IN PHOTOS: Tubo Cebu Art Fair 2024
CEBU, Philippines – Cebu’s biggest art fair makes a return to the Queen City of the South with fresh masterpieces and a myriad of creative discussions on art and philosophy.
This year, over 300 artists exhibited their work at the Tubo Cebu Art Fair in Ayala Center Cebu. The three-day exhibit features film screenings, a series of talks with renowned artists, poetry reading, and a vast collection of visual and performance art pieces.
“Ascend is the theme of our fair this year — it’s like a keyword for them to make their works of art, it’s like a prompt,” Fair director Allen Tan told Rappler.
On the fair’s official website, the theme is described as the “embodiment of an artist’s determined aspiration.”
To human, to art
For 20 years, 47-year-old Marvin Chito Natural of the Toledo Neo Artists Group (TNAG) has pursued the life of a painter. He left his previous job in his early twenties to focus on visual arts.
Natural’s forte is representational art, a style that derives greatly from real life objects, a form which seeks to evoke strong emotions from clear visual references. To him, it is to pay homage to beloved masters like Martino Abellana and Fernando Amorsolo.
“I wish to continue painting. Of course, there is a longing for recognition and financial gain but more than that, an artist’s true happiness comes from being immersed in his work,” Natural said.
His piece, entitled Choke, shows an image of a man strangling another—their struggle depicting conflict and hatred.
“The presence of the human is what gives the art meaning…the presence of the artist gives it weight,” Natural added.
Simmered in memories
Like Natural, 27-year-old John Lee Balorio took a leap of faith. It was his first time exhibiting his paintings to an unfamiliar audience.
Balorio told Rappler that he had finally gained enough confidence to do so after ranking as a finalist in the 1st Cebu City Arts Month Painting Competition in August 2023.
“Diri nako gibutang kung unsa ang naa sa akong soul. Kung unsa’y ganahan nako, emotions, imagination (I put my soul in these. Whatever I liked, emotions, imagination),” the young artist said when talking about his paintings.
His works are mostly inspired by his rural background. Balorio grew up fishing in his hometown in Minglanilla town, south of Cebu province.
“These pieces are my memories. When I wake up in the morning, it is the sound of birds chirping, the smell of taho, and the people taking baths by the wells,” Balorio said in Cebuano.
In the future, the young artist shared that he wishes to share the beauty of his “countryside art” to other young aspiring artists — not just as a fellow painter but as an educator as well. – Rappler.com