Inggitera goes to the fair

Full disclosure: inggitera ako. 

After hearing so much from friends and blogosphere about Art in the Park, to which I've never been, I went full-blown green-eyed monster last week and looked up the dates for the next Affordable Art Fair. I missed the one in Singapore last year because we were in Bantayan. The one in Amsterdam is scheduled for October, but lo and behold! The one in Brussels was just a week and a train ride away! 

I have to say I could get used to getting to another European country with zero hassle. I booked Benelux return train tickets online for less than a hundred Euros for both Marlon and myself (if we had booked a few days earlier, it would have been just €35! Cheaper than dinner out!). Then I emailed Uncle David to let him know we were coming. We just hopped on the train early Saturday morning, and two hours and forty five minutes later, we were in Brussels. The conductor didn't even check our tickets!

Uncle David and Michele picked us up from Brussels Centraal at 11 a.m. and brought us straight to Tour & Taxis on the Avenue du Port.

Tour & Taxis was formerly the Customs warehouse. When the European Union abolished internal customs duties (can you imagine?!?!? No customs?!?!?! What an alien concept to us Asians), it was converted into a retail, dining and exhibition space. Uncle David said that the last time he had been to Tour & Taxis was when it was still used as the Customs building; it was the 70s and he came to pay customs duties on his car, a Buick that he had imported from France.

The whole experience was amazing. Nakakalula sa dami ng art. There were galleries from all over Europe, plus some from the US, Singapore and China. But you can bet your pwet that I didn't come all the way to Europe to buy a painting from Asia.

We lost Michele and Uncle David (who we later learned made a beeline for the restaurant) and ended up wandering on our own. Marlon was attracted to sculpture and I was attracted to collage, but in general we were both really attracted to things that were way beyond our budget. (Isn't that always the way?) In the end, we fell in love with not just one, but two works that were priced just right for us.

While doing my research on the artists and galleries exhibiting at the fair ('cause I'm a geek like dat), I had already spotted the works of Belgian figurative artist Inge Dompas. A strong theme of motion, restlessness and transit runs through her work and that really resonated with me.

Everyone and everything is restless and constantly on the go. People walk past each other, literally and figuratively. Dompas' recurring topic is the mass being in motion, and the scarce and precious moments of genuine contact and intimacy in the turbulent sea of people. She says: "The road you traveled is more important than the goal itself. The tour supports the story of who you are, it is you."

When I saw Inge's works up close, they didn't disappoint. And because of the experiences we've shared, from our endless craving for travel to the sense of restlessness in Singapore that led us here, Marlon totally got it. We were both struck by this large work of hers called "On the way home." It seemed to sum up our life over the last few months: always on the move, rushing to a place unknown and unseen, pulled onward by the promise of home.

Naturally, it was leagues out of our budget. Let me tell you though, we seriously considered it for a very long moment... a moment that ended when I reminded Marlon that the price was nearly twice our monthly rent. I surprise myself sometimes.

But wait, there's a happy ending! We were able to walk away with one of Inge's works... the smallest one! This one is called "Running on Empty." 

Marlon and I agreed that we have felt these moments all too often. On the commute home from work sometimes, you stop seeing people's faces. Everything fades into a blur when you just want to get home. Or could it be that these people are not commuting home, but to work in the morning? Because there are mornings when you feel like you're running on empty, too.

We had enough left over to go back for one of the few artists that had first caught our attention: Latvia-based Russian artist Viktor Sheleg and his series of ink and acrylic drawings. 

Marlon liked how the artist brought out the tension of her pose (legs crossed, body twisted) with such concise strokes. I was drawn to the dynamic energy and graphic quality of his work. Black and white with a pop of bright orange—a definite yes. This is a woman with attitude. 

An info sheet from the Le Siants Gallery in Prague tells us the artist's work can be found in the collections of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Jack Nicholson and (paging Drei!) Montserrat Caballe. A princess, the Joker and a diva? Sounds like we're in good company.