When In Manila, take in some art!

I have a huge appreciation for places that make art a key priority.

One of the reasons I love going to Singapore is that there seems to be some art festival or exhibit happening whenever I’m there. Or take the case of Seattle, where all you have to do to get your daily dose of art is to roam around its streets — spot quirky installations, even walls covered in arty graffiti — in its parks, markets, libraries, community centers, even bridges and other public areas. Around downtown Chicago there are many giant sculptures, not to mention a towering Picasso cubist sculpture by the Daley Plaza, something that hundreds of commuters encounter everyday.

Places like these exist because art is our birthright, something everyone should have access to. I’m glad that there are efforts to support this vision here in Manila. Just recently, we attended the Art Now For Everyone exhibit at The Mall Of Asia.

The exhibit runs until TODAY, August 8, and is open to EVERYONE. We hope you can visit (weather permits), and with a good cup of coffee, take your time to take in some art. 🙂

Art might be intimidating for some because it’s hard to understand, but the thing is, no one’s asking you to get it right away. I remember a book I read before titled If Andy Warhol Had A Girlfriend, which was about a girl who was forced to go on tour with an artist whose art she couldn’t appreciate.

Understanding art takes some time and thought, but one of the book’s key messages was, art is something that elicits a reaction from you — whether good or bad; if it made you stay a while and look harder, art already means something to you. Don’t be scared.

Here’s some shots I took of my favorites at the exhibit.

Marina Cruz’s Unfold Series, created 2009, features an installation of photographs of garments beautifully captured and inscribed with the wearer’s personal history. It made me think about how the clothes we wear become witnesses to the stories of our lives, and bring with them so many memories.

Arturo Sanchez Jr.’s Between Real-Time Connection, created in 2011, is acrylic on digital printed canvas with a collage of convex mirrors.

We had fun spotting ourselves in the differently-sized mirrors. For a while there, we literally saw ourselves in a different light.

Augusto Elopre’s The End Of Black, created 2009, is a massive art piece painstakingly made with hand-compressed feathers.

One very impressive piece is Raffy T. Napay’s Ang Mananahing Buhay, at Ang Makinang na Makina, created 2011, is an entire piece made with thread on canvas.

Both of these pieces made me think about the incredible amount of patience you need to thrive as an artist, and the innovation it takes to transform something ordinary to something extraordinary.

“Art Now renews our ties to a changing world. It offers new environments. It motivates us to recover feelings and sentiments about out surroundings that may have become too familiar and ordinary. It makes us sense the world in a new light.”

It was a welcome change of pace seeing mall-goers interact with art in a mall setting.

Do yourself a favor and catch the Art Now For Everyone exhibit while you can TODAY, August 8, at the ground floor Main Atrium, The Mall Of Asia. Art Now For Everyone helps Filipinos recognize our promising community of young and up and coming local talent.