Rodel Tapaya's Urban Labyrinth

Finally found the time to visit the Ayala Museum! Thanks to the APAIR NatCon organisers for inviting me to speak on a Friday because I could go to the opening reception of Rodel Tapaya's Urban Labyrinth after my talk.



Neil tagged along because his classes were already finished for the day. When we got there, there were quite a few journalists (and their staff) taking videos and interviewing people (the artist himself, in particular). We saw Aga Muhlach and Fernando Zobel de Ayala mingling with the crowd as well.

I leafed through the exhibit brochure and was quite shocked that the artist is in his 30s. He is very young and so accomplished, achieving international renown and solo exhibits around the world. It literally made me question what have I been doing in my life (for a few seconds). 

Finally, I was ready to have a look at his work. And I have to say that I really do not have a mature  appreciation of contemporary art yet; still a long way to go for me. His exhibit contained pieces that describe the lifestyles of the urban poor; on the one hand, people want instant gratification (like quick money) but on the other, they are willing to wait for five months to allow a pig to mature for slaughter. He also showed the chaos of the crowded urban markets and hopeless plight of mere mortals when aswangs enter the city. He used a lot of dark colours, probably to symbolise the dire situations people face in the urban jungle.


As I was looking at the artwork, a question formed in my mind: does social commentary, supposedly being conveyed by his art, equal focusing on the most depressing aspects of community life in the Third World? 

Or is this the kind of art that sells? 

The frame-of-mind I had looking at these art pieces was similarly cynical to when I was watching The Black Panther. I couldn't help but see these pieces as part of the poverty-as-art-subject bandwagon... which art collectors in the West probably have an appetite for. However, I felt that something was missing. The author seemed detached from the subject at hand, preferring to take a more academic perspective (an observer's stance, if you will). I felt that I was looking at a piece inspired by Realism and Impressionism, in which the author doesn't take part in the scenery. It was so unlike the African-American art exhibit I have seen at the de Young Museum: there I felt the strong but repressed emotions that the artists must have had while trying to express what the African diaspora and what inequality feels like to them. 

On the other hand, his art reminds me of the eclectic style I have seen at the Pintô Art Museum. It probably is the prevailing art style in the Philippines and I am just not educated about it. I'm therefore allowing myself some more time to familiarise with the local contemporary art movement. Perhaps, I'll learn to appreciate them...following the adage: fake it til I make it.

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