Salcedo expands global reach with Junyee exhibit in Taipei

It was an auspicious start to the week as we reached the mid-year mark of our auction calendar with an exceptionally strong sale. Still ecstatic from record after record being set, most notably the Anita Magsaysay-Ho egg tempera that sold at a new price benchmark surpassing previous sales of the artist’s works by 300 percent, I and my son Joaquin who is starting his traineeship at Salcedo while on summer break from his college studies, made our way to Taipei for the inaugural international exhibition of Salcedo Private View, our gallery and private sale arm.

This is a major milestone for the company as we expand into foreign markets. And what could be a better way to start things off than with a show that features no less than leading contemporary Filipino visual artist Junyee, the ‘Father of Philippine Installation Art’ — this event being a precursor to the artist’s year-long solo exhibition planned for the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ reopening sometime next year.

The Taipei exhibition is a major milestone for Junyee as well. Titled In Darkness, The Stars, it features the artist’s soot paintings which have never been shown outside of the Philippines.

Born Luis Yee Jr. in Agusan del Norte, Mindanao, Junyee left for Manila to study fine arts at the University of the Philippines, where he was mentored by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. The artistic veins of his practice reveal his explorations of materiality and a preference for organic or indigenous elements to convey the Filipino identity, evident as early as 1982 when Junyee exhibited Wood Things at the 12th Paris Biennale. One of his latest site-specific installations, Kwarantin (which opened at the Vargas Museum in July of 2020), shows the artist’s enduring preference for natural materials, making use of bamboo to express the uncertainties and fears that we all faced during the time of the pandemic.

The year 2020 proved to be quite a memorable one for the artist, the year when he received the highest accolade from the Cultural Center of the Philippines — the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining — to become the first artist from Mindanao to have received the award.

Though he is renowned for his monumental installations, Junyee’s Taipei exhibition signals a return to more intimately scaled works. For the show, Junyee created 12 wall-bound pieces that foreground his use of soot as a painterly medium. Through meticulous technical skill, he uses this unique material to construct ethereal abstract landscapes, inviting viewers on a transcendent journey beyond conventional artistic confines.

The opening included remarks by myself, Dr. Maritess Gatchalian-Yee, representing the artist who was unable to travel but joined the opening via Zoom, Dr. Chung-Chieh (Jack) Chao, chief executive officer, and Dr. Yao Zhongjie, chairman of the Xia Jing Shan Arts and Culture Foundation. Leaders in the Taiwanese art, culture, and business sectors were in attendance including senior deputy general manager of China Development Financial Control Group, Wang Bisheng, chief representative of Poland Investment and Trade Taipei Office, Wu Zhiyuan Lukasz Piotr Lanski, acting director of the Chiayi County Human Development Institute, Shi Yu-he, director of the Central Election Commission, Cai Yuche, chairman of the Chinese Yi People’s Association, Jiang Enguang, representative of the European Chamber of Commerce, Government Relations, Wang Wei, Special Committee of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and former chairman of China Airlines, Li Guoxin. I was delighted to have all of them in the audience as I asked Joaquin to also deliver remarks on behalf of Salcedo in Mandarin, a language that he has been studying for years!

That gesture, which was enthusiastically applauded by the guests present, underscored what this project was all about — an opportunity to build bridges, fostering mutual respect and friendship.

At the end of the vernissage, Xia Jing Shan Arts and Culture Foundation issued this statement: “Taiwan and the Philippines are close by geography, and residents of the two places have been active and communicating frequently at sea. Xia Jing Shan Arts and Culture Foundation cooperates with the government to promote the “New Southbound Policy,” inviting artists to hold a joint exhibition to enhance artistic exchanges between the two countries. With international friendship, Salcedo Auctions is the most important indicator of the Philippine art market with diverse projects. The corporate groups Xia Jing Shan Culture and Art Foundation and Salcedo Auctions signed an MOU for long-term cooperation, hoping to take this opportunity to enhance the understanding and promotion of each other’s contemporary and Buddhist art, and to promote cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the Philippines.”

In Darkness, The Stars runs from 19 June to 10 July at the Xia Jing Shan Arts & Culture Foundation, 7F No 131, Sec. 3, Minsheng E. Rd., Songshan Dist., Taipei City. The online catalogue can be viewed at salcedoauctions.com. For inquiries email info@salcedoauctions.com or phone +63 917 107 5581 | +63 917 572 3990 | +63 917 825 7449.