PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS What is contemporary arts? Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in 21st century.
Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, cultural
diverse, and technologically advancing world.
Their art is a dynamic combinations of materials, methods,
concepts, and subject that continue the challenging of boundaries that was already well underway in the 20th century. Is contemporary same as being modern? The first difference between the contemporary and modern art is historical and chronological, as the overview of Philippine art in Lesson 2 will show. Contemporary art can be defined as art produced by artists living today.
Today, modern art is referred to as “traditional”
compared to contemporary arts. Contemporary art is the art of the present, which is continuously in process and in flux. What is contemporary art today might become academic or traditional at some point. The style of the modern art for example are now part of the art school curricula and have become academic. The picture was taken around 2013, in hong kong, the photographer, zyza bacani, who hails from nueva vizcaya, worked as a domestic helper, and is now based in new York on a scholarship. On her day off, she shot with her digicamera. ZYZA BACANI HR’s ocampos painting was painted in the early 1960’s. at that time, the painting was considered contemporary. Today,we refer to these works as examples of modern art, produced between the American colonial period to the post-war period. There are a number of artists-young and senior, alike– who paint in styles associated with modern art. National artist Victorio Edades is credited for iniating the Modern Art movement that challenged the Neoclassic style, whch was dominant at the time he came home from studying in America before the war. The Neoclassic style depicts reality as closely as possible and idealizes it. The modern artists led by edades challenged what were described as “conservative” art seen in the works of National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Guillermo Tolentino. Instead of the beautiful and pastoral, they depict what might be thought of as “ugly” and unpleasant. Modern Art was considered new and shocking; Neoclassic Art was familiar and comfortable. In its simplest sense Neoclassicism is “academic’ as it was and continues to be taught in schools, particularly the then university of the Philippines School of fine arts (no UP college of Fine Arts), where Amorsolo and Tolentino were most influential. What are the similarities and differences between modern art and contemporary art? Carlos franciscos depiction of fishing as a difficult process, while amorsolos rendition emphasizes calm and placidity. Like Francisco’s Magpupukot (1957) , HR Ocampo’s The contrast (1940), Cesar Legaspi’s Frugal Meal, Edades’ The Builders (1928), shows the oppressive condition of the underprivileged classes. as we shall learn in the historical overview in the next lesson, modern artists like Romeo Tabuena, Hernando Ocampo, Vicente Manansala, Victor Oteyza, Ramon Estrella and Cesar Legaspi were actively depicting the social conditons in the aftermath of world war II. Called neo-realists by critic Aguilar Cruz, these artists depicted society’s problems and challenged the neoclassic rural-pastoral style associated with amorsolo and Tolentino. The social realists of the seventies are considered heirs of this tradition. Social Realism continues to influence contemporary artists. For example, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya’s Filipina DH, 1995 is social realist, but the style and medium of the installation is markedly different. refer to “The Stylistic Overview” table for an idea of the difference in style and medium between modern art and contemporary art. STYLISTIC OVERVIEW FORM PRECOLONIAL SPANISH/ISLAMIC AMERICAN MODERN POSTMODERN/CONTEMP COLONIAL COLONIAL ORARY
Devotional triumvirate 13 realist, new painting Secular moderns, Formal abstract, Naturalistic neorealist, (homegrown, Classical, Idylitic, Surreal, RELIGIOUS miniaturismo, nostalgic expressionist SCULPTURE (animist or Islamic) guild) Abstract Junk/scrap, Community Academic Espressinissm duchampian, arte based inter ethic covera, neoindigenous, relations colletive site-specific, history performance art, hybrid
Worship related Neoclassic, art International Filipino architecture,
and residential deco (juan industrializing, ubran planning, ARCHITECTURE Earthquake Arellano, juan electric, economic zone, Baroque Nakpil, Pablo neovernacular, prefab, Hispanic Revivalist Antonio) regionalist, cosmopolitan (neogothic, Art Nouveau, neoromanesque, California Mission islamic_) style Ibn Saud Salipyasin Ahmad from Zamboanga, Mindanao comes from a hybrid mixture of the local subanen and traditional MaguindanaoMuslin cultures. He is a contemporary artist but his cultural context is indigenous Southeast Asian and Philippine Muslim. His style can be considered “traditional’ as it draws on the traition and intricacy of drafting technique, which he learned in a trade school in Zamboanga. His medium is watercolor. His subject matter is the people of his locality. His depictions invite us to witness his culture and its tradtions in the context of todays changing times. What are the general characteristics of contemporary arts? Although contemporary artists like Saudi ahmad continue to use traditional media such as watercolor and oil on canvas, others like Cajipe-Endaya used mixed media. Some works are also site-specific, meaning they cannot be experienced in the same way if removed from their original places of exhibit whether in the gallery, out on the streets, in the forest, on the internet. The filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik and his family perform their life as their art and vice versa, as evident in the art spaces in Baguio which have become associated with a mix of performance, installation, architecture, and culinary arts.