The Most Valuable Works at Art Fair Philippines 2019
At times, some galleries stow their most priceless pieces away in their backrooms, usually for safekeeping or to be reserved for serious buyers (if you aren't one already).
But given the foot traffic and size of the annual Art Fair Philippines, galleries presumably bring out the best of the best from their collections. After all, collectors come to the fair in search of rare finds. Often, these works can be bought for a small fortune, somewhere upward of a million pesos.
T&C scoured the fair to find some of the most valuable works on offer this year.
The mystical, magical moments of Nasser Lubay
AT a young age, Nasser Lubay had gone already to places abroad usually reserved for maturing artists. In 2009 he won the prestigious Celeste International Art Prize. That winning work, titled Rebirth, was exhibited at the Second Animamix Biennial at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, Taiwan. He was part of the 2010 Ondarte International Artist Residency in Akumal, Mexico. Upon his return to the Philippines after the residency, Nasser was chosen to be one of Jollibee’s Young Ambassadors, cited for his achievements in the arts.
It is, therefore, a good news for our small art world that Lubay has notched new impressive achievements again. Two of his paintings received international notices: one, called Mirror, was included in 1340, a curated art magazine based in the Netherlands; the other with quite a ponderous title, Glimpse Into Transcendence, was exhibited in the Florence Biennale 2017.
Mirror painting featured in 1340 Art Magazine
Welcome to the Q2 edition of 1340ART Magazine! I am extremely excited about this issue, as it marks the transition into a new era for 1340Art. We have decided that instead of pursuing or following trends, we owe it to you, our readers, as well as the artists we feature, to go further, explore deeper and bring about new discoveries. We could do it better: With that, we started planning what soon became a fantastic and somewhat groundbreaking project as the next progressive stage for 1340Art - the 1340Foundation. As an organization founded by artists, it has always been top of mind to create a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work What better way to assist in accomplishing this mission, than to support various non-profit art organizations from all over the world in their pursuit to do the same! Proceeds from our magazine competition therefore provide backing for these organizations in aid of promoting both young artists and those who have been underrepresented in their career, but who deserve championing. We believe that by empowering these artists, we are contributing to stronger communities, and helping raise public awareness.
SEVEN-ARTIST SALUTE IN MENTAL SHOTGUN
In/for MENTAL SHOTGUN, the end is ironically the beginning—and the only solo-work panel!—just as Lubay’s Seasons Series for the show traces the cycle of life and growth. From being a Multimedia Arts student at the Mapùa to being a Jollibee Youth Ambassador, Lubay took part in the 2010 Ondarte International Artist Residency in Mexico and has helped establish the arts and theater company Artists Playground.
Using archival ink in rendering his trademark biotic and organic scallop detail from his big European breakthrough work—“the novel from which his succeeding works derive stories from”—Lubay asserts his position as the only Filipino to win in the 2009 Celeste International Art Prize in Berlin, Germany!
Nasser Lubay's Hues of Innocence
The works of Nasser Lubay tremble, coagulate, drip and coruscate with color, unashamedly, freely consuming all the available shades and tones, tasking us to reconsider the greatly pervasive sense that less is more. But the painter puts his works under the label “Nursery of Curiosities.” With that heading—actually the title of his solo show—the artist sort of takes our hand back to images ofbeginnings, not of the primal kind but of the temporal, that place in the home where humans are initiated into the world.
The stereotypes of pastel, the sound of tinkling bells and the comfort both of solace and security are all found in a nursery. But this is simply just not a nursery; it is a nursery of curiosities—the “infant” asking, disputing the world out there.
The Philippine Artscape: 2009 Harvests
A self-taught artist also emerged as winner in the Celeste Prize 2009 held in Berlin, Germany. Nasser Lubay whose entry, Rebirth ( watercolor) bagged the second prize in the painting category, besting 734 finalists from different parts of the world, is from Candelaria, Quezon. The Celeste Prize is an international art competition for contemporary artists organized by Associazione Culturale L’Albero Celeste, a nonprofit Italian cultural association.
Lubay opens rich world to art lovers in ‘Nursery of Curiosities’
Seven years after becoming a finalist at a prestigious international art competition in Germany, artist Nasser Lubay is set to open his first solo exhibit, Nursery of Curiosities, at the Arte Pintura Gallery in Mandaluyong City on Sunday.
Presented by the Artist Playground, Arte Pintura and Talent Factory Inc., and curated by Philip Almazan Paraan, Nursery of Curiosities will not only introduce the 34-year-old Lubay’s paintings to a larger audience, but also unveil an original composition titled “Nursery of Curiosities—The Theme” by award-winning composer Jesse Lucas and a catalogue of the exhibit.