EXCLUSIVE TO THE GLOBE Portraits of Despair, Resignation and Hope
EXCLUSIVE TO THE GLOBE
Portraits of Despair, Resignation and Hope
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco
Published in: Philippine Daily Globe, October 21, 1990
Bencab's 20 pieces on Baguio City after the killer quake will not be seen in Manila, bound as they are for the Chuck Levitan Gallery in New York.
TO dramatize the terror and confusion that they themselves experienced during the July 16 killer quake, a group of Baguio performance artists led by Rene Aquitania staged a startling recreation of the event at the Penguin Cafe in Malate, swooping down on unsuspecting habitues and shaking their composure along with their tables and chairs. Some of the clients later complained to the management—something that Baguio residents may never get to do except in their prayers.
The "City of Pines" is a little more fortunate than other places in the quake-ravished North. Because it is home to a large community of committed artists, filmmakers and photographers, the saga of its devastation and continuing agony is even now being recorded in the art of its sons and daughters. This has helped to generate a special sympathy for the good people of Baguio, a sympathy that usually wanes and vanishes when the newsreels are trained elsewhere.
Certainly one of Baguio's most illustrious residents is Filipino painter and printmaker Benedicto Cabrera, otherwise known by the acronym Bencab. Art critic Cid Reyes describes him in casual conversation as "the new Manansala", in obvious reference to the huge demand for his past and current produce. Indeed, the quality of Bencab's work has been consistently high enough to deserve the attention and respect it has commanded for nearly two decades. And possibly no other artist of his generation has had such a profound and lasting influence on our emerging artistic vocabulary.
An inveterate chronicler of events with a poetic sense of history and culture, Bencab is best known for his adaptations of colonial Pinoy memorabilia, his focus on the alienation and neglect experienced by our expatriates abroad, and his quasi-political reflections on the "People's Power Revolution" of February 1986. Between these high-water marks in his exalted career, he has earned the admiration of his own peers—not only for his talent and virtuosity, but also for the remarkable artistic integrity that has made him turn his back, again and again, on the greater financial rewards that would have come with endless repetition. Each passing phase has introduced a new Bencab, radically evolved in style, focus and sentiment.
It was Annie Sarthou of the Luz Gallery who offered us an exclusive "peek" at Bencab's new series of "quake-inspired" paintings destined for the Chuck Levitan Gallery in New York where it will be unveiled on October 21. The artist was hosting a private preview of the collection at his studio in Upper Quezon Hill in Baguio City, and Annie—who would be among the overnight guests—told us that she could secure the complete set of documentary photographs for the Globe. Since the 20 paintings on canvas and handmade paper would never be shown in Manila as a series, it would probably be the only real chance for anyone here to see all of the works at a glance. We jumped at the opportunity.
As it turned out, the photos weren't ready by the time Annie left Baguio, and Bencab had to deliver them himself on his way to the airport enroute to New York. The Globe crew owes a debt of gratitude to Annie, Ben and photographer Syl Soriano for rushing us the transparencies and prints.
Entitled Aftermath, Bencab's latest collection is described in the handscrolled flyer as one that "focuses on the trauma experienced by the Filipino after a series of unfortunate events hit the country—beginning with the July earthquake (and) followed by typhoons and the Gulf War". Bencab himself has said that his latest work is "an attempt to depict the fear, then the uncertainties and the anxieties" brought on by that chain of misfortune. If so, then Aftermath is the portrait of a brave and hardy people that has learned from the harshness of its existence to surmount despair with resignation. And in that lies our own glimmer of hope.
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “EXCLUSIVE TO THE GLOBE Portraits of Despair, Resignation and Hope” (page 1 of 1), Philippine Daily Globe, October 21, 1990
