The importance of caring and love in art
Physical exhibit marks the 13 Artists Awards
AFTER having held its nominations and announcement of awardees completely online last year because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the awarding and exhibition opening of the 18th iteration of the 13 Artists Awards (TAA) was officially — and physically — held at Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) on March 10.
The awardees for 2021 are painter Allan Balisi, painter and new media artist Nice Buenaventura, painter Gino Bueza, printmaker Mars Bugaoan, visual artist and writer Rocky Cajigan, photographer Geloy Concepcion, painter and educator Patrick Cruz, painter and interactive installation artist Ian Carlo Jaucian, street art group KoloWn, photographer, video and site installation artist Czar Kristoff, painter Lou Lim, paper sculptor Ryan Villamael, and interdisciplinary artist, designer, and writer Catherine Sarah Young.
The CCP 13 Artists Award is the oldest government award for visual artists, and is named after the 13 Moderns, a group of artists in the mid-20th Century who broke with convention and moved away from the conservative formality of the country’s old masters. Then-CCP Museum Director Roberto Chabet curated an exhibit called Thirteen Artists in 1970 which eventually transformed into an award. Originally an annual then biannual event, the awards have been granted every three years since 2003. It has named 198 artists-awardees since 1970, including one National Artist and four Gawad CCP awardees.
One of the 2021 awardees, painter Lou Lim, said that she was once asked by a friend of what her artworks’ battle cry would be if it had one. Ms. Lim’s answer was “love.”
“Love is never only cheesy. It makes me stand against evil even [when] your life is at stake. It makes you work for 18 hours more to serve the people you love. It can make you heal, make you alive, make you reap some parts of your soul, and make you continue on the days you can’t feel,” Ms. Lim said in her speech at the awarding ceremony.
The 13 Artists awardees each received a grant to produce new work for the group exhibition at the CCP. It took a year and one exhibition schedule cancelation in January this year (because of the COVID-19 Omicron surge) before the CCP’s galleries opened to showcase the works of the artists.
“Amidst everything, I asked the artists the question: ‘What keeps you inspired in times like these?’ And upon receiving no answer, I asked more directly, ‘Why they should work now?’,” exhibition curator and 2018 13 Artists awardee Shireen Seno said in her speech.
“As an artist myself, I understood the question of not being able to move freely, the cost of leaving the house and moving around, and how these limitations inhibit our ability to draw inspiration from our surroundings, communities, and everyday lives,” she continued.
Ms. Seno highlighted the importance of caring, despite the challenges of the past two years and the challenges of completing creative projects.
“To care is a radical act and a highly contagious one at that. At a time when it is easy to slip into isolation and ignorance, let this exhibition be a call to care in all forms,” Ms. Seno said.
THE EXHIBIT
In the exhibition are Allan Balisi’ Autonomy of Painting which are small site-specific paintings speculating on the afterlife of mannequins; Nice Buenaventura’s The New Word for World is Archipelago, a three-part installation on geographic interconnectedness; Gino Bueza’s Props and Problems, an installation that blurs the lines between work and non-work; and Mars Bugaoan’s Still Life, an installation that allows visitors to step into moments or collide with them.
Rocky Cajigan’s contribution to the exhibit is Mass, a mixed media installation on levels of violence. Geloy Concepcion’s Sanctuario: Ang Pakikipagsapalaran ni Isagani sa Bansang Amerika is a slideshow of photographs of a Filipino immigrant, while Patrick Cruz’s Gamu-gamo is a two-part video essay about the interventions of a clock existing in CCP and about the mineral dolomite and termites.
Also in the exhibit is Ian Carlo Jaucian’s Bon Bon Voyage, a mixed-media installation of candy replicas of the golden record and photographs that were sent out into space aboard the United States’ Voyager spacecraft in 1977. KoloWn’s contribution is P1sonet, an installation of 10 computers that resemble an internet café. Then there is Czar Kristoff’s To Watch the Sunset Once Again, a two-part video presentation of sunsets taken from Grindr profiles and videos of long-time friends.
Lou Lim’s Rest is a simulation of the earth’s surface as the extension of a human body. Ryan Villamael’s Index features paper recreations of structures which were destroyed in war. Catherine Sarah Young’s The Weighing of the Heart consists of 30 sculptures of the human heart made from the ashes of Australian bushfires that burned in 2019 to 2020.
Nominations for this year’s batch closed in March 2021. From 97 nominees who were contacted and asked to submit digital portfolios, the selection committee chose 88 portfolios for evaluation. The selection of the final 13 awardees was done through online evaluation.
The selection committee was composed of artists who were themselves 13 Artists awardees — Imelda Cajipe Endaya (1990), Nona Garcia (2003), Nap Jamir II (1974), and Gerry Tan (1988) — along with Rica Estrada, the CCP’s Head of the Visual Arts and Museum Division.
At the awarding ceremony, the artists received a customized trophy designed by 2006 13 Artist awardee Mac Valdezco.
The CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division is now open for walk-in visitors to the 2021 Thirteen Artists Awards exhibition. The exhibition is on view at the CCP Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery), Pasilyo Juan Luna (Main Gallery Hallway), and Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino (Third Floor Hallway). It runs until June 5.
Visitors are asked to read and download the CCP VAMD’s Level 1 health protocols for exhibit viewing at bit.ly/visit2021TAA. For more details, visit the Thirteen Artists Awards microsite (https://taa2021.carrd.co/) and the CCP VAMP Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ccpvamd/posts/498072248587678) — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
