Regional shows mark Chabet's 50 years of groundbreaking art

MANILA, Philippines – The enigmatic, venerated Roberto Chabet marks 50 years in art marking in 2011 and receives an unprecedented tribute. Artists mentored or influenced by Chabet are mounting a series of major exhibitions, retrospectives and homages, in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The series is titled “Chabet 50 Years” and was organized by King Kong Art Projects Unlimited. It will run through 2012 in celebration of Chabet’s pioneering work and his role in shaping Philippine contemporary art.

Chabet is among the country’s most important modern artists, known (and sometimes also reviled) for his fierce drive to break with tradition to find new forms and subjects. He taught for over 30 years at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, where he advocated a kind of practice that gave precedence to idea over form, art dubbed Conceptual. He inspired generations of artists, many of who would become well known in their own right.

The series of exhibits being mounted to mark Chabet’s 50th year in the arts is arguably a higher honor than anything state-bestowed.

It began January in a month-long retrospective titled “To Be Continued” at the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore. A historic presentation of the artist’s work and career, it brought together for the first time several of the artist’s signature installations using plywood, neon and various found objects.

At the opening, Ringo Bunoan, one of the exhibition curators said, “We are very happy that this show has been realized after all the hard work and preparations. A majority of his works were lost and were reconstructed based on photographs, so it was very moving for all of us working on the project to see the works finally installed at the ICAS.”

Following “To Be Continued,” was “Complete & Unabridged, Part I,” which opened at ICAS on Feb. 17, and “Part II,” which opened in Osage Kwun Tong in Hong Kong on March 4. The two-part exhibition showcases over 80 contemporary artists from the Philippines, all of whom studied with or were mentored by Chabet.

Curated by Ringo Bunoan, Isabel Ching and Gary-Ross Pastrana, the wide range of works featured in the exhibition include painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, installation, photography and video. Reflecting the diversity of interests and practices in Philippine art today, they are connected by a continuing discussion on alternative forms and ways of thinking about art — issues that Chabet has consistently raised through his own art, his curated exhibitions and teachings.

Alongside the opening of “Complete & Unabridged, Part II” in Hong Kong is “Intermediate Geography” at Osage Soho. This installation was first displayed in 2005 as part of Chabet’s series of annual simultaneous exhibitions at Finale Art Gallery and West Gallery at SM Megamall in Manila. It is reconstructed for Osage Soho. “Intermediate Geography” is like a reminder of the dichotomies between the known and the unknowable; the expressible and the inexpressible; private and public; oneself and the other; art and non-art.

After “Intermediate Geography” is “Ziggurat” at West Gallery (www.westgallery.org), March 30 to April 23; “Onethingafteranother” at Finale Gallery (www.finaleartfile.com), April 1 to 28; “Box Painting” at Mag:net Katipunan (www.magnetgalleries.com) May 6 to 28; Shop 6: “101 Objects” at Mo Space (mo-space.net), June 4 to July 3. Plus exhibits in Corredor Gallery, at Manila Contemporary, Galleria Duemila, Ateneo Art Gallery, Lopez Memorial Museum and Paseo Gallery. The series culminates in “To Be Continued Part 2” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines From Jan. 20 to March 31, 2012.

Visit kingkongartprojects.org or contact the galleries for further information.