Alt for art

Festive February ushers in a season of love and celebrations that go beyond Valentine’s and Chinese New Year. For art lovers, the weeks are filled with fairs and exhibitions, big and small, celebrating the Filipino creative spirit that has been a hallmark of our culture since pre-colonial times.

From crafts to fine arts, Filipinos are both creatives and patrons, making for a lively artistic ecosystem that has caught the attention of artists, galleries and buyers abroad. Back for its fourth and biggest iteration, ALT Art is a collective of nine premier galleries, namely Artinformal, Blanc, The Drawing Room, Galleria Duemilla, Finale Art File, MO_Space, Underground, Vinyl on Vinyl, and West Gallery. This year, the exhibition occupied over 5,000 square meters at the SMX Manila Halls 1 and 2, bringing the works of almost 300 artists to the fore.

The exhibition design of All At Once (AAO) made full use of the expansive venue, along with the collective’s focus on giving artists enough space and consideration for the messages they wanted to convey. Once you entered SMX Halls 1 and 2, you had an almost completely unhindered line of sight of several galleries at once. There were no boxed-in areas; instead, the galleries seemed to flow into each other, while soaring walls allowed gigantic artworks to be displayed. The Discoveries section and the 10 Project Spaces, which included one by sponsor Nagaraya, were also woven into the general flow. In the center, the BDO-sponsored Conversations Lounge was a venue for talks as well as a place where people paused and absorbed the artworks surrounding them.

“ALT Collective has jointly curated a range that encompasses intergenerational artists, all of whom are very diverse in their expressions and ideas,” explained Mawen Ong of MO_Space. “They are diverse in their forms of media and subject matter, ranging from photography, sound and sculpture to new media and paintings. This generates a critical discourse on transforming the environment, yet it reinforces a firm curatorial focus.”

From the main entrance, moving counterclockwise, we encountered Artinformal, where Tina Fernandez explained that “ALT was a labor of love by the nine galleries to put this together. We didn’t want a space that was limiting, because our priority is to present the artists’ works as best as possible. They work so hard, so we want a proper viewing of their works.”

True enough, visiting ALT was like a serendipitous journey where there were surprises and delights around every corner—some unexpected and disturbing—like the uncannily realistic sculpture of a man slumped on a monobloc chair, beer bottle in hand and beer belly on full display, by Lindslee.

Taking advantage of the convention center, the high walls made for plenty of drama, though perhaps making some of the works located in the higher reaches hard to see. Discordant sounds and music punctuated your thoughts as you made your way along spaces lined with installations or kinetic art, created with movement, such as the clacking mirrored boxes representing rough seas by Marco Ortiga.

At Artinformal, a number of media were displayed, including James Clar’s animated video of a dog, projected by laser, running from the Quezon Circle to Pasong Tamo and back. Winnie Go’s winsome ceramic apples laid out on a table were snapped up by buyers, while Costantino Zicarelli gave visitors background on the indigenous tribes behind his paintings of tropical foliage.

Nearby, at The Drawing Room, Christina Lopez’s untitled installation was part of the Project Spaces, while the gallery itself presented around 70 artists. Cesar Villalon Jr. said, “The Drawing Room’s presentation was built through years of working with artists, sometimes briefly, sometimes repeatedly, until those encounters accumulate into layers. Each work stands on its own, but proximity allows connections to register naturally, without explanation. What we are showing is not everything and everyone. It is a clear, temporary view of the living structure before it shifts again.”

Proceeding toward West Gallery, Reg Yuson’s “Nimbus” was particularly appealing, as heavy rocks managed to look cloudlike, seemingly floating on the lightest of stands, masked by what could be elongated drops of rain or tears.

At the Project Space of Indonesian artist Iwan Effendi, presented by Vinyl on Vinyl, the artist explained that as a puppeteer, his different media reflected the interaction between an inanimate object like a puppet and the human who wields it. The relationship blurs as the human gives life to the puppet while himself disappearing into the background.

Continuing counterclockwise, visitors came across Audrey Lukban at MO_Space, her cloud-shaped canvases interpreted in many ways by viewers, though they were actually crumpled blankets in her bedroom. Also at this gallery was a table topped with seemingly empty pouches, a work by Jose Santos III titled “Nothing is Empty.” Another big wall contained striking Ziggurat artworks by the late Roberto Chabet, founding director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Based on the shape of ancient vertical structures like pyramids and temples, this form was a recurring motif in his work.

In the span of a few hours, there was so much to see. Mentioning only a handful of the memorable pieces: there was a sculpture by Elmer Borlongan holding a giant bat for West Gallery. Miguel Lorenzo Uy’s “Superstructures,” three tall gray “buildings,” was presented by Nagaraya. Raffy Napay’s stunning tapestry of hand-sewn threads shaped into what represented seedlings filled one section in front of the lounge.

Ever-popular Geraldine Javier’s hand-embroidered artworks replaced acrylic paint with plant dyes. The flowers, twigs, and leaves she gathers from her surroundings are both the medium and the subject of her works. Her works are highly collectible—a crowd pleaser. Finale Art File’s pieces by Lindslee representing your favorite crackers were eye-catching, while a dramatic, unfinished wooden staircase to nowhere— Christina Quisumbing Ramilo’s “Still We Hope”—was a testament to these times of unfinished and undelivered construction meant to make the lives of Filipinos better.

The youngest and most colorful displays of all belonged to Vinyl on Vinyl, which had Mimaaaaaaaaw and Bitto, among others, showing off their optimistic forms. At Galleria Duemila, Silvana Diaz was finally able to display her huge painting of an underpass on a large wall. A whimsical collection of toy motorcycles and other vehicles stood out and sold briskly at Underground.

“When Breathing Becomes Work” by Buen Calubayan—a series of paintings, maps and diagrams that was the Project Space of Blanc Gallery —likened the way we sabotage our own country to a human body with an autoimmune disease that attacks itself.

Clearly, to discuss the phenomenal work of almost 300 artists could fill a book. ALT succeeded in creating an exhibition space that did the vast majority of artists justice and allowed viewers to be moved, enthralled, repulsed and intrigued according to their own innate sensibilities.

“The worst thing an artwork can do is make you feel indifferent,” noted Tina Fernandez. If that’s the case, there was plenty to celebrate at ALT Art, as it gave artists and viewers the space needed to engage each other in themes relevant to our times.