Ateneo de Manila ALIWW: Brenda V. Fajardo Exhibit

As a continuation of our required voyage to see various exhibits and works of art, we trekked to Ateneo de Manila to see both its art gallery and Brenda Fajardo’s exhibit. Although the commute going there from school is gruelling, particularly if you have no idea where you’re going, the art we saw was worth it.

Brenda Fajardo is obviously a Filipino artist and apparently comes from a family of artists. According to

her website, she has actually been more active in the theatre than in painting; however, her work tells us that she’s no amateur when it comes to the paintbrush.

Her work in the exhibit was clearly and heavily influenced by our culture and history. The very first thing I noticed about most of her paintings was that majority focused on women and their roles throughout the years, which made me wonder if Brenda Fajardo is a feminist. The piece that caught my eye was the one with three women with black veils and thorn crowns. Each woman had a

different flag as a background, which were quite obviously the flags of the countries that once colonized us. In my opinion, the painting showed how women were undermined and maltreated during these periods because they were perceived to be weaker, second-class citizens. The painting made use of bold colors, and instead of it having a dark atmosphere, I believe it was meant to empower women so that history will not repeat itself. On the other hand, there were paintings of a darker atmosphere, which seemed to depict how women were (and are) objectified or how women were not given a voice, heard or seen in society back in the day.

A painting that seems to depict how women are objectified.

There were many other historically referenced paintings; among them were paintings of volcano eruptions (I assume they were of Mt. Pinatubo or Mt. Mayon) and Martial Law under Marcos. Another interesting thing that the artist focused on was Philippine folklore and mythology.

The artist’s style, in my opinion, is actually very Filipino. She made use of bright colors and her subjects are more often than not, Filipinos (you can tell by the very brown skin); however, I retract my earlier statement about Brenda Fajardo’s work being influenced by our culture and history. At this point, it’s safe to say that isn’t just an influence but rather the very core of the art itself.

Filipinos fighting for their rights! Probably set during the Martial Law period.

A painting of a fight between a tribal Filipino and a cyclops.