INTO THE MIND OF AN ARTIST
Roberto Chabet: Early Works & Ephemera is Salcedo Private View’s exclusive invitation into the artistic process of the “father of Philippine conceptual art”
Roberto Chabet’s never-before-seen artwork, collages, notebooks, photos, and personal items were showcased in Salcedo Private View’s exclusive exhibition at the new home of Salcedo Auctions in NEJ Tower along Ayala Avenue, ending its extended run last July 6, 2019. The prized possessions give us a rare glimpse of the artist’s life in New York back in the 60s, a time before his tenure as the first museum director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Each piece belonged to Luis Romero’s private collection. Romero is a close friend of Chabet, who housed him in New York during his 1968 stay for the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund now the Asian Cultural Council (ACC).
“We wanted to include the ephemera, not just artworks, because it’s important to also show the sense of that time and what was happening. A lot of his journals had studies of artworks but a lot of them are also just about his regular life. It tells you a story about the artist that may not be evident in their works also. Some people ask me, ‘Oh, are you trying to archive Chabet and you know, trying to make him into some kind of a mythical person.’ On the contrary, I’m trying to make him more real.”
-Ringo Bunoan
Ringo Bunoan, artist, archivist, and co-founder of King Kong Art Projects served as special curator for this particular exhibit. Last June 26, Bunoan delivered a talk about the exhibit as part of the “Salcedo Says” series of lectures at NEX Tower. The private gathering composed of selected press and media outlets as well as art enthusiasts and fans of Chabet put into the perspective the importance of this special collection in understanding the artist’s discipline and design ethos.