Sweet and Shy?

Paola Germar as is more than just a fashion designer, but a true contemporary artist at heart. Recently her works in the medium of painting has been taken notice of the Philippines’ major media: broadsheets, magazines and television! Last week, she was featured by TV station IBC 13 for their web exclusive segment: GOODSHOT: Young Artists with illustratorJoseph Tecson.

Group Show featuring works by :
Catalina Africa, Jan Balquin, Brisa Dominguez, Isobel Francisco, Tin Garcia, Paola Germar, Eleanor Giron, Gab Lopez, Lala Gallardo, Les Lee, Veronica Pee, Tanya Villanueva, Marija Vicente, Eva Yu, Jeona Zoleta

If you'd like to see more of Paola Germar's art, she is part of a group entitled: "Bull in the Heather."

Keeping it real. -PJV 

Time Lapse: An Art Exhibit

Tin-Aw Gallery, located on the upper ground floor of Somerset Olympia Building, will be hosting “Time Lapse”, an exhibit involving the works of over 50 Philippine artists. The concept of the exhibit revolves around the photography technique with the same name. This process is taking a picture of a subject at a much slower frequency. With this technique, we are able to view a compressed perspective of slowly developing instances, such as the blooming of a flower or the changing night-and-day cycle of a chosen landscape.

“Tin-aw Art Gallery applies this concept in its upcoming exhibition where over 50 artists will submit small-format artworks of any medium, and hang them to fill the gallery walls. The installation process will be documented in a time lapse video to show how the exhibition evolves from a single hung frame into a gallery of small works displayed in salon-style.”

There will also be forums and lectures by artists who utilize electronics as a medium or a component for their creations. The topic for the July 18 lecture will be about video, robotics, and sound art. On July 25 the lecture will be about the use of light and mirrors in creating visual illusions.

Palamuti Featured artisan,Paola Germar, will be among the artists who will be displaying their works at this exhibit. If you have the time, please drop by to view her creations.  

For more information regarding “Time Lapse”, you may visit their Facebook event page, call or text +63 8927522, or email info@tin-aw.com.

Keeping it real. - PJV

FITE x Metropolitan Museum Textile Festival 2015

I only found about this exhibit yesterday! And I'm a bit sad that I didn't get to register at some of workshops and talks but I look forward to attending the workshop on Metal Lace Creations with Armel Barraud this Sunday. I am crossing my fingers nonetheless, if I don't get to be able to attend the workshop, I think the exhibit will still be worth my while. 

The Renaissance exhibit opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila’s Tall Galleries on July 8, 2015 and will run until September 12, 2015.

For the month of July the Metropolitan Museum of Manila will be hosting the Festival International des Textiles Extra Ordinaires. This festival aims to celebrate the people, places, and traditions bound together through one of humanity’s most innovative creations: textiles. Textiles are more than just fibers and fabrics; it is a sign of civilization.  Filipinos have been known to produce natural textiles as part of their heritage and culture millennia before even being recognized as a nation. In the modern world, producing textiles is considered to be one of the top polluting industries. Romanticizing the past is one thing, but switching back to natural methods may someday be significant to a sustainable tomorrow.

 

FREE Admissions to the MET on Sunday with workshops and artists talks. Interested participants of the workshop and artist talk must send an email to info@metmuseum.ph to reserve a slot. See you at the MET! 

Festival International des Textiles Extra Ordinaires first venue was in France and was held in Vietnam the following year. In line with French National Day, FITE will be in Manila to bring, discover and share innovative design techniques to the people of the Philippines.

FITE will be around until September, and as well as having exhibits showcasing various textiles from around the world, they will also be holding lectures and workshops regarding natural methods of producing them. Artisans, weavers, and fashion designers will be passing on their knowledge to everyone willing to learn about the craft of producing textiles and products associated with it. From basket weaving to fashion shows, FITE will be have speakers coming from France, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Mexico.

 

Armel Barraud, Whispering Wires 

Personally I am looking forward to viewing the creations of French designer Armel Barraud. She specializes in using wire to create installations; presenting them as drawings. Her designs involve scenes of wrought wire, delicately made to look like they were made of lace. Her pieces are known to interact with the light, showing emotions that are stimulating and filled with a sense of transience.  

Keeping it real.- PJV

Visual Treat: Art Fair

I'm bit late to post about the Art Fair Philippines, which was held last February but it's never too late to share about art. This was my first time to attend the Art Fair to show my support for several of my artist friends who participated, and I do not regret going; it was such a visual treat!

Art Fair Philippines is the premiere destination for all mediums of Philippine art. It was inaugurated in 2013, and has been an annual event ever since. Art Fair Philippines showcases the best of modern and contemporary exhibits. With an enthusiastic public acclaim generated from loyal patrons, support for the local art scene has steadily been growing ever since. Held in a quaint urban venue, a multi-storied carpark in the heart of Metro Manila’s financial district, it has also become a hub for lectures and forums regarding contemporary visual art in Southeast Asia.

Budding young artists, as well as established internationally acclaimed ones, make up more than thirty galleries plying their craft in this prestigious event. Ticket prices at an affordable PhP 150.00 (around US $ 3.00), with student discount of PhP 50.00 (around US $ 1.00) gives the general public access to enjoy a feast of artistic treats.

A day before the opening of the event is a scheduled “VIP” session, wherein serious collectors snapped up the most coveted works (which drums up interest from international and local buyers alike). Within minutes of the opening, several pieces have been snapped up, with an average of US $7,000. Reportedly, there has been a worldwide recession for purchasing fine art, but sales from Art Fair Philippines seem largely unaffected. Collectors based in the United States and Singapore were some of the VIP guests, and they were among the first of the privileged to purchase their desired pieces.

Philippine artists have an affinity for portraying historic events and local culture, with a tinge of commenting on ideas of consumerism. In the three years that Art Fair Philippines has existed, the quality of art was raised considerably, helping the Philippine art market to garner significant interest from the international scene. Despite a reputation for being one of the poorest in the growing economic region of Asia, the country can boast that its artist are on par with some of the world’s best.

Count me in for next year. I will surely revisit my footsteps and hopefully find more interesting artworks from talented Filipino visual artists. Seeing products of creative minds sends me to the world of imagination and deep thought. I think that is what art is all about: to make the audience think, feel and appreciate beauty in different forms. 

Keeping it real. -PJV 

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar, Kaida Gallery 

When I visited Paola Germar’s art exhibit last March, entitled “Pay Per Doll”, I had flashbacks of one of Disney’s 1929 classic animated shorts “The Skeleton Dance” and the artistic genre Dance of Death, also called Danse Macabre. Her work is, to me, is a contemporary art manifestation of the universality of death. The Dance of Death unites all.  Much like the medieval art movement, “The Danse Macabre”, “Pay Per Doll” consists of the personification of the dead, a cold dose of reality that we all will someday dance to the closing symphony of life.

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar, Kaida Gallery 

Works such as these were created to remind us of the fragility of life. As a member of a clan that traditionally became doctors, Paola was probably exposed to this stark reality at a very young age. However, in contrast to the usual dark and somber colors used by past artists in their depiction of the final dance, Paola attacks the genre with a bright palette of colors. Another feature of Paola’s exhibit is that viewers can interact with her creations by dressing up the skeletons with various articles of “clothing”.

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar, Kaida Gallery 

Today, the life expectancy of the average human being far exceeds our counterparts’ from four hundred years ago. The hash tag #yolo, “You Only Live Once” is a powerful four word statement. We, as a society, have come to the point where we know for a fact, and have come to accept, that death will come for us at any time.

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar, Kaida Gallery 

As historians put it, we now live in an age of cynicism  “Modern” society has existed for more about 2000 years, but it is only in the 1980’s, more specifically during the cold war, that we have attained the ability to destroy all of humanity through weapons of mass destruction. Literally, we can end it all anytime we want.

Pay Per Doll Art Exhibit by Paola Germar, Kaida Gallery 

So what matters most in life is not to look forward to the final chapter, it is to enjoy the ride while we are here to enjoy it. As we should view it, the dance of the dead has been inverted to become the dance of life. We all know the inevitable. We all know what comes at the end. Why not enjoy the ride in an explosion of color, laughter, and happiness while we can?

"Pay Per Doll"
A Solo Exhibition by Paola Germar
March 2015

A pleasing sight for the eyes of many whose interest is focused on the brandished appearance of females, and these prying eyes are hypocritical in a sense that they feast on fanciful costumes that are made up to tease the senses. Stitched up sequins and cinched up waists provide much space for imagination. 

The degradation of a woman in society has created a new value on herself as a person. This self-imposed object only doubles in value when she flashes any patch of skin. 

The skin of women is paper thin. It is carefully crafted and cut into whatever shape it needs to be. Artificial, attractive, and altruistic, everything a woman may be. Both prim and proper yet sexy and spirited, a double standard that keeps women self-destructive.

The glitz or glamour masks a woman's identity with flashing lights and glowing faces. This is the innocence of a woman covered by money and desire. 

Read more about the Art Exhibit by Paola Germar 

Manila Bulletin Feature 

Their Lovely Bones by Sol Vanzi 

Keeping it real.- PJV