2014 Ateneo Art Awards shortlists announced
MANILA, Philippines - The Ateneo Art Gallery has announced the shortlists for the visual art and art criticism categories.
The Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art is a distinction given to the most significant works and exhibitions from the previous year, celebrating the best of contemporary Philippine visual art. Out of 84 nominations, 12 artists and their exhibitions were chosen for this year’s shortlist. They are as follows: Pio Abad for Every Tool is a Weapon if You Hold it Right (Silverlens Manila), Charles Buenconsejo for Destination Unknown and Luis Santos for Nocturne (West Gallery), Zean Cabangis for Condestruct (Art Informal), Buen Calubayan for Spoliarium (NOW Gallery), Vermont Coronel Jr. for Dreamworld (The Drawing Room Singapore), Olivia d’Aboville for Sacred Geometry (Altro Mondo Arte Contemporanea), Cian Dayrit for The Bla-Bla Archaeological Complex and Lui Medina for Metamorphic Histories (UP Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center), Leslie de Chavez for Complicated (Lopez Memorial Museum and Library), Jay Yao for Homecoming (Celestina), and Jeona Zoleta for The Unicorn Club (1335 Mabini).
The jury for this year’s awards for visual arts are Ramon E.S. Lerma, director and chief curator, Ateneo Art Gallery; Fr. Rene Javellana SJ, associate professor, Fine Arts Program, Ateneo de Manila University; Kiri Dalena, visual artist and 2009 Ateneo Art Awards winner; Tony Godfrey, art critic and writer; Tessa Maria Guazon, assistant professor, Department of Art Studies, University of the Philippines-Diliman; Mark Justiniani, visual artist; and Lisa Periquet, president, Board of Museum Foundation of the Philippines.
From the shortlist, three will be chosen as winners. They will then be invited to apply for international residency grants funded by the Ateneo Art Gallery and its partner institutions: La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre in Bendigo, Australia; Artesan Gallery in Singapore and Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
The new category, the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for Art Criticism, established by the Ateneo de Manila University through the Ateneo Art Gallery in partnership with the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation Inc. and in association with The Philippine STAR, honors the memory of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, art patron, founder of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) and an art writer who authored several important books on Philippine art history. From the entries submitted, the jury selected the six best essays. The writers of these critiques are as follows: Ren Aguila, Gian Cruz, Carlo Daoana, Lisa Ito, Cocoy Lumbao and Alice Sarmiento. The shortlisted essays will be featured in the Ateneo Art Gallery website. From this top six, one will be awarded the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for Art Criticism. The names of the authors were not revealed to the jury until the selection and judging process was completed.
The jurors of the art criticism prize are: Ramon E.S. Lerma, director and chief curator of the Ateneo Art Gallery; Igan D’Bayan, assistant editor, Lifestyle Section of The STAR; Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, independent curator and assistant professor, Department of Art Studies, University of the Philippines – Diliman; Cesare A.X. Syjuco, multi-awarded painter, poet and art critic; and Gina Fairley, independent curator, regional contributing editor, Asian Art News (HK), and national visual arts journalist, artshub.com.au (AU).
The works of the shortlisted artists and writers will be exhibited at the Mid-Level 2/3 East Atrium, Shangri-La Plaza, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard from Aug. 8 to 18. The winners for both categories will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Aug. 14 at the Mid-Level 2/3 East Atrium, Shangri-La Plaza, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard.
For information, call the museum at 426-6488 or email Thea Garing, Ateneo Art Gallery exhibitions coordinator at dgaring@ateneo.edu or visit http://ateneoartgallery.org.
The Ateneo Art Awards is presented by the Ateneo Art Gallery, Shangri-La Plaza, Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation Inc., Metro Society, The Philippine STAR and Y-Style.
