Brenda Fajardo Explained

Brenda Villanueva Fajardo
Birth Date:1940
Birth Place:Manila
Nationality:Filipino
Education:
Known For:Painting, printmaking
Occupation:Visual artist, professor, curator

Brenda Fajardo is a Filipino art teacher, visual artist, and printmaker. Her work centers on social issues, women's issues, and the colonial history of the Philippines, with focus on the "aesthetics of poverty and the art of the people". She is a professor Emerita in the department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines.

Early life and education

Fajardo was born in Manila in 1940.[1] Originally interested in becoming a professional dancer, she was diagnosed with rheumatic fever at the age of 14. Her mother then suggested she take art lessons under Filipina artist Araceli Dans.[2]

Fajardo earned a degree in agriculture from the University of the Philippines Los Baños in 1959, followed by her MS in art education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[3] Upon returning to the Philippines, Fajardo taught art education throughout the early 1960s. She later earned her PhD in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines Diliman.[4]

Career

Fajardo has been described as a "visual artist and educator who brings local folk culture to the international forefront" and a "pioneer of the craft of Philippine printmaking".[5] She has produced work focusing on both the Philippine diaspora and Philippine epic poetry.[6] Fajardo is best known for her tarot card series, which examines Philippine history, culture, and women's issues. Critics have cited her use of tarot cards to provide commentary on the Philippines' struggles "with socio-political issues, colonial history, and ongoing poverty";[7] whereas tarot cards are intended to reveal the future, Fajardo's work uses them to examine the past. Art critic Alice Guillermo called Fajardo the "high priestess of tarot".[8]

Fajardo co-founded the Philippine Art Educators Association (PAEA) in 1967 whose purpose is to train teachers on how to better teach art within the school system.[9] Observing how art education in the Philippines was primarily focused in training students for art production, Fajardo advocated for teaching traditional Filipino "folk art" and better exploring the "Philippine identity" through art.[10] [11]

Fajardo's works have been exhibited internationally, including Singapore, Cuba, Brisbane, Paris, and at home in Santa Cruz, Laguna.[12]

In the late 1990s, Fajardo was the curator of the Vargas Museum.[13]

Awards and honors

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brenda Fajardo . . 9 November 2023.
  2. News: Art can be one's salvation . . Lolarga . Elizabeth . 8 October 2011 . 9 November 2023.
  3. Web site: Brenda Fajardo . Datuin . May Flaudette . AwareWomenArtists.com . 8 November 2023.
  4. Web site: Philippine Art and Culture and Women in the Arts . . 8 November 2023.
  5. Web site: Portrait of the Filipina as an Artist: The Women of ManilArt 2018 . Pagdilao . Marc . lifestyleasia-onemega.com . 14 September 2018 . 8 November 2023.
  6. Book: Boyer . Robert H. . Dalisay . June Poticar . Sundays in Manila . 2010 . 9789715426305 . 99 . . 10 November 2023.
  7. Powell . Danielle Culibao . 2021 . Liminality of Culture in Studio Art: A Biographical Investigation of a Second Generation Filipino American Experience . . 11 November 2023.
  8. Web site: Divining the Future, Revisiting the Past . Pauline . PluralArtMag.com . 10 October 2017 . 8 November 2023.
  9. Book: Joubert . Lindy . Educating in the Arts: The Asian Experience: Twenty-Four Essays . 19 June 2008 . 9781402063879 . 24 . . 10 November 2023.
  10. Book: Costes-Onishi . Pamela . Artistic Thinking in the Schools: Towards Innovative Arts /in/ Education Research for Future-Ready Learners . 11 July 2019 . 9789811389931 . 261 . . 11 November 2023.
  11. Alagao . Alvin Emmanuel G. . 15 August 2022 . Country, God, and the Sublime: Imaginative Reflections on the Life and Works of the Philippine Painter Ricarte Puruganan . .
  12. Web site: Brenda Fajardo as Mother Courage . Bautista . Kay . galeriey.com . 12 June 2013 . 11 November 2023.
  13. Web site: Boyer. Robert. Two Women Artists: Strong Filipino Women (5). VIA Times. 2010. 10 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230436/http://www.viatimes.com/_archive/vt_1204/philippines.html . 2 December 2013.