at the Ateneo Art Gallery

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After my presentation at the APAIR NatCon 2018, Neil accompanied me to the Arts Wing of the Areté. This, I think, is one of the places in the list of museums and art galleries in the museum-hoppers' checklist! Because I haven't been at the Ateneo in three years, I was quite puzzled about what the Areté was before. Neil confirmed that it was the parking lot where I used to leave my car when I didn't have my parking permit yet.


The Areté is such a new facility that the dust hasn't settled yet. But inside, it was just a treasure trove of paintings and sculptures; divided into several galleries spread out over three floors, the art gallery put its rich collection in the best light. I couldn't help but remember the de Young Museum because of the design aesthetic. What I loved in this place is that there were a lot of students milling about: many were admittedly focused on their phones, but there were others who were enjoying posing and/or taking photos (with their cameras, not their iPhones). They were surrounded by quite a bit of art that I wonder if they have the time to think more deeply about the content and the themes being conveyed by the individual pieces and simultaneously by each collection... because I certainly didn't have the chance (the smell of dust and cement prevented me from mulling over pieces).


The collections, to me, are eclectic. I didn't see much of a theme... but then, maybe it's because I just breezed through. What I would like to point out, though, is that the sculptures were intricately made and were good contrasts to the predominantly grey backdrop.



One of the floors featured a gallery named after Ambeth Ocampo. Of course, I had to see what's in it! The first thing I noticed is that a metal sheet usually placed on rooftops in the Philippines were on display. Because there were students having their social media-friendly shots taken there, I decided not to take a closer look at the artwork... I might end up being in one of those students' photos.


In an adjacent gallery, I noticed that the artwork were a bit more monochromatic. There's one that reminded me of The Dark Knight even; I'm not sure why this and not the lighter portrayals of Batman.


There's one piece of art that triggered me to scoff at contemporary art. Having said that, please note that fine arts is not my forte. I just appreciate what I see if it is beautiful and is the product of a lot of effort. In this case, I just had scratch my head because the artist seemed to have thrown marbles into one corner and allowed them to roll where they would go. He/she then put barriers surrounding the floor area so that people won't step on the marbles. And then it's already considered an art installation.

I honestly don't get it.


But there certainly is one artwork that was pretty (and dizzying in this time-lapse video). If I interpret the piece correctly, it's about the world being fast-paced and perpetually changing. I was supposed to capture it in slow-mo but the time-lapse gets the message across quite nicely.


I'll return to the Ateneo Art Gallery soon, I hope. I'd like to take my time to visit and mull over the artwork. Maybe I'll appreciate contemporary art then. We'll see.

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