He used to be the high school kid in the neighborhood who did landscapes in crayon for his favorite teachers for nothing. But by then, he was already familiar with the great masters and had already formed a curious opinion: the works they did that took them weeks or months to finish could be done in lesser time now - with all the incredible pigments available in the market, with easy access to the countless tones and hues that had taken the artists of yore countless hurs to prepare today's artist's have lesser problems, he said.
He inferred with some degree of confidence that those masterpieces could be replicated. I just listened, saying nothing. But he said then that he was awed by Da Vinci and Renoir because their works were 'meant to be deciphered'. He referred to some points in their work that would reveal miniature people at close scrutiny. Then he showed me once a copy of some of their work from a thick and old art book. He moved his index to certain points to prove it. I blankly nodded, but still could not figure out his elusive characters.
Then I forgot all about it. I knew he would take up architecture. Wrong. And that so displeased his father. Probably the muses of the night and his invisible people haunted him in sleep. I know that happens.
Because for the next seven consecutive years he would surprise me garnering art awards in various inter-university competition in Manila or making presence at the annual phases of the PLDT directory-cover national competitions in the big city. By his second year at FEU College of Fine Arts in 1998, his entry for the Shell National Competition was awarded third place, chosen from more than a thousand entries.
I did check his work "Poligamiya" at the Robinson's Galleria Exhibit Hall. It had smokey colors and swirling strokes that I had not seen before, I thought, and quite different alright... His father, who came to see him receive his award was there, and beaming.
To date, he has garnered more than 20 such honors, his works have been exhibited at the Manila Metropolitan Museum, Ayala Museum, GSIS Museo ng Sining, SM Megatrade Center, Ugnayan Gallery and other art venues, he has already established a group of artists, "Dagta", recently mounting an exhibit at the National Museum (Marinduque Branch), and Tahanan sa Isok in Boac. He now drives a sports car, is also into antiques, and business ideas...
I did not have to check if ever he had changed the art views he told me years ago. His brief account of a work he entered to the Bonifacio Painting Competition organized by the National Historical Institute (NHI), would to me suffice, you see. It was just hours before the competition deadline. He still had not touched his brushes and palette for the composition that had gestated in his mind for sometime. With just about four hours to work on it, he took on his canvass feverishly till the sun was up. Wondering if the work (yeah, he finished it just the same), would be accepted - oil certainly takes sometime to dry up - he delivered that singular surge of masterpiece, a kind of realistic-impressionistic rendition of the Great Plebeian.
The face looked very old and greyed, a startling contrast to the still melting colors and the young artist's fresh brushes and strokes. A telling and rusting bolo rendered below the unsmiling portrait appeared to sum up the hero's essence.
They phoned him a few days later. His Andres Bonifacio was perfect for the grand prize of fifty grand, a new master work permanently house now at the Bonifacio Centennial Museum in Maragondon, Cavite.
His turn now, I guess: RAYMOND GO!
