For their 10th anniversary, Art Underground features a collaborative effort with artist Arce and designer Joe San Antonio's "Tambour" with artist SAIS and designer Daryl Maat's "Guhit ng Gunita".&nbsp;

A &ldquo;momentous collaboration,&rdquo; indeed, as Deseree Mapandi (Art Underground&rsquo;s Gallery Manager) had expressed. A joining of Art Form and Dress Form,&nbsp; stitched together with the collaborative efforts of Arce x Joe San Antonio and SAIS x Daryl Maat in their respective exhibitions. L&rsquo;Officiel Philippines weighs in with the artists and designers in question, getting a feel for the seams of thought that etch together the exhibitions viewed.
Art&rsquo;s Underground&rsquo;s collaborative project has done the unprecedented: merging the disciplines of fashion and art. Both worlds tend to have an unspoken barrier between them. They operate on different laws, mentalities, social cultures, and creative psyches. However, what binds these worlds together is the fathomless urge for creative expression. As artist Sais had said, &ldquo;...paano natin iexpress ang sarili natin, kung paano na tayo manamit, yun na po yung art itself.&rdquo; Above all, through the threads and needles, pencils and papers, tambours and bodice, Art Underground&rsquo;s 10th anniversary is a testament to the extraordinary impulse to create.
Counterparts to each other, both artist and designer hold up a mirror, creating pieces of art that go hand-in-hand. The exhibitions presented are a celebration of what it means to create and how a creative&rsquo;s life revolves around this impulse.

In Arce x Joe San Antonio&rsquo;s Tambour, we go full circle as we oscillate between the free-flowing fabric of San Antonio&rsquo;s genius, to the baroque garden embroidered on the expanse of Arce&rsquo;s Tambour. Each work mirrors the other to the point that one may not know where one thread ends and the other begins.
A circular frame that maintains the tautness of a fabric as it is being embroidered, the Tambour becomes both tool and subject (similar to how fashion is both tool and subject), spotlighting its significant function and capabilities for boundless artistic expression. At the same time, the Tambour separates itself from its fashion origins to become an art form in and of itself. Yet, the Tambour cannot completely forsake its connection with the fashion world, as it stands alongside the prima donna of the fashion world: the couture garment.

Arce and Joe San Antonio share a common thread that embroiders their artistic sensibilities.&nbsp; The grace, delicacy, and elegance that their subject matter possesses are the ethos of their work. Their joint collaboration fosters a serene scene, as light reflects off the glass pillars like clear waters sparkling in warm sunlight. A visual treat for the Filipino Romanticist, as models with soft, faraway looks in their eyes saunter around.&nbsp; Joe San Antonio&rsquo;s creations resemble the folkloric sprites, utilizing the natural elements to create their form of dress. Rivers of fabric ebb and flow through the bodice as foliage takes over its surface. These couture pieces take on a different direction from the designer&rsquo;s career, as she explained. She has temporarily separated herself from the tenets of bridal wear, delivering a collection that feels like a fresh take on the San Antonio brand while maintaining its heart of elegance, grace, and romance above all.

The Tambour, portals to another world, drenched in flowers and foliage, invites you to gander at the details. Within the dreamlike sensorial escape, an embodiment of artistic precision in surrealistic elements. Looking at it closely, one gets lost in the details as Arce&rsquo;s oil paint takes the form of a multi-dimensional Eden that sprawls around its frame. His signature integration of picture frames within his work takes on a new layer of his wit as a creative. The picture frames juxtaposed within the Tambour provide emphasis on the latter&rsquo;s transformation from a tool of artistic expression to the subject of artistic appreciation itself. Arce invites the viewer to understand the significance of the Tambour as a tool of fashion, then expands upon its ethos, separating it from its couture origins to have a newfound home in the art world.

For the creatives, the genesis for artistic expression is drawn on notebook lines. Artist SAIS and fashion designer Daryl Maat draw from their recollections of simpler times. An ode to the first inception of artistic creativity, the exhibition is a celebration of all things elementary. When children draw pictures, they realize for themselves the extent of their imagination. But for SAIS and Daryl Maat, they create to indulge in nostalgia. There is a whimsy in their creations that shines like the stars etched in the eyes of SAIS&rsquo;s art. The art in question resembles snapshots of schoolboys sporting various facial expressions. The near-square canvas, coupled with the close-up head-and-shoulders composition, makes the artwork resemble school-mandated ID pictures. With each portrait, the schoolboys sport their spiffy barongs embroidered with Daryl Maat&rsquo;s signature motif. SAIS takes on a new artistic theme, as he said, directly inspired by Maat&rsquo;s fashion ethos. For the designer, this current exhibition is an expansion of his collections.&nbsp;

A venture outside of the runway and into the gallery floors, Maat delights audiences with a new take on the uniform of our schools and our country. The traditional barong, an emblem of Filipino formalwear, loosens its tight-shouldered austerity and indulges in its child-like whimsy. Daryl Maat is engaged in a nostalgia trip, where the weight of adulthood has not landed on his finely-embroidered garments.&nbsp;
A decade has passed, and yet Art Underground continues to refresh audiences with new perspectives from established designers and artists. As Deseree Mapandi had said, &ldquo;...after 10 years, I think Art Underground has proven itself to keep on growing.&rdquo; If this exhibition is an indication of the future ahead, Art Underground will live on as planned: expanding the ethos of Art
To view their future exhibitions, Art Underground is located on the 2nd floor, Mabini 180, 180 Mabini St., San Juan. For inquiries, their website is www.aumanila.com. Additionally, their corresponding social media handle is @artundergroundmanila on Instagram and Facebook.&nbsp;
Interview by Maura Rodriguez

Art Underground's 10th Anniversary Is a Double Feature of Art and Fashion

L'OFFICIEL HOMMES PHILIPPINES JUNE 2025 - Cole Micek ₱600

Art Underground's 10th Anniversary Is a Double Feature of Art and Fashion

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