The Pinoy in the arts

Of the eight modern arts, the Filipino certainly appears most creatively superior when it involves the visual.

The traditional subdivision of the Arts had the following composition: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Music, Poetry, Dance and Performing. In lieu of Performing, make that Theater. And Poetry has meant all of the literary arts. Now add Film, and we have eight genres.

Sometimes painting and sculpture are merged into visual arts. Graphic arts, including printmaking and design, appear to be left out in the cold. So is photography. Maybe a case can be made to pronounce 10 modern arts. But that’ll still leave out comics, while the graphic novel is seen as a fusion of literature and illustration, which is a component of painting.

Ceramics is yet another art form that’s still seen to be on the fringe, although for a stretch, it may be classified under sculpture. And there are those who will argue that high couture is art. Why, a Filipino was actually declared National Artist for High Fashion. Then there’s the surging worldwide popularity of the culinary arts. 

Oh, well. Evolution and randomization always continue to stretch out the gamut of inclusion in any process of hierarchy. 

But if we were to rank all of these art categories in terms of the quality of production and relative international success of the creative Filipino, it would have to be painting that’s currently the standout. We can safely say that our painters (okay, make that visual artists) are making their mark the world over. Today, May 22, “Pinto: Manhattan Manila” opens as a two-day group show in the West Village, New York City, featuring 30 Filipino contemporary artists. As a spin-off of Dr. Jovencio Cuanang’s Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo, Pinto International has bravely mounted this event for the benefit of the Asian Cultural Council, a foundation supporting Asian contemporary artists with fellowships to live and work in New York for six months, as well as the Foundation supporting the Pinto Art Museum’s efforts to continue nurturing young Filipino visual artists.

Organized by doctors Joven Cuanang and Luca Parolari, the show is curated by Federico De Vera, Filipino-born New York-based designer and owner of the eponymous De Vera gallery in Soho, Manhattan. Honorary chairs of the event are David and Susan Rockefeller and Josie Natori, who will welcome guests at Urban Zen, an industrial two-story building that used to be the studio of fashion mogul Donna Karan’s late husband, New York sculptor Stephan Weiss.

Last May 11, Filipino visual artists returned for a second consecutive participation in the Venice Art Biennale, thanks to the consistently laudable efforts of Sen. Loren Legarda.

“The Spectre of Comparison,” the Philippine Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Art Biennale, curated by Joselina Cruz, features Lani Maestro and Manuel Ocampo in a prime space at the Arsenale — with their works said to relate to “notions of nationhood, diaspora and identity.”

Other Filipino artists — David Medalla, Katherine Nuñez and Issay Rodriguez — are featured in the 2017 Biennale Arte’s main exhibit.

National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Chairperson and Commissioner of the Philippine Pavilion, National Artist Virgilio Almario, spoke during the vernissage:

“I would like to thank Senator Loren Legarda for having the grit and passion to make Filipino art known to the world through this massive endeavor. Likewise, I congratulate my colleagues in the government that have shown the world that collaboration can lead to projects such as this.”

The visionary and principal advocate behind the country’s participation in the Venice Biennale, Senator Loren Legarda couldn’t attend the vernissage, but congratulated everyone involved and sent the following message:

“I hope this year’s participation will further inspire more Filipino artists to hone their craft and assert their distinct creative identity. May the Filipino continue to participate in the global art conversation.”

As far as this conversation goes, it is definitely the Filipino visual artists who are much engaged. This is also manifested by the commercial success of established and upcoming artists in international auctions. Locally, not a month seems to pass by without a new art gallery adding more exhibition space.

If art lovers were to be asked as to which Pinoy artist is most admired and envied, it would have to be BenCab, who shares the wealth of his unprecedented success with his BenCab Museum in Baguio City. Sculptor Ramon Orlina has done the same with his Orlina Museum in Tagaytay, while Ronaldo Ventura has set marks in terms of his works’ acquisition prices.

Next in the art genre hierarchy would be Film, where Filipinos also continue to make their mark, with Brillante Mendoza and Lav Diaz reaping global acclaim, and scores of other filmmakers steadily following suit with both mainstream and indie creativity.

Painting, sculpture and film have instant registers, as it is the eye and the emotions that are easily gratified. An art work hanging on a wall or standing in home or office space offers daily communion of appreciation. And films seen in theaters or via electronic gizmos are part of daily entertainment fare.

An advantage for these arts is their universality of language, the same aspect that would have Music among the art genres where the Pinoy excels. Cecile Licad and Lea Salonga remain among our world-beaters, as are our globetrotting choirs. 

Unfortunately, it is the challenge of universality of language that inhibits our literature from achieving the same degreee of global success, albeit authors’ bylines such as Jose Garcia Villa, Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose, Jessica Hagedorn, Miguel Syjuco, Ninotchka Rosca, Gina Apostol, Merlinda Bobis and Lakambini Sitoy are certainly doing their part in leading the charge to attain better awareness for our writers.  

Theater and dance, despite the brilliance of our new playwrights such as Floy Quintos and the achievements of National Artists for Dance such as Alice Reyes, are held to an inherently intimate locus of appreciation. And our architects suffer from competition from international names, thanks to status priority exercised by most property developers.

For now, let our visual artists and filmmakers lead the way in showing the rest of the world how our consummate level of creativity and artistry may be second to none.