Philippine Art Awards names Metro Manila and Luzon winners

MANILA, Philippines - In a ceremony held recently at the National Museum, 10 artists from Metro Manila and 10 from Luzon were named by the Philippine Art Awards (PAA) as this year’s winners of the prestigious art competition’s regional finals.

The 10 Metro Manila winners are: Arnel Brillantes (Makati City), Unfamiliar Territories; Camille de la Rosa (Mandaluyong City), Those Who Have Ears, Hear, Those Who Have Eyes, See; Joey Cobcobo (Mandaluyong City), Crown Him King; Raffy Napay (Mandaluyong City), Ang Liwanag at ang Pakikipaglaban; Jaime Jesus Pacena, Jr. (Quezon City), In Denial; Maximo Balatbat II (Caloocan City), Avenida Karnabal; Dan Raralio (Quezon City), Brain Drain; Dexter Sy (Quezon City) Oro, Plata, Mata; Thomas Daquioag (Makati City), Magnet; Froilan Calayag (Marikina City), The Mother’s Revenge (After Rizal).

Meanwhile, the 10 Luzon winners are: Rodelio Cerda (Binangonan, Rizal), Broken Vows; Teodorico Cumagon III (Lipa City), The Root Cause; Augusto Elorpe (Baguio City), The End of the Black “In-Hearitance”; Yuan Mo’ro Ocampo (Santiago City), Pentecost; Vincent Paul Padilla (Binangonan, Rizal), See Through the Barong Tagalog; Rommel Sampana (Plaridel, Bulacan), The Following Program is Not Suitable for Very Young Audiences; Reynaldo Samson Jr. (Antipolo City), Sustansya ng Langit; Arturo Sanchez Jr. (Angono, Rizal), Tragic Playground; Isidro Diaz Santos (Angono, Rizal), Binigkis; Crispin Villanueva (Antipolo City), Considering That It Is Alreaady Changing.

Aside from trophies, the winners received P40,000 each. They will also compete with the 20 other winners from the Visayas and Mindanao in the national competition slated next year. All regional winning works will be exhibited at the National Museum during the national competition.

The Grand Prize winner in the national competition will receive P350,000, P120,000 for the Juror’s Choice Award of Excellence, and P80,000 for the Juror’s Choice Award of Merit. An all expense paid trip to the World Expo and Art Fair in Shanghai, China also forms part of the prize pool for all national winners.

National Artist BenCab, one of the judges, commended the Art Awards for being “always in the forefront when it comes to giving Filipino visual artists the best opportunity to make their entries truly competitive, especially now that they have expanded the contest to include multi-dimensional works.” He is joined in the Panel by Mercedes Vargas of the Lopez Memorial Museum; Cid Reyes, renowned art critic and author of several books on Philippine art; Nestor Vinluan, former dean of the UP College of Fine Arts and well known abstractionist; Dr. Patrick Flores of the Vargas Museum; Tina Colayco, art book publisher and dean of the UP College of Fine Arts; and Julie Lluch, renowned terra cotta sculptor.

“The artists of the city, reeling from a deluge of unprecedented magnitude in recent time, reflect on two moments that compel them to make art: catastrophe and whimsy. We glean in many of these works scenes of the fall and failure: nature unleashing its wrath, the apocalypse heralding fear and trembling, a holocaust of the soul and body tearing humanity asunder. But on the other hand, amid suffering and disrepair, there is that moment of wonder and possibility, from the artist’s sheer skill with ink or pixel or paint,” observed Flores of the body of winning works.

This year, the Philippine Art Awards is sponsored by Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI), the National Museum and Asian Tigers Philippines.

The winning works will be on exhibit until Jan. 30, 2010 at the Museum of the Filipino People, Agrifina Circle, Rizal Park, Manila. The National Museum is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 9 am to 6 pm.