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| Hey Jude, Come Together |
Being both a self-taught painter and musician for more than half of his creative life, Neri happily grew up in a realist neighborhood of Caloocan where he was honed as the willing apprentice by senior Mabini artists. With paint brushes in tow, priming their every canvas at any particular day of the week. All the while listening to the music of the bygone years spanning at least 30 years would naturally be heard in Neri’s entire household even extending in the midst of their neighborhood ambience.
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| Moonriver |
Through all those years, Neri listened intently, imbibing the smooth crooning of Frank Sinatra, the blaring trumpet of Louis Armstrong, the yeah, yeah, yeah of the Beatles by heart, even backsliding to the danceable steps of the elevating moves of a gyrating Michael Jackson. The strength of these pieces is evident on how Neri is well-versed with the musicality of these tunes that even their respective memorized lyrics were literally coming out of his ears as he was painting these masterpieces. It was in the silence of the ongoing community quarantine that he heard them all at their loudest.
In Jukebox, Neri relied heavily on nostalgia as he deeply reminisced his own memories when life was plain simple and grossly fun. It is in remembering one’s significant past that we lighten up and learn a value or two. Suddenly through Neri’s paintings we are transported back in time when we first heard these songs and remember that first kiss, that first dance, how we felt alive and who we chose to be with. Neri was in his usual being as an artistic provocateur, with his own visual language bordering on irreverence and humor. His appreciation for beauty is boundless as his sense of composition is organic and not theorized by any rules in art school or movement. Think of free form jazz in a kundiman overture.
In Come Together Neri situates “the most written about, the most listened to and the most imitated” band in the world staging a performance before rural folk in an idyllic Amorosolo-inspired setting. An obvious and even oblivious ode to the National Artist as he was always been an influence to Neri.
Another Amorsolo
appropriated scene is replicated in Billie Jean. This time Michael Jackson is joined by the seductive Marilyn
Monroe while entertaining in front of the people celebrating along the church patio
in what seem like a Fiesta revelry.
In merging pop icons in Philippine landscapes, some are familiar and other actual places he frequents, Neri has gone bold and more whimsical with his images. He always borders his “what-ifs” with an impactful pun intended to the situation. Admittedly, there were many artists who also induced popular culture in the visual arts yet it is only Neri who upgrades the discipline by using Philippine culture as soundboard for a primer. He explores our identity rooted in postcolonial jab in brushstrokes while retaining a painterly jest and light-spirited.
Neri highlights that
Filipinos are music lovers and songs have a way of remembering the milestones
in our lives. These soundtracks are deeply embedded in our heritage and in
honoring these memories Neri paints them with layers of influence. He even titles
them in accordance to the titles of the songs themselves.
Marilyn Monroe, representing Hollywood glitter and the imperial beauty of the Blonde, has been a recurring fixture in Neri’s past shows, in All About Eve makes another appearance. This time in front of the native tribesmen. A strong nationalist sentiment that will not go away. Neri admits we are immersed with popular culture by sentimentality that it overshadows the indigenous inherent in us.
Neri is an old soul trapped in a modernist body. He watches old films and favors to listen to old songs in his spare time. He even wears a fedora hat as part of his overall packaging. While watching these films or coming across a memorable image, it completely overwhelms him. It is the image that speaks to him. At the right time comes, when there will be an accumulation of images, Neri will remember it and compose his elements around this main subject.
Moonriver is Neri’s take from what was the theme song of the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This piece features Audrey Hepburn on top of the moon, together with an amalgam of personalities highlighted by General Antonio Luna with roses. Louis Armstrong makes a cameo role serenading what is supposed to be a romantic elopement between two diverse icons.
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| Billie Jean |
Reshuffling history, popular culture, and the contemporary is Neri’s preoccupation with new world order on canvas. Mind you, he is not preachy, he just proposes you with an inquiry towards our identity and politics in an impasto textured manner. Through Neri’s paintings he wanted the viewer to reminisce what he was and how far we have become since he heard these songs. Then maybe we will feel good about ourselves for a while especially there is still no vaccine for the virus in site. Despacito is Neri’s reaction that we will survive this quagmire. Reminiscent of how we surpassed the Spanish influenza during the early 20th century, the current pandemic may even unite us as we heal in unison.
Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Everyone can identify with this Louis Armstrong classic What a Wonderful World as it contemplates on the grievous mishaps that happened in our midst—that the coronavirus has altered the way we live and prioritized what is significant and meaningful in our lives, in the end it still is a life worth living.
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| All About Eve |
Just Another Woman In Love provides a light banter of a situation wherein a gambler got enticed in a squalor. As he was about to send money to his wife, he was lured to betting for a red rooster only to lose in the end. The red here not only symbolizes love but also of fury when the wife fumed mad at the wasted situation and opportunity.
Jukebox seeks to return to the past not just for the sake of memorable longing for what has been lost but as a presentation of a story of the Filipino that has since evolved and emancipated. In so doing Neri takes the plight of musicians most of whom do not have a record label anymore. All can be heard on Spotify or any digital platform, at a time when record collecting is making a comeback. My Way is self-reflective in a way that if we want change it should start with us—as depicted in the road leading back to where it began: you.
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| Don't Stop Me Now |
Don’t Stop Me Now finds Freddie Mercury with The Beatles crossing along the busiest intersections in Antipolo. It is that junction where Neri frequents while doing his errands and going to the market. Similar to this is that Neri is now at his own crossroad as a mid-career artist that he longs for relevance. He is always on the lookout for new ways of seeing that will speak the times. That one can appreciate contemporary Philippine art while viewing rock and roll on canvas.
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