyon.com.
“I feel elated. I feel grateful,” said Riel Hilario, who was the only artist among the three present to accept his award. He received the accolade just in time, as he turns 36 next month. The Ateneo Art Awards are given only to artists below that age.
“My works are basically woodcarvings because I studied santo-making when I was a teenager. It’s our family tradition,” explained the artist who hails from Vigan, Ilocos Sur. “I’m trying to find a way to create contemporary presentation for a traditional art form and I feel that is my responsibility because I don’t see a lot of people who do carvings.”
What he calls “a painful process” due to the wounds he receives during the art process is nevertheless a gratifying one.
“My subject matter comes from dreams. I’ve been keeping dream journals since I was 15. I was able to unearth some interesting images that both reveal [a lot] about [me] and about image-making.”
He has an ongoing show, Event Horizon, at the Drawing Room in Makati, ending August 18. Calling it his “last local exhibit,” Hilario explains, “It’s called as such because it’s my last work before I leave. I’ll be away for a year.” He will doing his residency in Paris, “studying carvings in cathedrals in France.” After his European stint, he’ll be fulfilling his residency in New York, then Malaysia.
“Contemporary art is leaning towards conceptual art, process-based art. My stand has always been, don’t forget that artists have rootedness. May pinanggagalingan tayo (We all have history). In my case, it was my childhood—the tradition of woodcarving [in] Vigan, Ilocos Sur.” He advises his fellow contemporary artists to “find rootedness in their work, not to stray far in the universe and find the meaning in their works in the present times.”
Consistency
“Diverse,” is how judge Dr. Cecilia S. De La Paz, chair of the Department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman, describes this year’s candidates.
“You have strong contenders who represent multimedia. And then you have representations of artwork that use or appropriate local resources. Then you have artists that explore post-modern ideas. I think these three capture the nominees this year.”
Her work has been especially challenging because the artists came from different backgrounds. “The job of a juror is to determine what would be the role of contemporary art at this day and age and the kind of public it could address in the Philippines. Perhaps this year’s judgment is appropriate because of certain issues that need to be addressed about what contemporary art is.”
Aside from De La Paz, the jury was composed of Ramon E.S. Lerma, director and curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery; Ahmad Mashadi, head of the National University of Singapore Museum; Fr. Rene Javellana, SJ, Fine Arts associate professor at the Ateneo; Leo Abaya, visual artist and Fine Arts associate professor at UP Diliman; Annie Cabigting, visual artist and 2005 Ateneo Art Awards winner; and Dindin Araneta, former executive director of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines.
This batch of winners and shortlisted artists are unique from those of the past awards, according to the assistant curator of Ateneo Art Gallery, Joel de Leon. “There are winners who are consistent like Kawayan de Guia, Maria Taniguchi, [and] MM Yu because they’re [part of] the cream of the crop. That’s why they’re always nominated. There are different judges each year, and yet [these artists’] names still appear every year. There must be something good in their works.”
The short-listed artists in this year’s art awards are: Zean Cabangis for Shade My Eyes and I Can See You; Vermont Coronel for Spirit of a Place; Kawayan de Guia for A Lot of Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing; Patricia Eustaquio for Cloud Country; Dina Gadia for Regal Discomforts; Goldie Poblador for The Ghost in the Machine; Mervy Pueblo for Project: Stone Mediation; Mark Valenzuela for Zugzwang; and MM Yu for Inventory.
MM Yu's 'Inventory.' Silver Lens Gallery.
Kawayan de Guia's 'A Lot of Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing.' The Drawing Room.
Art and the Filipino
“I think that art is a privileged channel of being Filipino. We have talent [here],” said Fr. Villarin in an interview with InterAksyon. “This is an opportunity to recognize upcoming talent. I’m glad that they’re recognizing even the younger artists. The Ateneo will do this (the awards) I think for as long as we are here and we’d like to encourage anything that brings appreciation of all things beautiful and Filipino. That’s part of our mission and identity. I think also it helps foster a stronger sense of being Filipino.”
When asked if he had a favorite exhibit among the 12, he said, “’Di ko pa natapos lahat eh. Pero gusto kong tignan at balikan si Martha Atienza. Napakyaw niya ‘yung awards eh, grandslam. (I haven’t been able to look at them all, but I’d like to take another look at Martha Atienza’s exhibit. She got all the awards. It was a grandslam.)”
The works of the artists’ will be on view at the Ateneo Art Gallery of the Ateneo de Manila University beginning August 22 through September 22.
Artists who were part of the short list and their representatives receive the unique 'green' trophies (with young plants) at the Ateneo Art Awards. A preview of the artists' works were also on show. Photo by Aliana Gimena, InterAksyon.com.
