SIX artists have masterfully captured Philippine rural scenes on canvas and on clay. However, what makes these bucolic scenes special is that these are pictures that six artists have whisked off from the sugarcane fields of Negros.
With realism as their artistic expression, we can say that these realists defy modern artistic output by preserving actual details that have prevailed through the centuries pegged on the question, “What makes Negros special?”
“Laragway sang Negros” exhibits 30 pieces of art as a keepsake of scenes that are too familiar and probably those that we take for granted. Chalmer Relatorres’ “Sacadas” (acrylic on canvas, 24” x 18”) shows farm harvesters taking a rest on a cart. A truck is at the background filled with sugarcane parked on a cleared field.
One of the two female painters, Annalyn Trespicio, painted “Antes Pa-uma” and “Antes Panyaga,” both acrylic with impasto gel on canvas (36” x 24”). The former has a green theme amidst tall maturing canes while the latter shows the browns of a harvested field.
Divinia Penaflor diverted from the defined brush strokes by creating dreamy smudged landscapes in “Afternoon Shadows Quietly Creepin” and “Field Bursting with Joy in One Ordinary Day,” acrylic on canvas (9” x 12”). These landscapes are of farm roads lined with trees, the one that barefoot children might take to get to school.
Children get special treatment in the masterful hands of established terracotta artist Ramon de los Santos. Thirteen small-sized figures in two’s depict the simple pleasures of the farm and how these children experience joy amidst nature right down to their oversized feet. There are “Ba-o,” “Tubo,” and “Pamunit” in mixed media.
The fifth artist is Roland Dayon. Among his six works are oil on canvas (16” x 20”) “Pamunit sa Sapa” and “Suod nga Mag-abyan.” The carefree air and purity of his farm scenes might put a lump in your throat.
And so might the sixth realist, Leonardo Samson Jr., with his family-themed “Pagpangabudlay ni Tatay para kay Inday” and “Nagpauli si Inday sa Barrio,” acrylic on canvas (9”x12”).
“Laragway sang Negros” opened last September 20 at the Museo Negrense de La Salle with a beautiful rendition of Philippine folk songs by trio Oscar Moises (on the violin), Ram Martinez (guitar), and Matty Miranda joining in on the vocals. Such voices! Such talent! I wanted an encore!
The singers have left, but one can still catch “Laragway sang Negros” until October 21.
