Intensifying the youth’s art appreciation

been drawing bigger audiences, both curious watchers and art buyers.

A far cry from the traditional

upscale galleries and intimidating museums, a great number of visual arts events and related activities are now easily accessible to enthusiasts in the country. Even the concept of “by-invitation-only” has taken a more inclusive turn, with notices about art events openly spread on social media.

As such, industry observers acknowledge that the digital age has effectively helped bring the visual arts — regarded for so long as an art form solely for the moneyed and elite — to the general public, particularly among the social media savvy youth.

“With the advent of social media, and the easy access this multi- faceted tool for communication, it appears that the youth has indeed developed an

visual artist and art educator Lia Torralba in an interview with The ManilaTimesLifestyle.

“That in itself is a positive development, especially for people like me who are artists and art educators at the same time,” she added.

Torralba, a graduate of Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Painting, however raised a caveat to the use of social media as means of propagating art. She said, “The appreciation for the classical masters and their work appears to have declined a bit, compared to that of my generation.”

The educator — she is currently teaching Visual Studies, Painting and Sculpture at Kalayaan College — further noted that digital media per se appears to be the preferred visual art form and platform among the youth, not only for its absolute availability, but also for “the almost instanta-

neous feedback it brings.”

“The sad part of this, though, is that the manual skill — meaning the time and effort it takes to craft a work of art — appreciated in times past is on the wane because of technology,” she shared.

This seesaw of positives and negatives in terms of the evolution of art appreciation is also apparent in the development of the Filipino’s taste for visual arts over the decades.

“Just as the artists’ styles change, due perhaps to social conditions, the availability of new media and market demand, the Filipino’s taste for visual art

that while classical forms like paintings and sculpture remain to be the top choice among art consumers, newer art forms like ephemeral or time/space art such as installations or performance

- lowing.

“At the same time, these art forms have also been derided in aesthetic and visual appeal, especially those that take off from edgy social commentary.

“The bottom line is that digital art is the new trend, but that in itself is not an ‘ art movement,’ but rather a new media or a new platform for creating artworks,”

Amid a very different animal, TheManilaTimesLifestyle consequently asked Torralba if in her opinion, art appreciation has truly grown among Filipinos today.

She replied, “Yes, the appreciation of visual art has increased

- nentially, or not enough to be perceptible to anyone outside the still intimate circle of artists, sellers, buyers and mavens.”

The artist further clarified that while the volume of visi- With the advent of social media, and the easy access this multi-faceted tool for communication, it appears that the youth has indeed developed an appreciation for art.

of an increased awareness or appreciation for the visual arts, this can still only be applied to the “educated sector of society.”

“Appreciation for the visual arts does not directly relate to consumption. Art consumption has always been dictated by the economic conditions of our country, and our country has not had a stable economy for the past 30 years or more. At least not

the hearts, minds and pockets of the average Filipino to actually buy a piece of art. Even among the moneyed class, art appreciation is almost always associated with the re-saleability of said Acknowledging Torralba’s statement that art appreciation is almost always paired with re-saleability, visual artist Christian Regis meanwhile shared

with TheManilaTimesLifestyle he hopes all the same that he hopes to

a connection with his pieces.

“I always hope my artworks will bring happiness to those who see them. My dream for every piece is to have someone see