Young and in love with art
SM Supermalls’ Art for Everyone gives student artists a chance to showcase their works
Grade 12 student Brian Dimalanta started dabbling in art just two years ago. Yet, using oil as his medium, he has comes up with work that are sublime and reminiscent of Renaissance paintings, like restored old artworks that use dark tones and hues.
“My work depends on how I feel. I mostly do still life and also self-portraits,” says the 17-year-old senior high school student of Our Lady of Fatima UniversityAntipolo. “I love putting emotions to my work, because when you look at a painting, it conveys the feeling of the artist.”
Fascinated by the works of Filipino painter Romulo Galicano and American artist William Merrit Chase, Brian is himself undeniably talented. He plans to pursue architecture in college but also to continue his art. For him, art does not only showcase the creativity of individuals but is part and parcel of developed society. “Art shows the creativity of the people. If other nationalities see a lot of creative Filipinos, that we can do art really well, then they would see Filipinos in a good light,” he says.
Interdisciplinary Studies graduate Kim Pamela Co, on the other hand, feels that Filipinos should not be intimidated by art. It is a fact that art appreciation is particularly low in the Philippines, especially among the youth. “A lot of people I talk to also get intimidated that they don’t know anything about art. Sometimes I feel that way but we should know it’s really for everyone. Whatever art you connect with, just what you like, what you identify with, that’s what matters,” says the 21-year-old Ateneo de Manila University graduate.
She uses watercolor as her medium. Inspired by nature and music, her works are calming and serene, mostly using cool and subtle colors. Kim’s art is also very detailed, her paintings almost lifelike. “I’ve always been into music and the arts, I’m very right-brained. I play the piano but I’m a vocalist,” she explains. “I like nature so there’s a lot of animals and flowers. I take care of little fighting fish, so I also paint my pet. I identify with music a lot so I also paint a lot of musical instruments. There’s always a little bit of me in my paintings, what I like, what I do.”
The works of these two students were just some of the pieces displayed at the exhibition Art for Everyone at the Fashion Hall of SM Megamall. An initiative of SM Supermalls, the exhibition was a showcase of young talents. Its aim is to bring art closer to the public.
“We started it last year. We have huge foot traffic. This is our way of making more people appreciate art. The difference this year is we partnered with schools to be able to get the budding talents,” explains SM Supermalls senior vice president Jonjon Agustin.
The second Art for Everyone fair happened simultaneously at nine SM mall across the Philippines—SM Megamall, SM Aura Premier, SM Mall of Asia, SM City Dasmariñas, SM City Baguio, SM City Clark, SM City Cebu, SM City Bacolod, and SM Lanang Premier.
A total of 78 schools participated in the exhibit curated by Dr. Patrick Flores. The SM Megamall exhibit features 10 schools, which included CIIT College of Arts and Technology-Quezon City, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Far Eastern University, Our Lady of Fatima UniversityAntipolo, Our Lady of Fatima UniversityValenzuela, Southville International School, University of Makati, University of Rizal System-Angono, University of the East Caloocan, and University of the Philippines-Diliman.
“It’s heartwarming to know that there’s a strong participation and strong interest in this project. What we learned last year is that there is interest to take a look and even buy some of the art pieces. We plan to do this more and make it even bigger and expand it to more malls,” Jonjon says. He also emphasizes that SM Supermalls is committed to supporting arts and various sectors. Having a huge footprint in the Philippines and attracting more foot traffic than any other mall chain, the company hopes to dedicate more avenues to the art industry.
“SM Supermalls caters to a wide range of people,” says Jonjon. “We also notice that a big segment of our customer base is appreciative of the arts. This is is one way of bringing art closer to them. It’s really one of our thrusts to create different experiences for our customers. One thing about SM Supermalls, whether it comes to art or music, is that we support our budding talents and masters, local and international. It’s something we take very seriously. We really want our malls to be malls for all.”