BY JAY BAUTISTA |
Having visited Iloilo City recently, the province is up and
about with preparations for the APEC summit this coming November. Rich in
natural and cultural heritage this sunny city of western visayas was chosen as
one of the venues for some of APEC’s more important activities. Bustling or better
yet, the main roads were smoking with the air filled in by the bevy mix of sand
and cement from non-stop construction work. With infrastructure being built
here and there, one would get an idea that progress has indeed arrived for the
Ilonggos and there to stay.
With much pun intended comes Ang.gulo: Three-man Exhibition of Arel Zambarrano, Leoniel Cerbas, and
Richard Dela Cruz at Artes Orientes whose perfect timing speak both of the state of disarray these artists are
thriving and a sordid reminder that what we see in Iloilo is not exactly what’s
there. In hindsight it could be more of Iloilo’s sampler of its contemporary visual
arts than a blatant critique of its socio-political milieu. When its artists
concern themselves with the impending reality than doing say portraits of
celebrities with the Pope, or fantasy mother-and-childs or school of coy fish
for demanding clients; when artists poke at what ills our already badly beaten country
mired black-and-blue by corruption, and greed. Instead of rendering them in the
usual in-your-face-realism these artists seeks to poignantly interpret them in
an artistic genre of their making, culling from their own personal
experiences.
experiences.
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| Tricky Trail 2 |
Few artists can lay claim to be among the subjects they depict. Being a farmer's son, Dela Cruz knows how it is to till the land they have yet to own, toiling in dignity and by perseverance; how hard it is to labor and still not get enough from what you work for. The irony of it all those who plant rice are those without it. Tricky Trail 2 clearly portrays this sad plight not only of farmers but all those who carry the heavier burden of making the most in what so little. In an almost three dimensional manner, painstakingly rendered in a serene yet overwhelmingly detailed strokes in Dela Cruz’s working multitude. There is loudness in silence as one could hear the groan of the mass assembled in unison. The collective echoes of their empty stomach unwillingly trading half told truths over meager earning in their average daily grind.
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| Babuwaya |
The overpowering double
whammy in Babuwaya lords it over a
plethora of the exploited while being pitted on an unequal set up—those who put
a lot of effort are less rewarded. In this situation everyone feeds the glutton
in the politician who gets more out of his bloated budget. There is grandness
in the manner of how Dela Cruz composes yet he keeps their dignity by freely
arranging his elements like a overpopulated tableau on stilts.
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| Artist's Shoes |
In Artist’s Shoes Arel Zambarrano continues the lesser travelled
artistic road immortalized in his P25 shoe bought in a nearby thrift shop. It
has been a witness to his triumphs, tragedies and the inner conflicts of his
existence. His brilliance is evident in the diptych Garden of Self Realization as handle of his symbols morphed into
his battered footwear epitomizing how his art has struggled--unkempt, deformed
and tattered. Merged with his signature needles, Zambarrano likes his painting
muddy and less formal manner. How this visual style will evolve is something to
look forward to.
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| Garden of Self Realization |
Moving Forward
comes at a time when everything these days is short, easy and bite-size. It is
a reaction to the kind of relentless pursuit for things arbitrary yet
artificial. Cerbas manages to control his haste by choosing his battles. In his
alter ego represented by the fighting fish that guided him like a lodestar in a
wide open field called uncertainty and confusion. Done in overlapping with
transparent layering, he starts priming with wash similar how one does watercolor
before finishing off with monotone acrylic.
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| Moving Forward |
As in any kind of unfair
practice wealth has often been at the expense of the unmindful many that have
been abused enough to blind injustice done by the false brightness of polish deceiving
and disguising everything under an increasing profit. Sa Ilalim ng Kinang Cerbas reminisces many drawings depicting an authoritarian
regime trampling on its people. Done in resin, behind the shiny shoes is a
revolting throng fighting its collective right to emancipation.
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| Sa Ilalim ng Kinag |
When life hands more than
half of the population in dire poverty, when everything around you is politically
orchestrated, for these three artists the last thing you do is wallow in your quagmire.
In disturbing the peace by fighting for change in one’s consciousness one
artwork at a time. Or in their case, make that three.
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