As classic art cannot be compared with contemporary art vis-à-vis auction prices, Lead decided to group them in these categories as they are usually grouped together at the Leon Gallery and Salcedo Auctions. Modern art as defined by Western auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s fall under contemporary art. Lead decided to separate them to recognize their inherent differences and who are the contemporary Filipino visual artists making the grade.
For the rarity of his magnificent paintings, Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s Kalantiao at Lubluban topped the lots of Leon Gallery’s The Magnificent September Auction 2016 on September 10 for P30.37 million. Hernando Ocampo’s Passage (Triptych) took the second rank at P23.36 million. Arturo Luz’s Musicians placed third at P21.02 million. Fourth was Bencab’s Twins at P21.02 million, and fifth was Ang Kuikok’s Man in Motion for P16.35 million. Vicente Manansala’s Mangangalakal is at sixth for P14.02 million. Tied at seventh place were Jose Joya’s Rain Cycle and Fernando Zobel’s Pancorbo con Reflejos at P12.85 million. And at eighth place was Ang Kiukok’s Crucifixion, which went for P7.59 million.
Elmer Borlongan’s rhapsody in yellow entitled Quiapo topped the contemporary art section of Leon Gallery’s The Magnificent September Auction 2016 on September 10 for P9.93 million. Second rank went to Jose John Santos III’s Here and There for P9.34 million. Third went to Geraldine Javier’s What Remains (Triptych) at P2.57 million. Fourth was Buen Calubayan’s A Series Of Incomplete Landscape for P2.23 million. This was followed by Ronald Ventura’s Pattern for P1.99 million. Sixth was Joven Mansit’s Piring at P1.75 million. Seventh was Onib Olmedo’s La Demoiselle De Manille at P1.52 million; and eighth was Betsy Westendorp’s Painting #962-97 at P1.40 million.
The top artworks with record prices as of September 2016 now stand as follows: (1) Magsaysay-Ho’s Fish Harvest at Dawn (that sold for P52.6 million; (2) Cabrera’s Sabel for P46.7 million; (3) Magsaysay-Ho’s Lavanderas for P39.7 million; (4) Cabrera’s Isadora in Motion for P37.4 million; (5) Fernando Zobel’s Garden Window with a Trumpet for P32.7 million; (6) Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s Kalantiao at Lubluban tied with his own Untitled (Pista sa Angono) and Fernando Zobel’s Seated Man (Nothing III) for P30.4 million.
SOUTHEAST ASIA TAKES OVER FROM CHINA. CNN Hong Kong reports Southeast Asia is rapidly growing its own art fair line-up not to be outdone by China, which hosts major events like Art Basel every year. It mentions that Guggenheim’s Hugo Boss Asia Art 2015 prize went to Maria Taniguchi from the Philippines. It states: “While Western institutions are actively exhibiting works from Southeast Asia, Asian institutions are not leaving it to the West to take the narrative on what defines Southeast Asia art.” It concludes that it will more likely be such exchanges across regions will shape what art can expect from the region.
A COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY. Kanye West lines up high-profile celebrities in various stages of nakedness — lifesize figures of George W. Bush, Anna Wintour, Donald Trump, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift, West, his wife Kim Kardashian West, Ray J (an ex-boyfriend of Kim), Amber Rose (an ex-girlfriend of Kanye), Caitlin Jenner and Bill Cosby — on a long bed covered haphazardly by disarranged but immaculate white sheets in a sculptural piece entitled Famous at Los Angeles gallery Blum & Poe. Named after the rapper’s late mother, they created “anatomically correct” representations of each figure down to the minutest detail.
Well, Kanye is known for stealing other artists’ moments of glory for his own. That’s notoriety, the exact opposite of being famous. In other words, infamous!
And in this sense, Kanye’s concept borrows its composition from artist Vincent Desiderio’s painting, Sleep, which similarly depicts a row of nude, but unknown, sleepers created by his team at DONDA, tagged as the “Content, Experience & Product Company.”
This is a shameless copy of another artist’s work. Desiderio, who himself based Sleep on the 1943 Jackson Pollock painting Mural, says “Kanye turned a mirror onto the wretchedness of self-obsession and solipsistic fame,” explaining that his own intention had been to critique an unconscious privileged class. He was apparently trying to work at the highest level artistically.
Read: That’s bringing plagiarism to a higher level of non-creativity.
A NOT-SO-INSTANT KARMA. What is the karmic implication of the collective suspensions of the comedic trio of Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros, collectively known as JoWaPao? The three were suspended for periods of time from the long-running noontime variety show Eat...Bulaga! one after another.
Jose was suspended in 2009 after his wife was tagged in a jewelry scam. Wally silently took a leave in 2013 due to a sex video scandal. Then Paolo’s six-month turn followed after a furious rant on Facebook about “non-assistance” of staff members during March’s Ad Summit in Subic, Zambales. Sponsored by TAPE Productions, he drank inside his hotel room and opted to snub the event.
Notice how these suspensions occurred in the uncanny sequence of their JoWaPao moniker? If bad karma reoccurs, is it going to happen in that order all over again? Karma, whether good or bad, is cyclical and mercilessly takes place unless its lessons are learned. And why to Eat...Bulaga’s “outsiders?”