art fair PH 2022

Thank you, Ted Aldwin Ong and Rock Drilon, for this week's feature on wonder | wander | world. 

Art Fair Philippines had its eyes set on one daring goal - to provide a bigger platform for talented local artists outside Metro Manila's hub.

 'Goodbye to All That' by Margaux Blas (Photo: Mono 8 Gallery)

These exceptional talents go beyond the walls of art galleries in Metro Manila. In this write-up, Tatler features artists hailing from the Visayas and Mindanao.

the hidden world of women modernists

Here at wonder | wander | world we love visiting museums of modern art. But as Filipino artists we notice that the museums present us with a stable of artists who are mostly white men, with a tiny smattering of white women. Frida Kahlo boldly waves her native colours against the whitewashed background, but there are others who were as bold and influential, but not as universally known.

Baya Mahieddine, Femmes et Oiseaux, 1975.

Osman Hamdi Bey: Ottoman Orientalist

When we first studied Orientalism, we immediately loved the work of Osman Hamdi Bey, the first Islamic master of Western Orientalist painting.

Osman Hamdi Bey, portrait photograph

ArtSlant | good & bad news

Near the end of this month ArtSlant will shut down after twelve years in operation. Co-founder Catherine Ruggles has determined it is no longer possible to keep the site running. 

A dozen good years come to an end.

Now the good news! ArtSlant will live on as a resource in two digital archives: the Library of Congress and the New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC). 

We hope you feel as proud as we do that the art and writing of everyone in the ArtSlant community will live on in these resources. 

We have been honored to shape and continue what Georgia Fee and Catherine Ruggles began, supporting ArtSlant’s commitment to artists, arts writers, and criticism for over a decade.

—The ArtSlant Team

Inktober 2017: stretch goals

The leaves are falling, the nights are longer, and it's time for our second favourite October tradition. Inktober, Jake Parker's challenge to the community of digital illustrators and artists, asks us to do a single, finished ink drawing every day until the end of October.

We gain momentum through the cycle of working, finishing, posting, and then seeing what our fellow artists have done.

big sky: Georgia O'Keeffe at the Tate Modern

Like the Joseph Cornell retrospective, this turned out to be unexpectedly personal and affecting. Like any dedicated artist, I knew a little about Georgia O'Keeffe. I knew she lived a long time, painted flowers and skulls with great beauty and skill, lived in the American Southwest, and was a feminist icon. Mostly, though, I knew her as my mother's favourite artist.

My Front Yard, Summer 1941

Alison Worman: thinking with your hands

Alison Worman is our inspiration for this week. Her sketchbooks and art objects take our meandering thoughts in unexpected directions.

'What Was Once John's Yellow Mug', 2009

Alison fills her sketchbooks with scraps of paper and fabric, stitches, and lace. Often the finished book is so thick it can't fully close.

The Second Black Sketchbook

She is a Book Arts genius and is even featured on one of our favourite blogs, The Jealous Curator.

The Second Black Sketchbook featured on The Jealous Curator

It's deceptively simple work that inspires us to be looser and more relaxed in our own art journals. 

Joseph Cornell: glow in the dark

A few weeks ago I took a close friend to the Joseph Cornell exhibition at the Royal Academy to celebrate my birthday. She knew of his work, and that he was my favourite artist. We took a few hours to get through everything - I couldn't help pointing out extra facts about my favourite works, and getting excited about hearing Cornell's own voice on the audio commentary. As we were leaving my friend said, 'You know, I can see why you like him. So many things in there reminded me of you.'

Royal Academy of Arts
Exhibition handout

paying tribute to Jess Aiko [not Ayco]

In today’s blog we pay tribute to Jess Aiko [not Ayco] and his art - highlighted in “Fugue Frolic: A Retrospective of Filipino Modernist, Jess Ayco” at the Balay ni Tana Dicang in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Forming a central part of the VIVA ExCon's 13th biennale, the exhibit ran from November through January. 

Late as this post is wonder | wander | world wishes to recall this stellar Renaissance man and acknowledge his all encompassing artistry - former resident artist of our hometown Bacolod in Negros Occidental [Philippines].