Masters on display at Galleria Duemila

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FOR THE PAST 50 years, Galleria Duemila has been shaping the contemporary art scene by nurturing deep friendships with Filipino artists through exhibits and gatherings.

Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz founded the gallery on Dec. 5, 1975, out of sheer curiosity to meet artists and an eventual drive to celebrate contemporary art in the Philippines. Through the intervening years, Galleria Duemila has worked with hundreds of artists, mounted around 600 exhibitions (holding monthly shows throughout its 50 years), and housed thousands of artworks.

As part of its 50^th anniversary celebration, the gallery has mounted an exhibit called AVANTI, SEMPRE AVANTI / FORWARD, ALWAYS FORWARD which is ongoing until March 14. It is a masters collection, featuring 37 artists that represent symbiotic relationships that blossomed into life-long friendships with Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz.

“There is a responsibility to treasure what we have. For me, it is really important that you put together everything like this. If you don’t give importance to it, it disappears,” she said at the exhibit preview on Jan. 10.

The exhibit showcases a range of paintings, mixed media, works on paper, and sculptures that have never or rarely been seen by recent generations of artists, collectors, arts appreciators, art students, and educators.

The featured artists include Leopoldo Aguinaldo II, Ray Albano, Augusto Albor, Nunelucio Alvarado, Agnes Arellano, Santiago Bose, Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera, Eduardo Castrillo, Roberto Chabet, Charlie Co, Ramon Manuel De Leon, Duddley Diaz, Lamberto Hechanova, Jose Joya, Lao Lianben, Raul Lebajo, Cesar Legaspi, Arturo Luz, Jerry Elizalde Navarro, Justin Nuyda, Hernando R. Ocampo, Manuel Ocampo, Romulo Olazo, Onib Olmedo, Imelda Pilapil, Mauro “Malang” Santos, Solomon Saprid, Nestor Vinluan, and Betsy Westendorp.

STORIES
Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz toured the media around during the preview, her razor-sharp memory allowing her to explain the context behind each work’s importance. She could point out how a seascape by the late National Artist Cesar Legaspi reflects his own unique approach to cubism; detail how rare paintings by another National Artist, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, and Juvenal Sanso were inspired by their time abroad; and discuss how works by many women artists represent tumultuous points in their lives, such as Julie Lluch’s Cactus sculptures and Phyllis Zaballero’s painting Sea Horizon I.

She fondly selected each of the pieces alongside the exhibit’s curator Angel Velasco-Shaw, who recalled how the process was “extremely difficult given the thousands of artworks we could choose from.”

Some works are there because of how integral they were to the start of Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz’s journey in the arts. Her sister-in-law Isabel Diaz’s work Anxiety of Motherhood represents the very first exhibit she organized in the country, with the Miladay Art Center. A sculpture by Lebanese artist May Baddour comes from the very first exhibit that Galleria Duemila mounted in 1976.

“My father-in-law, who’s a businessman, who gave me the P20,000 to put up a gallery, told me that this is the worst investment he’d ever done in his life!” she recalled.

Today, Galleria Duemila is the oldest running commercial art gallery in the Philippines.

Another piece in the exhibit that she’s proud of is Pacita Abad’s Rolling Stones, an important work that was part of the artist’s last exhibition with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, before she succumbed to cancer in 2004.

Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz also pointed out Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr.’s Cosmic Snake, as proof of how he was capable of making “unbelievable installations” that she hopes will one day land him recognition as a National Artist.

A HISTORY
The artworks on view span from 1957 to 2018, culled from Galleria Duemila’s vast collection and archival treasure trove. They are a small sampling of works from the Philippine modern art scene. One corner in the gallery has documentation of old exhibitions and events, which is an integral part of their thrust to “protect the transmission of knowledge.”

Walkthroughs and panel discussions featuring writers and artists will be scheduled from January to March. They will be open to the public, with details to be announced online.

“Silvana is an important figure who was able to bring Philippine art out into the world. She is proof of the importance of patronage, of how we need to grow art from the ground up, by giving it the support that it needs,” said curator Ms. Velasco-Shaw.

As for how Galleria Duemila has become an important institution in an evolving contemporary art scene, Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz explained that she never expected such success.

In the 1970s, her only goal was to widen her network, which she did by attending exhibitions, joining conferences and workshops, and becoming acquainted with members of the Saturday Group of artists.

“As a foreigner, an outsider, my priority was to get to know the artists, their works, their vision, what brought them to paint. I learned the ropes,” she said.

Ms. Velasco-Shaw added that “the language of art is in the heart,” seen in how the lines between insider and outsider can blur as people pursue avenues of exchange and patronage.

A BOOK
In the pipeline is a book chronicling Galleria Duemila’s journey and Ms. Ancellotti-Diaz’s contributions to the art scene. It will include insights from different art writers, like Cid Reyes, Patrick Flores, and Eileen Legaspi Ramirez.

“The idea of the book is to create something for the past, present, and future. Silvana is a very strong advocate for the relationship between art, culture, and education, to create a greater appreciation of the arts for everyone,” she said.

In the meantime, the exhibit AVANTI, SEMPRE AVANTI / FORWARD, ALWAYS FORWARD is on view at Galleria Duemila, located at 210 Loring St., Pasay City. — Brontë H. Lacsamana