Works by “abandoned” and “forgotten” masters of Philippine art take the spotlight on the booth of the longest-running commercial gallery in the Philippines, Galleria Duemila, in the upcoming Art Fair Philippines 2019.
Established in 1975 by Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz, Galleria Duemila will mount pieces from Mars Galang, Ray Albano and Joe Bautista, among others, at Booth 36 of perhaps the biggest modern and contemporary art event in the country, which opens this Friday at The Link car park in Makati City.
“What we have are really masters that are being abandoned, forgotten,” Diaz said in a recent interview at the compound of her residence and gallery at Loring Street in Pasay City. “Many people do not remember them, but they are practically among the founders of Philippine conceptual art.”
Galang, along with Albano and Roberto Chabet, who is also a featured artist of Galleria Duemila at Art Fair Philippines, all explore artistic processes and materials beyond the norm, pushing the limits of their artistic practices by reflecting on life sans figurative forms.
Galang, for one, is considered an exemplar of early Philippine minimalism. His work to be featured in the annual fair is an Untitled 1969 12-inch square painting that plays on warm color fields and shapes. The piece captures Galang’s style that was considered ahead of his time.
Meanwhile, the Albano pieces explore color, spaces and the circular nature of life via cement bag paper, inspired by the late-1960s to early-1970s Italian contemporary art movement called Arte Povera, or the creation of art using any material. In the same vein, Chabet’s Untitled (Head Series) from 1986 to 1992 make use of newspaper and magazine clippings, as well as monochromatic construction paper cutouts.
Galleria Duemila will mount a total of 50 pieces for this year’s Art Fair. Rounding out its lineup of artists are Betsy Westendorp, Roberto M.A. Robles, Justin Nuyda, Alfredo Aquilizan, Joe Bautista and Jinggoy Buensuceso, who had his first exhibit with Galleria Duemila in 2014.
Diaz said Buensuceso has the power of great, multi-medium creativity, capable of shifting between architecture, painting and other forms. His pieces to be exhibited at the Art Fair are two versions of a work titled Ancient Cities of Children, featuring a darkened, century old-mango tree using charcoal that brings the life out of the colorful, vertical lego structures resting on it.
Galleria Duemila (www.galleriaduemila.com), named after the Italian word for “20th century,” has handled prized works by modern masters of that period, from Fernando Amorsolo to Fernando Zobel, from H.R. Ocampo to Cesar Legazpi, along with local and foreign artists of the current generation.
Diaz established the gallery in 1975. The 70-year-old Italian woman of the arts was a former flight attendant, who pulsed each country she visited by visiting its local museums, saying it was the best way to know a place and its people.
“When I go to a new country and stay there for two to three days, I plan ahead of where to go, particularly the museums,” she said.
Art appealed to Diaz at an early age, when her summers as a kid were spent on trips to the museum and gallery visits. She arrived in the country in 1971 and married artist Ramon Diaz, brother of former Miss Universe Gloria and painter Isabel.
Diaz curated Isabel’s exhibit and sold well. It was a time, however, when the gallery she worked for closed, and she decided to open her own.
This was during martial law, when there was limited access to information. Diaz found her way into the famed Saturday Group, the organization of Philippine art titans who convened at the now-defunct Taza de Oro restaurant in Malate every Saturday at 3 pm to share discussions about art, such as the best place to buy paint, or the best type of canvas.
“For a young woman like me, to have been able to spend time around those masters, it was godsend,” Diaz said. “I knew about art from a formation of going through museums and everything, but joining the Saturday Group, I saw art alive.”
Diaz then opened Galleria Duemila, first in Makati. It was a multi-hat engagement, from running the gallery, selling works, studying interior design and mothering two children. The early years were tough. Eventually, to be closer with her family, she had to move the gallery to Pasay, its current home.
Looking back, Diaz said she has no idea how she survived those trying times and managed to guide Galleria Duemila to become the longest-running commercial gallery in the country. Her best guess, according to her, is perseverance.
“I always had great fuel in myself. I will not be defeated,” Diaz said, adding that her motto is: Forward is always forward, and tomorrow is another day. “I had always wanted to do something, to create something and I fell in love with the creation of different artists.”