Lesson 2

Contemporary Art
in the Philippines
Instructor: Jomarie G. Turtoga
Subject: Core 12 (Philippine Contemporary Arts)
 Contemporary Art in the Philippines
The Philippines is a Gold mine of Art.

Aside from our own indigenous arts, Philippines has a

variety of many other art forms. Because of the four
colonial periods in our History- the Spanish, British,
American, and Japanese- the art in the Philippines has
been influenced by all most sphere of the globe. It had a
taste of Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern Periods
through the colonizers who arrived in the Country.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

▪ When the rest of the world opened up to the idea of

postmodernism in the late 1900s. Philippines also welcomed
the birth of Contemporary art.
▪ It first appearance happened after the second world war and
again during martial law era in the 1970s
▪ Writers broke the laws by writing screams of protest against the
government.
▪ Filmmakers used their expertise in joining the bandwagon of
nationalistic artist.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

▪ Modernism in Art forms evolved into a variety

of expressions and media that turned the
entire world into a “creative upheaval.”
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

Composition No. 2 by Lee

Aguinaldo. 1996. Oil on
Lawanit Board
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
▪ Even Architecture developed a modernist Style.
▪ Manu Filipino artist and architects became adherents of the style. The Architecture by
the National Artist Leandro Locsin.
The painting by National Artist Jose Joya are also examples of the
art style of the modernist period in the 1950s known as abstract
expressionism.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
▪ In the late 1980s, postmodernism appeared in the
Philippines.
▪ They believed that artists should no longer try to create
something “new”.
▪ All they needed to do was to “borrow, combine,
explore” .
▪ This gave birth to integrative art, which is being
practiced in the regions at present.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

Meta II by Louie Cordera. 2011.

Acrylic on Fiberglass
Louie Cordera and his works
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
• Postmodernism has several features, the most common is the
PASTICHE which refers to the blurring divisions between fine
art and commercial art, high culture and low culture, and
highbrow and lowbrow.
• It also means artistic, musical, and literary works that come
from diverse sources- a mixture, a medley of different ideas.
• There is a sense of fragmentation- for instance, a narrative
does not have to be complete; it can be open-ended.
• There is also an interviewing web of stories which creates
paradoxes.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

PASTICHE of
Leonardo da
Vinci’s
Vitruvian Man
 Contemporary Art in the Philippines
BRICOLAGE
• Another feature of postmodernism is Bricolage or
Assemblage.
• It refers to a creation or construction that uses a diverse
range of materials – from mass- produced to recovered
objects. A simplification of collage, bricolage can also
pertain to the use of words as the central artistic element.
In literary arts, it is the use of varied sources of writings.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
Educated by Rocky
Cajigan. 2015
Box Constrtuction
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
APPROPRIATION
• Also known as BORROWING, is another feature.
• Postmodernism finds inspiration in artworks from
previous periods.
• In music, there term “appropriation performance”. This
refers to the use of the style and content of another
culture for performance, for example, the music of BACH
being played by Filipino Rock Band.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
INSTALLATION
• It is an art made indoors or outdoors where particular
space is transformed into three dimensional artwork.
• It is made diverse materials using a realistic or abstract
style.
• It is conceptual art that parents diverse themes, but it is
usually temporary.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines

SHOAL by Jose Tence Ruiz, in collaboration with Danilo Ilag-ilag

and Jeremy Guiab, et al. Installation
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
Contemporary Art in the Philippines
• Other features of Postmodernism are the recycling of
past styles and themes, putting them in a modern day
context; breaking barriers between low and pop culture,
fine and high art, highbrow and lowbrow.
• New themes in all the art form consist of certain socially
conscious issues which have arisen with this period;
feminism, consumerism, multiculturalism, globalization,
health awareness, migration, and many more.
Contemporary Art in the Philippines