Art Fair PH 2: Photo Diary

Note: this is the Part 2 of my Art Fair PH experience this year! For part 1, visit this blog entry.

This year, I went to Art Fair PH on its first two nights. This was back when I still worked full time, so walking to The Link Carpark was no biggie. I loved taking long walks from where I was parked to the Ayala Complex so getting tired was no problem for me. Also, there's Potato Corner in the malls so getting hungry was out of the question too. One mega-sized sour cream fries please!

Art Fair PH is such a wonderful time of the year in the local art scene. Every art lover and artist in the city are here to marvel at the exhibits. There were both solo and gallery exhibitions alike. Along the way, I ran into old co-workers, friends, and random celebs I knew well enough to recognize.  It was also the time when my long-time childhood squad was almost complete: I got to hang out with both Arrah and Kari!

Take a look at some of the galleries' showcases as well as some individual artist exhibits!

Karen H. Montinola Selection: Mark Valenzuela

WSK

WSK's exhibit had this pretty steampunk and analogue feel. There were so much wires, tape recorders, and interactive installations. They even replicated the dialogue that was in a wiretapped audio byte revealing Ferdinand Marcos's affair! The voice acting sounded like a read-to-text clip which makes the meshes creepier.

Galerie Stephanie

Galerie Stephanie had some soft, faded and feminine artwork that would definitely work in fashion. There are lots of flowers and birds in here. You can say the gallery celebrated the art of womanhood, for that matter.

Art Verite Gallery

Ooh would you look at the turquoise sculptures? They're so pretty.

Metamorphosis

Arndt

Art Bar

Looking back, I was very drawn to Art Bar's booth. Around that time I wanted to buy quality art materials but I wasn't exactly sure. I didn't have budget for art books, sadly. Also, the materials there were beyond my budget at that time. After all I was there to appreciate art and just  take photos! But nonetheless, months later, I realized I had a nice relationship with Art Bar. It's where I get my acrylic paints and letter-sized watercolor paper! For real, yo, I can't imagine how much I'd have spent if Art Bar wasn't around. There were materials for my budget, but also a lot of worth-it-priced quality art materials.

The Drawing Room

Vinyl on Vinyl

This is the 3rd Art Fair PH I've been to, and I always come across Vinyl on Vinyl. Geraldo Tan's Spin Paintings never get old to look at, and it hit me that vinyl is such a good medium to paint on. Who'd have thought? Now I regret throwing away the CD's I decluttered. But now that I realized my Macbook has no CD drive at all, I guess I can make use of the spare CD-R's I have in my drawer...

West Gallery

I can totally relate.

~~ Modern art

Archivo 1984

Secret Fresh

Secret Fresh has a fun, colorful feel that reminded me of Tokidoki. The imagery, pink-blue color scheme, and obsession with planets reminded me of my own aesthetic. This was one of my three favorite exhibits in the fair, and I just enjoyed the feel. Also, BenCab's exhibit was right next to it, and I was lucky to have seen the man himself.

Silverlens

Blanc

Most of my blog thumbnails are collages. Hats off to the artists who can translate collages on canvases!

Gallery Kogure

Galleries come and go at the Art Fair PH but this is my most fave stop! The Tokyo-based gallery offers a lot of what I like: surrealism, horror & macabre, and Takashi Murakami's flowers! I always see Takaro Hibayashi's creepy portraits and I always end up staring at them for quite a while. Take a look and see why I enjoy this!

Maria Jeona Zoleta

This is another of my three favorite exhibits in the fair this year. Nothing screamed "pussy power" better than Jeona's exhibit, where the space is splattered with neon colors, bugs, and sanitary napkins. Her bright, surreal work fascinated me, so I followed her on Instagram. To my surprise, she followed me back and even liked a painting I did later on. (It was similar to her style tbh, but it was very improvised halfway...) So if you're reading this, hi Jeona!

Agnes Arellano

Globe Platinum Presents: Dex Hernandez

My friend Kari rocked taking photos with this exhibit!

A Bunch of Friends Goofing Around

Last but not the least, here are some random unsorted photos of me and my friends goofing around. We definitely had lots of fun that night! Also there are other painting and installations where I can't identify the gallery or exhibit that it belonged to. Check them out!

Art Fair PH 2017 was indeed fun! But as time grew on and more people are getting to know about it, the crowd gets bigger and the space feels smaller. In fact, they made a Facebook post about how the fair has reached capacity. Perhaps they might get a new venue or extend it beyond The Link Carpark. Whatever happens, I'm happy to be back and I'm definitely going again next year!