An Interview with Trickie Lopa
This interview launches Orientations’ new series ‘Asian Art in Design’, which explores the rationale, if any, behind collecting, how collectors live with their art and the interaction between art and design.
In 2006 Trickie Lopa founded the affordable art fair Art In The Park, together with Lisa Ongpin-Periquet, to raise funds for the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, of which she was then a board member. In 2012, the duo set up Philippine Art Events Inc., and together with Dindin Araneta, they now manage Art In The Park, Art Fair Philippines (founded in 2013) and The Nonesuch fair (established in 2017). Orientations talked to Trickie about her taste in art, how she developed her collection and how she displays it in her Manila home.
Trickie Lopa at home
Painting by Yasmin Sison-Ching (b. 1972); sculpture by Ronald Ventura (b. 1973)
(Photograph: Jojo Gloria)
Orientations How did you start collecting?
Trickie Lopa Let me state from the outset that my collection is very modest. I would like to think that I have a few important pieces, but it can in no way match the quantity that other collectors have.
I have always been interested in art, but discovered that the art of my time could be interesting only in 2003 when I saw Alfredo Esquillo Jr.’s piece Mamakinley at an exhibition called ‘The American Effect’ at the Whitney in New York. I had no clue who he was, which I thought an awful thing given that he was from the Philippines. When I came back, I started watching out for him, and gradually discovered his peers.
When we conceptualized the art fair Art In The Park as a project for the Museum Foundation of the Philippines in June 2006, that really sparked my interest in contemporary art. I met gallery owners and artists, and never looked back! I bought my first piece in 2004 but didn’t start collecting seriously until 2006, after the first Art In The Park. My passion for art happened progressively; before I knew it, I had fallen under its spell.
O What were your sources of information about the artworks?
TL After we launched Art In The Park I got to know the artists and the galleries, the small coterie that Manila’s art scene was then. My involvement deepened when I adopted the persona of Manila Art Blogger in 2008. I could not find anything online about the exhibitions going on in the galleries, so I decided I would write about them myself. That’s when my art education really began. I would sit down with the artists and hear about the impetus behind their exhibitions. I got to know their process and started to appreciate a broad range of works. As Charles Saatchi said, ‘The more you like art, the more art you like!’ The blog ran for four years, until 2012, right before the opening of Art Fair Philippines. At that time, it would average 500 views a day.
Living room: (from left) Standing sculpture by Junyee (b. 1942); paintings by Arturo Sanchez Jr. (b. 1980), National Artist Vicente Manansala (b. 1910) and Rodel Tapaya (b. 1980)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
Living room: (from left) Paintings by Rodel Tapaya (b. 1980), Yasmin Sison-Ching (b. 1972), Jose John Santos III (b. 1970), Geraldine Javier (b. 1970) and Joven Mansit (b. 1984); wooden tower Kareton Katedral: Kambal Dos by Jose Tence Ruiz (b. 1958), 2004; bronze chandelier by Michael Cacnio (b. 1969)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
O Does your collection have a particular theme?
TL A few years ago, I came upon an article by Michael Kimmelman in The New York Times. He wrote about the Edward Hopper exhibition in Rome. I quote: ‘No matter how much culture has become globalized, art retains meanings specific to a certain time and place. Good art does, anyway (which accounts for why too much not-so-good contemporary art, aimed at the global marketplace, looks generic and everywhere alike). Those meanings come as it were, bred in the bone.’
That really struck me. As such, I find myself usually (but not always) attracted to art that speaks to me of my time—nothing before 2000—and my place, the Philippines. I find that the work that really, really catches my attention has to have something that grounds it to the Philippines of the past twenty years. So my pieces tend to have a strong Philippine flavour, and are quite surreal images. I also like work that leans towards indigenous Philippine culture.
O You also collect native crafts and art forms. Could you tell us something about that collection?
TL I’ve always been interested in the decorative arts—it was just easier to get into Philippine contemporary art because the artists and galleries were much more accessible than the scholars and connoisseurs of Philippine antiques and artefacts. But I’ve always found tribal art and textiles quite fascinating, and lately I’ve started paying more attention to them. I’ve acquired a few serious pieces, but I have much to learn.
Dining room: (wall) The Origin of the Mountains, by Rodel Tapaya (b. 1980), 2008 and (floor) cold-cast marble piece by sculptress Julie Lluch (b. 1946)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
Dining room: Untitled wall-bound assemblage by Gabriel Barredo (b. 1957), 2011—a favourite piece; table-top sculptures by Leeroy New (b. 1986)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
O What is your rationale for acquiring an art piece? Do you ever think where to put it, or do you buy first and think later?
TL The most important part of the process is ‘Do I love it?’—‘Can I afford it?’ comes next. I used to worry about ‘Where will I put it?’, but now I’ve learned to start rotating my pieces, not having them all out at the same time. Realistically, though, I don’t go for huge pieces. I have to know what the artist is about, the attitude towards the creative process. I may not necessarily like an artist’s personality, but I need to know if they know what they’re doing. I’ve also gotten more discerning, gravitating towards tougher, stronger pieces that may not necessarily turn out commercially viable in the future. I look for unique expressions, favouring sculpture over two-dimensional pieces.
Richard Dorment, former art critic of the UK’s The Daily Telegraph, once remarked that the art he liked tended towards work that ‘may not be immediately understood but must be immediately gratifying’. He was speaking of the video installation by Tacita Dean at the Tate’s Turbine Hall in 2011, but art addicts can surely empathize. When confronted with work that makes my gut clench and senses still, a euphoric sensation soon follows. Then comes a longing to learn more about the piece and the intentions of its maker, and ultimately, some hope to acquire it so that I can keep it close by.
O Have you ever consulted an art adviser or a designer before purchasing a piece?
TL No, I haven’t. I do get to know the artists and have conversations with gallerists, but my art acquisitions process is very instinctive. I am just drawn to certain pieces.
Dining table: Sculpture by Riel Hilario (b. 1976)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
Corridor overlooking the dining room: (from left) Early paintings on burlap by Rodel Tapaya (b. 1980) and wall-bound thread-on-fabric piece by Raffy Napay (b. 1986); overhanging the dining room: painting by Alfredo Esquillo Jr (b. 1972)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
O How does the juxtaposition of the contemporary and indigenous or ‘tribal’ art work in your home?
TL Admittedly, the tribal art needs to be rethought. I’m in the process of culling the more significant pieces from those that just caught my fancy.
O What are some of your favourite pieces in your collection?
TL Bogie Ruiz’s series of gothic cathedrals-cum-pushcarts mirrors my own disputes with the Catholic Church. Gabby Barredo’s wall-bound assemblage contains as many layers as the relationships we maintain in our daily lives. I still can’t make out whether Patty Eustaquio’s sculpture depicts the gradual decay of a cow’s head with its flesh and organs disintegrating until only the skull remains, or if it shows the bloody transformation of the skull into a scarlet bloom …
I’ve had these pieces for a few years now, but the gratification they deliver has yet to wane. A sense of well-being has permeated over me—and I am just thinking about them as I write this!
O Are you still adding to the collection?
TL Once an art addict, you’re always looking for a fix!
Corridor overlooking the dining room: Wall-bound thread-on-fabric piece by Raffy Napay (b. 1986) and set of portraits by Buen Calubayan (b. 1980)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)
Den: (from left) Paintings by young artists
Luis Antonio Santos (b. 1985) and Kaloy Sanchez (b. 1982)
(Photograph: Jar Concengco)