tuesday, 14 feb 2012
business mirror
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| the talent |
THE effusive colors on
the canvases of Nunilon Bancaso’s works are deceiving. The use of what
seems like a limitless fondness for all the possible palettes in the
world appears to tell us of an artistry that is facile, if not charming.
A modifier that
stresses how a piece of art can charm is, however, dangerous; the
description can diminish the power of whatever message the artist wants
to convey. It is not that art should always fit itself with the armor of
gravitas but the works of Bancaso have all that—a majesty and a
hugeness that grab your way of seeing onto a way of believing.
In a brief
conversation with the artist, I found out that he does not have any
formal training as a painter, unless one calls the art education in his
high school a kind of training. His interest in arts has been sustained
in the seminary where he interacts with seminarians. Because if there is
one secret—or agenda—in his art, it is that this painter happens to be a
priest.
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| the sower |
I must
confess I was a bit wary of writing about Bancaso’s art because I do not
want religion as a filter in my liking or not liking it. In his earlier
exhibit, entitled Dulay (literally, “jar” or “pottery” in the Bikol
language), there was an almost in-your-face relationship between his
paintings and the ancient Christian metaphor about us being pots in the
hands of the Great Potter. Would I have been able to appreciate the
paintings had I not known about the biblical allusions? It must have
been difficult for me to appreciate the works then because as I think of
that exhibit, I could barely recall the works, although it was clear in
my mind that Bancaso played around and succeeded in his experimentation
with textures.
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| the lost sheep |
A mystical leap happens in the works of Bancaso that are being exhibited right now in Naga
City. The Christian/Catholic messaging is still present, with some
works labeled as depiction of selected parables, stories meant to relay
discourses on what is good and what is bad. There is one difference
though: the images that bear these stories have been abstracted to the
point of cosmic mystery. It is as if one is at the ledge of a privileged
perspective scanning the universe for the birthing of forms and figures
that will ultimately stand for the fundamental mysteries of life. The
pieces themselves are not large by any gallery standard, most of them
are medium-sized at 30"x40". Instead of being limiting, the frames call
our attention to the content and composition that are within the frames
but are blessed with the surpluses of an epic retelling.
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| the ten bridesmaids |
One
work is called The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, a story of
10 women awaiting the arrival of the groom. Five of the women, the wise
ones, brought with them sufficient oil while another five did not. The
story has been discussed as a story on the appropriate readiness for the
coming of the Bridegroom, who is Christ. In Bancaso’s hand, the tale is
told by way of a diptych, created by demarcating the frame with two
color fields: on the left, a bright field of egg yolk and pleasant
russet and vermillion; on the right, mouse-grays and ink. Common to the
two fields are the constant presence of five circles and the literalness
of the bright hues for good thinking and the darker colors for the
confused and dimwittedness of the other virgins.
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| the mustard seed |
What
if the viewers do not know anything about the parables? I expected the
painter to tell me they should but he gave me two proposals. One is that
they could “enjoy” the painting by trying to find in the recognizable
figures the elements of the story embedded in the great parables. The
other option is for the viewers to change the title.
I
am not sure if the artist was humoring me but, as I moved from one
painting to another—from one parable to another—I began to see the
titles as an unsparing and trenchant guide or even indices to an
experience about one’s religion. If I am a pilgrim, the parables could
stand as a map that is both cartographic leads to lessons about the
depths of one’s faith and grids to recondite passages. But “humored”
already by the artist, I could also ignore the titles and partake in the
feast of colors and be swept in the swirl and grandeur of this
universe.
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| the net |
Some
titles triumph. The piece on The Parable of the Dragnet is an engaging
chaos of greens and blues with white lines supremely running as ruled by
destiny. A tiny red speck hints of a birth of a star or the dying of
one. If this parable is about heaven being cast across humanity as a
net, then the title elucidates the Biblical reminder even as the images
are about a cosmos being managed by a divine intelligence. Two lessons
in one.
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| the prodigal son |
The
Parable of the Prodigal Son is an unabashed depiction of the three
personalities involved in the story: the son who stayed, the son who
strayed, and the father who forgave. All represented by three circles
marked by red, purple and blue-green. The wide swath of colors though
might as well be the cosmic proportion of the lessons about forgiveness
and time passing through everyone’s thread of fate.
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| the pearl |
In this young
priest’s homily, the stories are big and encompassing as murals etched
in the heavens. That Nunilon Bancaso admits he has no formal lessons in
art, it would preposterous to mention influences here, and assume some
lineage to other schools of art. For reference though, I see in Bancaso
the intense coloration of the Russian abstract artists. The geometric
obsession prevails, with circles and lines recognizable amid dashes of
primary colors, the great red, green and blue. That is not, however, the
source of appeal for his works. In Bancaso’s works, you get this
feeling you are always looking up, or gazing beyond the horizon. It is a
positioning that makes the way to transcendence easier. Which is really
the direction of all parables.
****
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| the weeds |
The
exhibit is on view at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga City after
having been moved from the Café des Artes, an art haven managed by
Bernadette “Bidibidi” De Los Santos, in the small town of Baao, Camarines
Sur. The place represents a major stirring of art activities in the
region. Photographs of the art pieces are courtesy of the artist and the
Café des Artes.
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