NotaBene
ART-RAGEOUS
by Junette A. Soriano
There are painters and there are Painters. Naturally, the capital letter belongs to those who have been elevated in the altars of the Muses. Locally, the spelling is national artist award plus a portfolio of print releases.
These Painters are collectively tagged as "brand names" and their oeuvres are priced at museum levels and/or as investments, well beyond the affordability of mortals like you and me.
It leaves us with THE painters. They are in the R-O-F-L category, at least in terms of behavior. Here go some of these.
In the early eighties, when Ibarra de la Rosa was an art professor at Feati University, a group of his students banded themselves as ALITIKTIK. De la Rosa was their mentor and friend. Shortly since bonding season, them students started dressing in tattered jeans, and began sporting the ponytail - ala' Ibarra. Footwear was strictly optional. Naturally, like their mentor, they were impressionists.
They have since disbanded. They went their ways to many parts of the world. The few who stuck it out in the visual arts number less than five.
An artist from the Alitiktik group, nOLI eSPANOLA, walked from Divisoria to Las Pinas, via the South Super Highway, a distance of about 45 km.
He knocked at our door, politely requested to have some water and coffee and proceeded to go home via the same route - still on foot. I found out about it two years after! Espanola became popular with the pen and ink medium and did a sold-out show at Casa Manila. Some of his works now hang at Max’s in Alabang Town Center. He is presently underwater - a series in oil.
Have you ever known a person who became elated when his feet got infected? Artists only.
Noriel Alfonso, genre painter from eastern Rizal, developed allergy in both his feet. He could not walk, much less put on shoes or slippers. He stayed indoors for 6 months. And he was happy because he could paint without being disturbed.
Then, there is the tall tale about the "father of surrealism" in the Philippines, Ricky Laxamana. It was rumored that in one fit of artistic 'madness', he locked himself up for several months.
The late Robert Villanueva, a surreal buddy of Ricky, slept with his pet hamster for a while. Another pet, a white mouse joined him at the table during mealtimes. It must have been havoc when he brought girlfriends home. I don't know about the others but I ran out of his studio screaming.
We all know that *Van Gogh cut off his ears. He was insane. But he was a great artist.
The level of artistry can not be qualified in terms of outrageous behavior, though. Outrageous behavior is never art. When a painter allows his behavior to flow into his art, the resultant art piece is something else.
Let us take a look.
Currently considered by some as the enfant terrible of modern painting in the Philippines, Jeffrey Tan is as good as they come by way of synthesizing his attitude into compositions on canvass. Angst-y is the closest description one can give to his oeuvres, which come in huge proportions - 3 ft by 5 ft. Word on the grapevine is that he can hardly handle his liquor, which gives way to a violent streak. As for his paintings, there is strength in color handling. The quasi-allegorical /biographical elements are ideal study for a Jungian advocate.
Artists are really capable of unpredictable conduct - for the laughter, for the books, for blogs and for art.
Once you start delving into this world, you will inevitably encounter them in that wonderful realm inhabited by madmen and geniuses alike. Take them as you will. The works of true artists invariably thrill.
Ciao. . .
*Nota Bene: Vincent Van Gogh (van go); 1853 – 1890, Dutch painter whose works made him the fountainhead of modern expressionist painting.
