A visual tale of two countries

Something else is creating a buzz in Singapore this June apart from the annual crowd-drawing Great Singapore Sale — it’s the Second Philippine Art Trek, a massive, month-long extravaganza of a dozen art shows across the city-state featuring a glittering list of today’s most acclaimed Filipino artists, from celebrated sculptor Ramon Orlina, to young painter Dominic Rubio, to National Artist Bencab. (For the complete list of shows and show schedules, visit www.philippine-embassy.org.sg).

Orchestrated by the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, the Art Trek is the brainchild of Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Anota, who, true to form, graced all of the early shows in finely crafted Filipiniana.

“We wanted to work together with the local galleries in Singapore to introduce Philippine art to the Singapore market and to make it more accessible to potential buyers,” says the petite ambassador, explaining the idea behind the Art Trek. “We wanted to mainstream Philippine art so that people will appreciate the rich and thriving art scene in the Philippines that has largely been left untapped and undiscovered by the Southeast Asian region.”

Mia Marchadesch, director of marketing and corporate relations for Galerie Joaquin Singapore (www.galeriejoaquin.com.sg; ground floor, The Regent of Singapore Hotel, 1 Cuscaden Road), says the gallery shares the same vision and has embraced the Art Trek with a total of three shows. For the Trek’s anchor show called “Glass and Brass” at the Singapore Management University’s School of Economics Gallery, Galerie Joaquin presented the luminous, gem-like pieces of glassmeister Ramon Orlina, while Singapore gallery Utterly Art featured the brass sculptures of Michael Cacnio.

“The worldwide interest in Chinese art is spilling over into the rest of the region, and in these very exciting times, this is exactly the kind of support Philippine art needs,” she says.

The heady tour of one show after another seems to reflect these exciting times, and thanks to the project, a combined effort of the embassy and Singapore-based galleries, Philippine art is taking the spotlight in a country that has successfully styled itself as Asia’s arts hub.

A Glass Act at the Heart of Singapore

Singapore is known for its constantly shifting cityscape, where trendy bars and restaurants open at an almost frenzied pace. Among the latest additions to its skyline is not yet another building, but a giant observation Ferris Wheel called the Singapore Flyer that gives passengers a magnificent, 360-degree view of Singapore. At 165 meters, it is taller than the London Eye.

So it was a little tricky for sculptor Ramon Orlina, along with wife Lay Ann, as he made his way to the SMU Gallery where he found low, curve-walled buildings where an empty field used to be. Luckily, long-standing landmarks in the Bras Basah District — the National Museum of Singapore, the convent-turned-nightspot Chimes, the Raffles Hotel — pointed the way.

At this year’s Art Trek, Orlina’s new collection of carved crystal and glass presents a more varied palette — from his iconic green glass, to luminous gold and amber pieces, to an azure that implied infinite depths — in solid and fluid shapes. Orlina, it seems, harbors a perfectionist streak, and for the Singapore show air-freighted a small wall from which to hang his centerpiece work, a deep-green abstract take on a metropolitan skyline called Garden City.

The show, titled “Luminosity,” drew a host of Orlina collectors — who knew exactly what pieces they wanted — and fans, among them a Singapore-based Japanese executive who has followed Orlina’s career through over seven years.

“I first saw his works at an exhibition in Sweden,” said Naradate. “And again in Japan, three years ago.”  His young family — a wife and three children — joined him on a two-day quest to meet Orlina, whom Naradate finally caught up with at the SMU Gallery on the day Orlina was set to fly home.

“This is but one example of the wide-reaching appeal of Orlina’s highly original works,” says Jack Teotico of Galerie Joaquin Singapore. “And this is why we decided to make his show the kickoff to the whole Art Trek. He has exhibited around the world, and people from everywhere know and remember his work.” Three days into the exhibition, almost all the pieces had been snapped up by avid collectors.

Top Brass

Sharing the exhibition space at SMU was Michael Cacnio, whose brass sculpture pieces are by turns whimsical and full of social commentary. The Cacnio show, titled “Rich man, Poor Man,” was presented by Utterly Art (229A South Bridge Road, Singapore), a Singapore gallery whose first show for this year’s Art Trek, Leo Abaya’s “Tropical, Baroque,” sold out on opening night.

Asked how they choose Filipino artists to showcase, gallerist Kenneth Tan says, “First and foremost, we must like the works ourselves, myself and my business partner, Dr. Pwee Keng Hock. We are collectors ourselves and works proposed to us should appeal to us as collectors.”

And the future of Philippine art in Singapore, Tan says, looks bright. “Our Philippine artists have receive a very warm welcome from Singapore collectors,” adds Tan. “In fact, most Philippine works in Utterly Art are bought by Singaporeans.”

In Chinatown

Along Smith Street in Singapore’s Chinatown, a picturesque enclave of tiled alleyways and restored shophouses, is Lukisan Gallery (www.lukisan-art.com; 26 Smith Street), whose owner, Joyce Tan, has decided to exhibit the works of Filipino abstract artist Carlo Magno.

The young gallery owner was thrilled to work with Magno, whose large abstract pieces appealed to her on a personal level. While there is, undeniably, a growing appreciation for Philippine art among Singaporeans, Tan took particular interest in Magno’s work for its ability to emotion while defying succinct definition.

“You know you feel something very strong,” says Tan, “but it’s hard to tell what it is. Then you see the title, and you go, ‘Of course, that’s exactly it!’”

Down Orchard Road

Off one end of Orchard Road, Singapore’s shopping mecca of a thoroughfare (where shopping malls line both sides of the street), is a quiet, upscale district of Singapore that is home to a cluster of Embassy homes, the spanking-new, hyper-luxurious St. Regis Hotel, and a grand old favorite, The Regent Hotel of Singapore.

On June 7, the ground floor buzzed with art enthusiasts as resident gallery, Galerie Joaquin of Singapore, opened a double-billed show featuring the works of figurative painters Lydia Velasco (“Idyllic Summer”) and Dominic Rubio (“Old Asia”). The joint show will be on exhibit at the gallery until June 30.

Velasco’s images of women that evoke both ethereal quality in their countenance and a quiet strength in their physique have earned the artist a following in the region. Among the evening’s guests, apart from Ambassador Anota in yet another tailored terno, were Mr. Dato n. Parameswaran, High Commissioner of Malaysia, and Mr. Lim Cheng Hoe Chief of Protocol of Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Another regional favorite is Dominic Rubio, whose portraits of the turn-of-the-century in surreal proportions were inspired by the artist’s fascination with the old and historic sites. There is a good possibility, then, that his next work will be inspired by his walking tour of Singapore’s vibrant Kampong Glam district, where rows upon rows of Arab-inspired turn-of-the-century shophouses are home to a diverse culinary experience (particularly Bussorah Street) and some of the city-state’s chicest shopping along Haji Lane.

International Appeal

Opening mid-month is Rodel Tapaya’s “Into the Forest” at Utterly Art, Manuel Baldemor’s “River Scenes” at SMU on Stamford Road, and National Artist Bencab’s nude drawings at Substation on Armenian Street.

For Mia Marchadesch, the surge of interest in Philippine art in Singaporean serves as a boost for its prospects elsewhere in the world. “In the one-year-and-a-half that the gallery has been around, we’ve seen our clientele grow from the Filipino expats living in Singapore to a bigger audience that now includes Singaporeans and other foreign nationals living here,” says Marchadesch, herself an expatriate Filipino living in Singapore. “Different people have different tastes in art, but everyone here seems to unanimously agree that Philippine is as engaging any other. Projects such the Art Trek are help tremendously, and that’s why we go all out for it every year by bringing the best over.”

Kenneth Tan echoes the assessment, adding, “We have buyers from as far as Zurich.” Tan adds, “We have long-term interest in the artists we work with, so we like to be assured that our artists are constantly producing works — we prefer quality over quantity — and are challenging themselves, conceptually and technically.” These are qualities his gallery has evidently found in a number of contemporary Filipino artists.

No wonder the interest is on an upswing. Rossana Villamor Voogle, the Second Secretary and Consul of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, says, “Singapore government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and art collectors based here — locals and expats alike — have become fans of Philippine art.”

No wonder Ambassador Anota’s smile matched her fancy threads at every opening. While entertaining guests and answering questions from various media at the opening of Carlo Magno’s show, the ambassador was asked if she wasn’t getting tired of donning traditional dress at nightly opening openings. She beamed and said, “What can I say? I’m a salesperson for the Philippines.” And we’re all extremely grateful for the pitch.