“Everything is Contemporary”
– Eldrick Yuji Los Banos
In the Information Age, everything is contemporary. We enjoy the unprecedented privilege of accessing humanity’s recorded past, digitized and shared online, from anywhere on Earth. Through the innovations of social media and video conferencing, technology has created an endless and simultaneous present, a ubiquitous “here.”
This privilege extends to the arts: movements in art history—formerly detached and restricted to particular eras, places, and audiences—have been brought to the present. On the Internet, examples of the artistic innovations of the past can be found in a single, continuous milieu. While we remain conscious that they were products of their times, this access to global art historical movements also makes them contemporary, muses for our time.
In the same spirit, contemporary art has torn down the barriers of time, space, and viewership; for the present era of art, in other words, everything is “contemporary.” Current modes of artmaking are diverse and open-ended: ostensibly nothing is off-limits in the artist’s choice of subject matter, medium and technique, including the appropriation of other artworks. Under relational aesthetics, the audience itself has become a crucial part of interaction-based art practices as well.
Abandoning the modernist white cube style, contemporary art can be appreciated in public spaces or distributed digitally, as in the case of NFTs. With its emergence in a globalized and postcolonial world, it is also no longer confined to the traditional art centers of the West. International exhibitions and exchanges highlight the arts ecosystems of underrepresented countries and regions, particularly in the Global South.
Now in its third edition, The ManilaBang Show 2023 is proud to contribute to this rich global context by exhibiting a wide roster of prominent and emerging contemporary artists from the Philippines and abroad. This year’s one big show offers a glimpse into a local art scene that is unbounded in expression and inspiration, its participants embodying the chosen theme: “Everything is Contemporary.”
Galleries (Baguio, Metro Manila, Cebu)
Pugad Ni Art
R Gallery
Dry Brush Gallery
Sin-Ta Gallery
Galerie Artes
M Gallery
Nami Art Gallery
Secret Fresh Gallery
Life N Arts
Artologist
Galerie Francesca
Lab Art Projects
Ilocos Sur Museum
Art Portal Cebu
Florentino Art Gallery
Cebu Arts Inc.
Art Toys PH
Meatspace Web3
Alfred Tababa Art
Arte Bettina
Galerie Anna
Art Anton
Ides Contemporary Art
Art Elaan
Qube Gallery
Daloy Likha
Featured Artists
1. Julius Redillas
2. Shireen Co
3. Daniel Dela Cruz
4. Anton Del Castillo
5. Rene Cuvos
6. Charlie Co
7. Two Front Teeth
8. Jesse Camacho
9. Beejay Esber
10. Crypto Art PH (NFT)
New Wave (Young Filipino Contemporary Artists: Promising, Up-and-Coming)
1. Raco Ruiz
2. Aldrin Bassister
3. Carl Modelo
4. Bitto
5. Selah
6. Baltek
7. Laki Mata
