A giant girl at Art in the Park
A 20-FOOT inflatable sculpture of a girl hugging a goat and a four-foot tall perfume bottle are some of the artworks to be displayed at this Sunday’s Art in the Park fair at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati.
The girl hugging a goat, titled Alone But Not Lonely, is a 2018 work by Palawan-based artist Yeo Kaa. It was previously shown at the Yavuz Gallery in Singapore and, according to Ms. Kaa, is a self-portrait and a representation of how she realized that despite living alone after a break-up she felt “alone but not lonely.”
“I have a pet goat. I bring it with me whenever I travel,” Ms. Kaa told the media during a March 5 press conference in Salcedo Village, Makati.
The 29-year-old once described her works as a “rainbow with dark colors” as they are often grim and haunting images done in pastel colors evoking children’s book characters.
She will also be presenting new colorways of her five foot-tall dolls though she said she’s not sure if she will sell them.
While the massive sculpture — which will be displayed on top of a gazebo in the park — is for sale, Ms. Kaa will be selling hexagonal tiles for P1,500, though she admitted that the workshop that does her tiles had a fire so she has to start again and aims to have 100 pieces ready for the fair.
Aside from Ms. Kaa’s inflatable, perfumer Oscar Mejia III is presenting an installation called Enigma of Scent, a four-foot tall perfume bottle with a bubble machine which will emit a citrusy fragrance.
“Our sense of smell is the most mysterious of all, as it can perceive both the tangible and the intangible,” Mr. Mejia said during the press conference.
Called an “affordable art fair” as the works on sale are capped at P50,000, Art in the Park is now on its 13th year. The fair on March 17 will feature 56 exhibitors including galleries, art collectives, independent art spaces, and schools, among others.
Last year’s one-day art fair welcomed 13,000 people, two of whom unwittingly scored valuable pieces — an unsigned Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera painting and an unsigned Manny Garibay.
“Things in this country sometimes don’t seem to last. I want [Art in the Park] to last long and for people to know there’s a reliable event that’s going to be there every year that they can look forward to and know what to expect, like new art by young people and certain favorites of theirs,” Lisa Ongpin Periquet, founder of Art in the Park and Art Fair Philippines, told BusinessWorld during the event.
Aside from Ms. Kaa and Mr. Mejia, the other artists featured this year are painter and photographer Zean Cabangis and artist/ designer Leeroy New who will be presenting pieces from his Aliens of Manila project.
Art in the Park, which is known for it relaxed atmosphere, will have jazz trio Soulful Mood play throughout the day while the Bleu Rascals, the Philippine representative to the 28th International Blues Challenge in the US, will play their “spirited take on the blues” for the evening’s special performance.
The fair will also have a variety of food tents (including vegan).
Art in the Park will be held on March 17 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati City. Part of the proceeds of the fair will go to the Museum Foundation of the Philippines in support of its projects and programs for the National Museum of the Philippines and its network. Entrance to the fair is free. —
MSO plays the Beatles, folk songs, Gershwin
THE Silaw Foundation, in cooperation with Far Eastern University, presents the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in a concert featuring Filipino folk songs, Beatles tunes, Gershwin’s
and the
The MSO will be performing under the baton of conductor Prof. Marlon Chen, with the special participation of pianist Dr. Raffi Kasparian at the Far Eastern University Auditorium on March 13, 4 p.m. The concert continues the celebration of FEU’s 91st anniversary and the 70th birthday of the Auditorium. While admission to the concert in FEU is free, tickets are required to enter. They may be obtained through Ticket2Me:
For additional information and to reserve parking, contact FEU’s President’s Committee on Culture at 849-4145.