Karmina Santos October 23, 2016

4BIO3 Art
Appreciation

Gallery Visit

Untitled by R. Romanban
2014

Post Impressionism

When I came across this piece in the

gallery, I was intrigued by the details of the painting. I
asked the curator of the gallery what the
painting was called and he told me that it was unnamed when it was brought
to Manila. Originally, this was painted by the artist R. Romanban who is
based in Ilo-ilo City in Visayas. I could say that this painting is Post
Impressionism. This unnamed masterpiece still had a touch of impressionist
paintings where it depicted night landscape scenes. However, its in post
impressionism because it gives a touch of personal significance to the
painter. There is structure, order and the colors were used to sensitively
capture the image that the painter wanted to come across. It goes beyond
just a landscape portrayal of a busy street. In this oil on canvas painting, it
showcased a busy corner in a city in the Philippines not too long ago, when
Filipinos still had a simple lifestyle and kalesas roamed around. Given the
chance to interpret this art, I could say this is a depiction of the old
uncomplicated lifestyle of Filipinos, when it felt simple, pure and unassuming.
Maybe, this was what the painter envisioned his old city of Ilo-ilo was before
the dawn of technology arrived.

Silence by Jaypee Enriquez

Expressionism

We were roaming around

the galleries on the 3rd Floor of
SM megamall when my friends
and I came across this painting. I loved it instantly and was compelled to
take a photo and place it in this paper. This painting by Jaypee Enriquez is an
example of an Expressionism painting. In an expressionism painting, it aims
to elicit the feelings or emotions of the painter as he or she was creating the
painting. It focuses on how the emotion is expressed and not the physical
reality of the painting. The girl in the painting seems to be covered by a
blanket, hiding behind her hair, holding it in front of her face as there is a
gush of leaves passing by. As this is happening she is looking intently at the
audience in front of her. From this interpretation I could say that while the
artist was creating this beautiful painting he was trying to mirror an emotion
full of mystery and intrigue. His painting reflected how he was trying to show
a little part of himself, and expressing who he is by showing a small part of
the girls face and yet keeping his emotions, how he felt in secret still as the
girl is covered up. For me, this painting felt like an invitation to get to know
the girl in the painting more. To show that a person has depth has secrets he
or she isnt willing to share, and that there is more than what meets the eye.

Cleansing by Edwin Martinez

Fauvism

Among all of the paintings that I was

able to view on the day we visited
the galleries in Megamall, this
haunted me most. This painting entitled
Cleansing by Edwin Martinez was an example of Fauvism. Fauvism comes
from the French word Fauves which means wild beasts. It showcases a bit of
distortion and more of wild coloring in an emotional painting. The wild
coloring is unnatural and shows a bit of abstraction. Making use of blues and
dark hues with a bit of a distorted image of a child made me classify this as
Fauvism. This painting with the child in formal attire with a black mask on
depicts a boy who may be hiding from the world. The dark tones of the
painting make it appear as if the boy is very unhappy with his masked state
and is need of cleansing, as the painting is entitled. His piercing gaze
appears as a look of discontent and unhappiness with his current state. Him
holding the handkerchief on his left hand signifies him being ready to
submerge it on the water that is present, all he has to do is reach out for it a
little and slowly reveal his true self by unmasking or wiping his face. More
often than not we go by in our day to day activities under a mask of who we
truly are. This makes us miserable and dissatisfied as we do not reveal our
true self. We have opportunities to unmask our real selves and cleanse us
from the lie we have been living every day, it just takes a little reaching out
and wiping off from the waters below to reveal our true selves. Maybe in the
end, it could be something good for us, a type of cleansing or rebirth.

Cheshire Cat by Camille Dela Rosa

Surrealism

The painting Cheshire Cat by Camille Dela Rosa features the art
movement of Surrealism. It tackles the fine line between dream and reality
wherein it incorporates the mythical character of the Cheshire cat by the
mountains near the ocean. The cat can also be found on the clouds. This
Cheshire cat is a widely known fictional character from the novel Alice in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This character is an expert of camouflage and
can magically transport itself from one place to another. This painting is
surrealism because it merges the conscious and unconscious parts of reality,
a cat that can camouflage itself and a real Cliffside by the ocean creating a
bizarre world where reality and dreams converge. In this world, human
beings have no control and the augmented reality has all the power. For me
this painting showcases how we are all like Alice, trapped in our own
Wonderland where the Cheshire cat may exist. In life, we may be unable to
explain certain phenomena or we may see things that may seem unreal or
unbelievable and yet this does not make the world any less than what it is.
We may perceive the world in different ways but it is how we live through
this perception, it is how we get by day to day that makes this land our own
Wonderland.

We visited the Art Galleries in SM Megamall last October 17, 2016. From left
to Right, Angelo Tolentino, Lean Inciong, Kim Yap, Karmina Santos (the one
submitting this paper), Gendelline Rigor, Bea Ong and Tim Tan of 4BIO3