Excited for Art in the Park?
After its suspension earlier this year due to the pandemic, the affordable art fair is going online from August 10 – 17 at www.artinthepark.ph. The highly anticipated event will be coming in hot with a total of 56 exhibitors, comprising a balanced set of established galleries, independent art spaces, and student groups for all manners of taste.
Prices of artworks cap at a friendly P50,000. Just as before, you can expect amazing finds for far less. And if you’ve been reminiscing over the flora and fauna at the National Museum of Natural History as we have, it’s always nice to know that the AFP team has been a helping hand in making such projects happen. Just as they had done since 2006, a portion of all Art in the Park’s sales are to be donated to the Museum Foundation of the Philippines in support of their programs.
Peppered throughout the seven-day bonanza are performances, workshops, and more from a special lineup comprising visual artists Richard “Ambot” Quebral, Dex Fernandez, Jackie Lozano, Robert Alejandro. Joining them are the singer-songwriter Martti Franca and performers from Fifth Wall Fest, an art platform centered on dance filmmaking. Read on to learn more about the programs and get acquainted with the artists.
Richard Quebral
In partnership with Globe for the Globe Platinum Hour, Art in the Park presents Isometric Ay! lah, lah, land…, a special exhibit of the colorful prints and paintings by Richard Quebral. Globe platinum members will have exclusive access to the collection of works by watercolor artist and calligrapher Reena Gabriel.
Visitors will also have the treat of learning about his artistic process through a series of videos hosted in the Art in the Park’s websites and social media accounts. On August 16, Sunday, there will be a live auction for Quebral’s largest painting, one of the five he specially made for the fair.
Quebral has exhibited extensively with Blanc Gallery. The six mixed-media works from his last solo show, Lazaro Trails the West (2019), are upbeat and fond retellings of the artist’s personal experiences growing up with his clan in their home barrio.
Jackie Lozano
In collaboration with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI Presents will feature a virtual demonstration of Lozano’s method of portraiture. Since quarantine, the artist has been offering tutorials on acrylic painting on her YouTube channel. Last June, she held her second solo exhibit online, Awakening, an intimate look into a world of restless color and spontaneous feeling. The works are stunning and are available for view on her website.
Fifth Wall Fest
Following in the lineup is an original performance by the Fifth Wall Fest. Ever heard the phrase, “breaking the fourth wall?” It’s when actors engage audiences directly in a willful crack at the suspension of disbelief. Fifth Wall Fest’s namesake encapsulates a similar practice, where breaking the “fifth wall” is done to take the performance beyond and after the stage.
As an online platform advocating the visibility, education, and appreciation for dance choreographed for film, Fifth Wall Fest’s been sharing their findings of this particular genre in their Facebook and Instagram accounts. They have a dance film festival coming up this October, with an open call for short films out for anyone to join.
Robert Alejandro
Papemelroti co-founder Robert Alejandro will be holding live online art sessions on Art in the Park’s social media accounts. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something similar during the pandemic, as he hosted a free online workshop through Facebook Live last April to encourage people to learn art while staying at home.
Apart from being a children’s book illustrator, Robert Alejandro was also the star of Art Is Kool, an educational television show that taught art to children.
Dex Fernandez
Garapata Hatchery by Dex Fernandez continues at the virtual fair and will feature in a special time-lapse video of the artist’s creative process. Included also in the time-lapse is a special paper mural Fernandez has made and will be sectioned into 22 separate artworks at the end of the clip.
An interdisciplinary artist from Caloocan, Fernandez has worked with just about anything under the sun throughout his accomplished career and has had his works—from street art to paintings—exhibited both locally and abroad. Keeping abreast with his art is difficult for anyone, thankfully he keeps his followers updated through his blog. Above is a photo of his latest mural, the 51 square-meter long Secret Jungle made for Pinto Art Museum January this year.
Martti Franca
It was sometime in 2018 when Franca released his first single, “Alone,” on Spotify. In little more than a month, the single racked 4 digits in streams; a month after that, the digits hit five. There might not be a clearer image than that of how exponentially this artist’s following grows.
The artist has steadily released more singles since then, all of them received with equal fanfare. His latest single is the first track of his upcoming debut EP, Secrets. To learn more, Franca just recently talked about the story behind the EP in a vlog. You can also click here to start listening to his music on Spotify. You will likely cry. Franca will have an online performance of his music on the fair’s closing day.
For more info and schedule updates, drop by www.artinthepark.ph and follow www.facebook/artinthepark and @artintheparkph on Instagram.
Get ready for a block of text. The 56 exhibitors are:
Ang I.n.K., Archivo 1984, Arnold Art Collection, ART for Space Gallery, ART LAB: Atelier Cesare & Jean Marie Syjuco, Art Underground, Art Verite Gallery, Art Wednesday, Artepintura Gallery, Artery Art Space, Association of Pinoyprintmakers, Avellana Art Gallery, Blanc, Boston Art Gallery, Cevio Art Haus, District Gallery, Famous Artists, Far Eastern University, Galeria de las Islas, Galerie Anna, Galerie Artes, Galerie Stephanie, Kulay Art Group, Los Nuevos Conquistadores, J Studio, KASIBULAN, M A G, Mono8 Gallery, Museum Foundation of the Philippines - Joe Geraldo works & Carlo Villafuerte's jewelry, Nineveh Artspace, Nord Anglia International School, Potters' Group - Jon Pettyjohn, Potters' Group - EJ Espiritu, Potters' Group – Sagada, Potters' Group - Joey De Castro, Project 20 Maginhawa, Orange Project, Resurrection Furniture and Found Objects Gallery, Sheerjoy, Silverlens, Space Encounters, T.U.P Fine Arts, The Authenticity Zero, The Mighty Bhutens, The Photography Zone, The Thursday Group, Tin-Aw Art Gallery, Village Art Gallery, Vinyl on Vinyl, UP College of Fine Arts, vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery, and Ysobel Art Gallery.
Anchor photo: Works by Richard Quebral, courtesy of Art Fair Philippines.