Manila Art 2019
by Nacion and Roel Obemio
Opening Reception: October 9, 2019
Exhibition Dates: October 9 to 13, 2019
Venue: SMX Convention Center Aura
3rd Level, SM Aura Premier
26th Street Cor. 1630
Mckinley Parkway, Taguig Metro Manila
Growing up in Cagayan de Oro City, the young Roel Obemio would do his chores, as any child from his neighborhood would. But unlike many of his age, he recalls resting after them by spending time outside at night admiring the moon, and daydreaming of far off places, away from the confines of his world. He would imagine cities and countries he hasn’t been to; or even those that are not in any ordinary map. He would create imaginary worlds and that made him happy. That he would end up as an animator for the Hanna-Barbera studio when he grew up, seemed predestined. Penciling and coloring impossible scenarios and infusing humor while doing so, seems like the natural progression for a child who loved to make believe. But that was not the final destination for the child that was Obemio. His talent would bring him to paint, and he would paint with happiness. His characters are rotund and serene, never wanting, never discontent. He would paint them in fantastic settings – based on memories of places he loved, or of places he dreams of going to. He would make them pay homage to his favorite art pieces by composing his subjects posed and composed as them. And he would always inflect these works from canon with touches of contemporary to make them whimsical and humorous. He would paint revered icons and insert objects from the present, poking humor at the established order by doing so. His childlike innocence playing tricks on us, through sophisticated brushwork and imagery.
17th Journey, Roel Obemio’s 13th solo exhibition presented by Galerie Francesca, is a series of fantastical jaunts into canon, borrowed imagery from history, and personal imagination. Collectively they establish Obemio’s iconography of desire. With cheeky jest, he would lay in a historic image, an Xbox or a Louis Vuitton bag, objects that contemporary society covets. He would make Venus take selfies with an Iphone. He would make Maria Clara be a Mickey Mouse fan. Or inject acid humor on romance and intimacy. Mildly iconoclastic, his works are full of incongruities that draw attention to themselves and tell us “Look, are we not funny?” In all the works, he would take us on a short pleasurable excursion; and we are enrapt by his masterful storytelling that has been honed through five decades of life. He would tell a private joke, and we know the codes and laugh agreeably. We covet, we desire, for we are creatures of appetite. And his plump subjects seem to imply it is alright to indulge. And secretly we smile, and agree. We know deep inside, the joke is on us. And it is in familiar candor, and great skill, that he manages to still make us smile in spite of ourselves.
Francis Nacion’s works have always dealt with popular Filipino imagery. The typical genre of his works – mother and child, a child at play, courtship, harvest, and other themes of sublime happiness and abundance – are archetypes of the Filipino idyll. They are paradigms based on reality, but idealized to the point of becoming iconic. They are our aspirations; our fantasies for our near or distant future; our hopes by which we pray our present will eventually take shape from. Using his signature sgraffito techniques (scratching and etching designs while the oil paint is still wet); he images traditional Filipino values in a stylized and contemporary way, similar to what the great Fernando Amorsolo has done for his generation.
For his 11th Solo Exhibition at ManilArt 2019, Nacion continues to present these iconic imagery which represents abundance and our core Filipino values. Most of the works in this exhibition follow the mold of Amorsolo’s presentation of Filipina women: women with fruits, women working, women in repose – in a tribute to each and every Filipina, who in turn represents our Inang Bayan. Each painting is rendered with attention to intricate detail, very similar to the elaborate embroidery found in our barong, and in many of the local art forms which we take pride of as Filipinos.
Complementing his highly detailed imagery are equally ornate, locally carved wooden frames designed specifically for his works in collaboration with local masters of the trade from Betis, Pampanga. By enlisting the help of our master woodcarvers, Nacion does his share in invigorating local crafts which share the same core values and have evolved from the lowland Christian agricultural ways of life.
His figures are almost always depicted with only half of the clearly depicted, symbolizing that public – private dichotomy each of us has. Contrasting with the intricate details of the clothes and surroundings, his figures are often naïf, symbolic of the uncomplicated approach many Filipinos have in relation to life – a calm acceptance, an intuitive knowing of our place in society, contentment with the uncomplicated, which sits paradoxically well with our almost baroque penchant for embellishment. This is true of Nacion’s vision of the contemporary Filipino – simple and still clinging to time honored values, while living in a highly complex, global world.