Jade Suayan AKA “SYN” has been active in the Manila street art and graffiti scene for several years now, but this is her first solo exhibition as part of Art Fair, the undisputed largest art fair in the Phillipines. Suayan’s exhibit — organized by Secret Fresh, gallery of globally esteemed street culture collector DJ Big Boy Cheng — one of Art Fair Philippines 2023’s largest displays.
The annual Art Fest from San Juan City’s Xavier School is quickly become a signature event of the Philippine fine art and street art calendar. We took an early tour to see what this show has in store for street art lovers, and here’s what we believe should not be missed.
After a couple of years operating relatively low-key during the pandemic, May of 2022 saw the Philippine branch of Meeting of Styles back in full force. Probably what made the event feel special was simply being able to all be together as one community. While the Meeting Of Styles continued in smaller venues since 2019, that also meant that the participants were also limited. The return to what’s now become a culturally iconic location, the parking lot at LRT2 Anonas Station also signalled a return scale and a sort of homecoming for the entire group of artists & writers.
In what may be the most ironic art unveiling of the year, Manila City mayor Isko “Yorme” Moreno was joined by German Ambassador, Anke Reiffenstual earlier this week to unveil Berlin Wall Fragment number 22 at the Kartilya ng Katipunan park area. The wall fragment, covered in graffiti tags was installed in a protective glass casing and accompanied by an engraved metal placard to educate visitors to the park of the historical significance of the wall fragment.
Jade Suayan has pulled out all the stops. It’s very rare to find an artist who can match their artistic vision with technical ability, and this is one of the things that makes this show so special.
Walking into the show requires you to bend your head, entering through a parking gate pylon into a concept exhibit where the entire room has been transformed into a purple parking garage.
Last week, rumours started swirling that Filipino graffiti artist, Quiccs was lining up an official collaboration with the three stripes brand. On Tuesday, the artist put all speculation to bed with photos of his contract signing with the brand and graphic designs of his collaboration lockout side by side with Pharrell and Jonah Hill collaboration lockouts.
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John Matos is a pioneering graffiti writer who began his career as a graffiti artist in the early to mid 1970’s. Most know him as Crash, and he’s a living legend. We caught up with Crash in Singapore, where he was a guest at Culture Cartel, a street cultures indoor festival at the F1 Pit Lane and launching his collaboration with Stash on Casio’s G-Shock.
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