2010 THE YEAR THAT WAS: MANILA CONTEMPORARY

The year that was - Manila Contemporary in 2010

2010 was all about pushing the limits of contemporary art for Manila Contemporary. On its second year, the gallery moves further away from the safe and traditional, with the artists’ use of varied non-conventional techniques and media. Manila Contemporary brought to Manila more artists from Southeast Asia, one show even being composed of artists from Europe and the Pacific. This year was about promoting and challenging the Filipino artist, with the staging of the first ever solo exhibit by a Filipino artist in the large main gallery, and fostering more interesting and thought-provoking collaborations and artistic exchanges in its group exhibitions.

Manila Contemporary started the year with a group exhibition highlighting Filipino artistry. Elaine Navas, Jonathan Olazo and Romeo Lee are known for their use of highly textured or impasto technique, and they produced highly sought-after paintings that demonstrated such for this self-titled show. This was followed by another group exhibition A Thousand Times Yes this time with the 25 artists hailing from different parts of Southeast Asia working on various media, from oil on canvas (Maria Jeona) to photograph (Bea Camacho and MM Yu), digital print on tarpaulin (Ringo Bunoan) to vacuum cleaner, print on cardboard collage and vacuum bag (Pintor Sirait).

The end of February saw Manila Contemporary providing a venue for young and promising artists, exhibiting works by UST’s fine arts and design students. Aptly titled Grand Finale, the show was collectively the painting theses of the graduating class of 2010, completing their final requirements for graduation.

Kiko Escora conjured a street-type party at the gallery to bring together various genres of art and different creative collectives in F*ck Art Let’s Dance. The likes of Chi Kotur, Nixon Marquez, Otto Feraren and Chris Yniguez proved in this show that contemporary art has ventured beyond traditional fine art and consists of art moving to popular culture and alternative outlets such as fashion, music graffiti and beyond.

Two more group exhibitions showcasing Filipino contemporary art were staged in the gallery in March and April. The works in The Unnamable, curated by Roberto Chabet, point to the downward spiral to confront silence and failure in art. Eternal Damn Nation was a joint project of three Manila galleries. The last leg of their three-part exhibition being housed by Manila Contemporary, Anting Anting displayed a collaborative mural done by the 11 artists from this Cavite-based group, alongside works from the shows Salvation History (Tin-Aw, 2009) and Lupa (Artspace Glorietta, 2010).

Again with a variety of styles from a big group of Southeast Asian and Filipino artists, Faith + Reason featured artworks as varied as the exhibition’s subject. Performing at the opening was Billy Bonnevie and Pinikpikan.

In the second half of 2010, Manila Contemporary produced a handful of impressive sculpture shows, interspersed with a wall show, a travelling photography exhibit and a fundraiser. In June, the gallery was filled with Clouds & Wings – Juliet Lea’s larger-than-life colour-blind eye tests resembling mushroom clouds from nuclear tests and WWII bombings, and Alwin Reamillo’s salvaged piano parts resembling wings climbing up against the gallery walls as if in flight. In August Reg Yuson’s mucks, big black glossy blobs made of fiberglass, were strewn across the gallery floors. One big muck was installed on the ceiling of the second floor gallery. R.Muck was the first solo exhibition by a Filipino artist at Manila Contemporary’s main gallery, and there are plans to do more Filipino solos in the future. In October, Broke+Poklong Anading+Louie Cordero drew both the art and design audience into the gallery with its conceptual fine art furniture, encouraging viewer interaction.

Two photography shows were on exhibit from September to October. Manila Contemporary was the final stop of CUT2010: PARALLEL UNIVERSE, Photography from Southeast Asia, which travelled to all the three other VWFA galleries. Frankie Callaghan, one of the artists from CUT2010, was commissioned by the gallery and the Pasig River foundation to do photographs of the River of Our Dreams for the benefit of the clean-up and preservation of this Manila landmark.

Getting everyone’s attention, Manila’s young art fans and Berlin art writers and Canadian art magazines alike, was Manuel Ocampo’s Painting with a Hammer to Nail the Crotch of Civilisation: a group show of wall works and tattoo imagery. This show put a stamp on pushing the boundaries of contemporary art, with uncompromising art painted all over the white walls of the gallery, as how perhaps only Manila Contemporary’s space and progressive vision could permit and foster.

Manila Contemporary also had a number of off-site exhibits, in its effort to promote contemporary art. Last June, Manila Contemporary participated in the biggest art event in the country, ManilArt10. The theme for the gallery this year was For Women Only, all four booths of the gallery dedicated to five strong women artists – Valeria Cavestany, Amy Aragon, Ringo Bunoan and MM Yu.

Manila Contemporary ended the year with its 2nd anniversary exhibition entitled The Light Show. Conceptual artist and curator Katya Guerrero collaborates with twelve artists who work with their hands in exploring themes of design, technology and spirituality.
This show runs until January 9, 2011.

In its two years, Manila Contemporary has kept with its vision of providing a venue for artistic practice and regional exchange. In 2011 Manila Contemporary will have more exhibitions and artist talks, artist residencies and performances, and will continue to bring to Manila the resonance and diversity that is Southeast Asian contemporary art.