Art in the Park 2012

The Manila Art in the Park is on it's sixth year this 2012. Although this is my first time to visit the event, I've heard it has gotten bigger and received more visitors each year.

For those who have not heard of Art in the Park, it's an annual event that happens just one Saturday in February. It aims to bring affordable art to the masses (at least the masses who can afford to spare a few hundreds or thousands on art). This year, the maximum amount that participants can sell is Php30,000 (If US$1=Php44, that's US$682). It increased from last year's cap of Php20,000 (US$455). Either way, it's still a lot cheaper compared to prices in galleries.

Aside from well-known art galleries in Metro Manila, there are also participants from schools, art groups and provinces. It's a good place to look at the different perspectives and themes of up and coming and more seasoned artists. Most of the artworks are paintings, but there are also some sculptures, sketches, prints, pottery and photographs, there are even furniture and jewelries.

This year, they featured an installation from Charlie Co and sculptures made of metal from Pete Jimenez.

We were able to buy first copies of three prints for Php100 (US$2) each and a small Ferdinand Doctolero painting for Php1,200 (US$27), which would usually sell for Php6,000 to Php8,000 (US$136 to US$181). The prints were a good buy and would look good hanged on a wall side by side.

For the painting, we were able to buy it from Ferdinand Doctolero himself. He said he's selling the artworks at such a low price just so someone can take it home and enjoy it. We were initially choosing from a few of his pieces. We finally picked the one with the girl for it's colors and the funny expression on the girl's face. While we were paying for our purchase at the central counter, we asked for a dedication at the back of the painting. When we got back, I was surprised to see that aside from the dedication, he also made a little doodle of me!

I think that's the best thing to experience in Art in the Park, you can interact and talk with some of the artists themselves. In a typical gallery, you would usually discuss the pieces with an art dealer. He might know a lot about the artist and his body of work, but it is so much different dealing with the artist themselves. An artist might talk about his inspiration, technique or maybe state of mind while he was making the piece. For an art dealer, a sale could mean commission or food on the table. For an artist, the sale could mean materials for his next artworks, recognition, affirmation. 

The look on Ferdinand Doctolero's face when we said we'll buy one of his paintings: priceless.