PROVOCATIVE THEMES
It’s a good thing that Singapore’s straitlaced censors have yet to train their hawk eyes on paintings. It could well be because they are simply busy monitoring those who cross the line in the mass media. Otherwise, works like those of Escora may not even see the light of day here, since he likes sensual themes like longing and desire — and this is a country where people have trouble talking about sex publicly.

	ESCORA'S Sunset Strip. [image courtesy of Utterly Art]

Garibay, a former political activist and pastor, also made his name through social realist paintings and explorations of political and religious themes – touchy subjects here. Recently, however, Garibay has turned his attention to harlequins, musicians, and the family, all of which he portrays in vivid color.

Galerie Joaquin Managing Director Jack Teotico observes, though, that buyers in Singapore — locals and expats alike — seem to have a stronger preference for figurative paintings, unlike in Manila, where buyers buy both abstract and figurative art.

He adds that in Manila, buyers maintain a high respect for the masters, even though the younger artists have also begun to have a following. One explanation is that the masters’ works are a more prudent investment, and are guaranteed to appreciate by as much as 10 percent to 40 percent a year. At the Manila branch of Galerie Joaquin, paintings by Luz, Juvenal Sanso, Carlo Magno, and Federico Aguilar Alcuaz are very popular. Says Teotico of their patrons: “They know that if they put money in that painting, it can’t go wrong.“

Auctions do jack up art prices, but Teotico says that in general, it is more expensive to buy a Filipino’s work in Singapore instead of Manila only because of the overhead costs, which include import taxes, plane fare, and higher rents. This explains a disparity of, say, P30,000 between the price of an Escora that is bought in Manila and one purchased in Singapore. A Garibay can already have a price tag of over P100,000 in the artist’s homeland, and so buying it for the equivalent of P130,000 or so here would not really be so bad.

Still, when asked to compare the art markets of Singapore and Manila, Teotico comments, “Singapore is more challenging because there we (Philippine art) have to compete with the best of art from all over the region. So we have to put our best foot forward (here).”

But despite a growing market for their work here, only a few young Filipino artists have decided to reside in Singapore. Even many of those whose paintings are coveted by collectors here remain in the Philippines, where they apparently draw their inspiration to create. Still, nothing bars their works — and often they themselves — from traveling, and Singapore has become one of their favorite stops.

“Filipino art is the new wave in the Singapore arts scene,” observes Nayar, who has seen Vietnamese and Burmese art thrive here. Whether Philippine art will enjoy the same fate in the competitive Singapore market is still a matter of speculation.