Art SG: The Heavyweights, The Parties, The Pinoy Connection

(SPOT.ph) Singapore's gloomy skies in January may have threatened to dampen the spirits of those attending and showing artworks in Art SG—the biggest contemporary art event in a week filled with art events in the Lion City—but there was no stopping the Filipino artists and their works from shining.

For starters, news from the Art SG folks has it that 22 works on paper by Elmer Borlongan were sold as early as opening day of the 4-day fair at the Marina Bay Sands. Meanwhile, the Filipino gallery Artinformal reported a number of important sales that include two paintings by Zean Cabangis, three by Pope Bacay, two by Monica Delgado, and most notably there’s the sale of Jigger Cruz’s “End to End,” an oil on canvas work from 2024, which sold for an impressive 28,000 USD, or P1.6-M++.

“We had six reservations on the first day,” Artinformal’s Tina Fernandez told Art SG, adding how Delgado’s piece, an inventive “painting” of acrylic turned into elastic-like strips layered on top of each other—like a crepe cake in a rainbow of colors—was “especially pinag-aawayan.”

Not bad when this year’s edition of the fair drew in 105 galleries from 30 countries and territories across the globe, and one had to compete with not just emerging artists but established artists as well. It might have been hard, too, not to get distracted by the AI art, or the huge portrait of a dapper fella in a green suit and holding an old school point-and-shoot at the Gagosian booth, and the Pablo Picasso on offer, “Buste d’hamme à la pipe (1969)” which reportedly sold for USD 1,200,000.

Also read: Art SG 2025; What Art Fans, Collectors Need to Know

But it was clear Filipino art is right at home in this city-state, and has no qualms making its presence felt. On one of the two sprawling exhibition halls Art SG occupied this year at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Jun Villalon’s Drawing Room booth greeted visitors as soon as they enter, attracting guests with Ged Merino’s mixed media work with flowers, Diokno Pasilan’s assemblage of ganta-like boxes that bear portraits of Filipino senior citizens, and Cian Dayrit’s dresser cum kneeler, a statement on our enslavement to Western standards of beauty. The vanity was flanked by embroidered and printed-on textiles, also by Dayrit, using archival images from the American colonial era, specifically of the systems of oppression still very much part of Philippine life today.

Heavyweights only 

There might not have been heavy political messages over at Gajah Gallery’s booth but there were undoubtedly weighty personalities milling about, accompanying their heavyweight—literally and figuratively—artworks. There’s National Artist BenCab leisurely chatting with other Filipino artists in attendance and indulging fans requesting selfies with him and his larger-than-life bronze Sabel statue—which is the centerpiece of the sizable Gajah booth.

There was also the other tall and elegant figure from the Philippines, Mark Justiniani, who occupies a little room of his own, the better to showcase a new work called “Births and Reverbs,” a two-sided piece where he continues to trick our eyes and explore the depths of infinite space, something he started at the Venice Biennale Philippine Pavilion a few years back.

It was only the first evening of the fair, the vernissage meant for Asia’s art VIPs, but it was hard not to overhear the asking of prices—and the answers, too—amidst the his and hellos and it’s been awhiles. Art SG Director Shuyin Yang told SPOT.ph she was very pleased with the robust representation from the Philippines.

“The visibility of Philippine art to international collectors continues to grow from strength to strength as demonstrated by their strong presence at the fair,” says Yang who witnessed the growth of Art SG almost from inception, having been there from 2019 when she was appointed Fair Director and in 2023 when she launched the fair’s first edition. “I was impressed and surprised by the dedication and passion of our collectors and visitors who attended. We were delighted to welcome many visitors from the Philippines, who engaged with not only ART SG but all the exhibitions, events and conversations across the entire Singapore Art Week.”

Among the vernissage crowd, familiar faces that caught our eye were Anna Angara who was chatting with friends at Artinformal; Bambina Olivares of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila; the collector couple Michaelangelo and Lourdes Samson; and Fernando Zobel who we also bumped into earlier in the day at a gallery in the new creative hub New Bahru—he was with Ayala Museum’s Mariles Gustilo and Kenneth Stern. The Ayalas, as you might have heard, is preparing to open its own contemporary art museum in 2027, and FZA's group was observing how Singapore handles their art fairs and exhibitions, a sort of research work. Although Zobel, incidentally, is also part of Art SG’s Advisory Group.

Parties, parties, and art, too

The opening night crowd was a mix of gingham and blue blazer-clad types—like Fernando—and those whose outfits were practically artworks in themselves. There were also those wearing something distinctly representative of their roots, like the artist Agnes Arellano in a kimono embroidered with Southern Philippine patterns. We spotted the renowned Filipina sculptor inspecting the magnificent works of Sarawak-born textile artist Marcos Kueh who himself was wearing something traditional, a checkered Malaysian man’s shirt and what would be the equivalent of our tapis. Kueh meanwhile looked very happy to reunite and catch up with Art Fair Philippines’ Trickie Lopa, also one of the evening's guests from Manila, whom he met at some glamorous party in Paris last year.

The next day, more art parties despite the rain. But first, members of the media from all over the world were treated to three important exhibitions at the Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, a short ride away from Marina Bay Sands. We started with "Seeing Forest," which was the show of the Singapore Pavilion at the most recent Venice Biennale. We were able to see “No Patterns on Ideas”, the first Singapore exhibit of Bangkok-based Pratchaya Phinthong who we would meet later that evening, by chance, at the Listening Room of Michelin-starred chef Ivan Brehm’s dining and drinking spot called Appetite.

Phinthong’s show “examines the cultural and economic systems that structure modern life” and its piece de resistance is a moving image of floating money projected on the gallery ceiling, inspired by a laptop wallpaper generated accidentally when the artist had his computer fixed. Meanwhile, the most affecting of the shows was Malaysian artist’s Yee I-Lann’s "Mansau-Ansau" which traces the Malaysian artist’s over two-decade “journey of discovery and creation” in photographs and other media, and incidentally features images taken in the Philippines.

If the vibe at the Art SG Vernissage was a mix of convivial and business-like, at the S.E.A. Focus preview it was more party mood and the crowd seemed to fill every square inch of the exhibition space it became a challenge to see some of the art.

Two floors up, however, there was much more room to move around and look—at Gajah Gallery, a small group of artists, gallerists and art watchers gathered to see the works in the show “Big Bang: A Myth of Origins” curated by Joyce Toh, a good number of which were by major Filipino artists: Jose John Santos and his partner Pam Yan Santos, Miguel Aquilizan, and Agnes Arellano whose “Nuwa, Haliya, Linga Mantra” occupied quite a sizable part of the exhibition space, and rightfully so. Composed of three major elements—a circular Zen garden, on it “the veiled moon goddess” seemingly about to give birth, and a winged goddess afloat and watching over the former—the installation encompassed the circle of life: birth, transformation, and renewal. Experiences that can be brought about by the act of artmaking.

The Philippine connection

Capping Friday evening was a purely socials event at the renowned Capella Singapore located at the Sentosa area. It was the party everyone wanted to be invited to, it seemed, and considering the old world charm of this five-star attraction and the top notch drinks and food being served—chili crab tarts, little bowls of steaming laksa cooked in front of guests—wherelse would you want to be? In the company of Asia’s top collectors and society figures, in a Norman Foster-designed environment, of course. 

Here we caught up with film director Quark Henares and his music producer wife Bianca who have been based in Singapore for a few years now. Quark’s sister Cristalle Belo and husband Justin Pitt were also in the party. The dress code was cheongsam for women and suit and sarong for men, an idea proposed by Thai video artist Korakrit Arunanondchai whose work we got to watch at the Art Science Museum earlier in the day—although he himself was in jeans and a leather jacket. Those who kept to the theme were collectors Lito and Kim Camacho and their daughter Bea Camacho, the artist, who happens to be now SG-based too. Filipino collector of international art Tim Tan was also in the Capella fete, together with actress Sarah Lahbati, and newspaper and magazine editors Ria Prieto and Jet Acuzar who, like Art SG's Shuyin Yang were in variations of the cheongsam.

Filipinos and the Philippines are close to Yang’s heart. Having spent time in Manila on many occasions, starting when she was still connected with the auction house Christie’s, she has established relations with many members of the Philippine art world, hanging with artists and dining in Filipino collectors’ homes.

“Manila is one of my favourite cities in the world,” she told SPOT.ph. “I first started visiting in 2010 and was privileged to meet and make friends with many artists and collectors. I spent a lot of time in Cubao with artists like Louie Cordero, MM Yu, Gary Ross Pastrana, Poklong Anading and the late Jeremy Guiab. Being able to witness not only their practice but their lives and environments first hand has given me a deep appreciation for the vibrancy and talent within the Philippine art ecosystem.”  

And now thru Art SG, Yang is showcasing contemporary Filipino art to a wider international audience. “Being able to now present Philippine art at ART SG and share this with our audience from Singapore and around the world is a great privilege.”

Also read: Guide to Art Fair Philippines 2025: Everything You Need to Know