MY LIFE AS AN ARTIST

By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol

I was born and raised in Tondo, Manila. I first took up Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, but quit after my second year. I shifted to architecture, then tried engineering, and finally, in my mid-twenties, I resumed, though failed again to finish, my art studies at the University of the East. I began working as a professional artist in 1981, when I got employed as political cartoonist for the newspaper, People`s Journal Tonight. After my short initial stint as political cartoonist there, I decided to paint full-time after being inspired by a book on Dali. It was the declining years of the Marcos regime and many paintings being done and exhibited at that time were political in content. I rode the trend and painted social realist canvases, but with a surrealist twist. In 1984, my painting Hungry Child Dissected (below left) won the top prize in the First Metrobank Annual Painting Competition.  It was a most prestigious competition then as it is at present.

Hungry Child Dissected

When I got married in 1985, I worked briefly as an art gallery assistant at the Galeria delas Islas. Then in 1987, I returned to political cartooning with the We Forum Publications of Joe Burgos. It was there that my skill in pen and ink drawing was honed. I also learned a lot about political cartooning from Mr. Burgos. He told me that the most witty cartoon is the one that is most visual, meaning, the lesser the text and captions, the better. So, that axiom became my guide in cartooning. I always strive to impart the message sans text and captions. I didn`t always succeed of course, but I`ve created through sheer persistence, several pieces that spoke eloquently of my message without saying it, so to speak. (sample below right)

The Commander-in-Chief

The time came when the paper ceased being a daily. Thus, I took on another job as educational book illustrator to make full use of my time. I started with Phoenix Publishing House, then Rex, Abiva and Bookmark. That was way back in 1988. The highlight of my career in textbook illustration was the series of full-color cover art I did for Phoenix Publishing. It was while doing them that I developed the style that would make a good impression on publishers. When I approached Rex printing and Tahanan Books, two of several houses here currently engaged in picture book publishing, their publishers reacted favorably after leafing through my portfolio. The moment suitable manuscripts came along, I was offered the job of illustrating them. So far, seven picture books which I illustrated were published: First Around the Globe; Tamales Day; The Origin of the Frog; The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel; Once Upon a Time; Long Ago and Far Away; and The Mermaid's Castle. My eight picture book, Mga Modernong Alamat Volume 4 will be out in the market anytime soon. (below: sample illustration for Alamat ng Palay)

Miss Butterfly

My first exhibit of fairy tale illustrations took place on September 8, 2001, at the Crucible Gallery. Featured in the exhibit were the original illustrations for the book, Once Upon a Time (right). The exhibit opening was very, very soft: no guests-of-honor, no ribbon-cutting, no cocktails. But there were sales. Of the eleven illustrations on show, nine were sold. No mean feat in these persistently lean times. Although I was disappointed that my show was completely ignored by art writers here, the flattering comments of the ordinary gallery-goers lifted my spirit. Among the flurry of praises heaped my way, none flattered me more than someone`s remark that I was perhaps the Philippines` "own Maxfield Parrish".

My second solo show at the Crucible - which opened on March 13, 2007 - featured not only the illustrations for the book, Long Ago and Far Away (left), but also a suite of paintings belonging to my machismo series. (selected samples below) I guess I can adjudge this show more successful than the first, because aside from selling several artworks, the show was also noticed by the art critic Constantino Tejero. His feature on me (see bottom) appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) on June 25 - a day I expected would be rather dismal, because it was my birthday and I was again impecunious. You can just imagine my surprise and elation upon seeing in the PDI's art news page his review of my show. I was so excited that I immediately rushed out of the house to buy several copies more of the paper.

Happy Man  / Corrupt Bureaucrat Dissected 2

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Supremacy of Eve

Seraglio Fantasy 

Before starting work on Once Upon a Time, I considered my illustrations for the books, The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel and The Origin of the Frog (left) as the apex of my achievement as illustrator. I have reason to because both of these books won recognition abroad; The Origin of the Frog was a runner-up in the 2000 Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration in Tokyo, while the excellence of my illustrations for the Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel landed me in the 2002 Honour List of the International Board on Books for Young People, based in Basel, Switzerland. But after seeing the illustrations of Gennady Spirin, Wayne Anderson and James Christensen in the books lent to me by my publisher Reni Roxas, my attitude changed. The truth that the quality of my works are still way below the world`s standard became evident to me. And my ego got deflated.













I still live in Tondo with my wife, Carina, and two sons. My sons, Bahgee and Kai both finished business courses and are now gainfully employed. Although they showed flair for art-making when they were kids, I didn`t encouraged them much. Having known firsthand the struggle and deprivation that an artist has to go through in life, I dissuaded them from taking up fine arts. But of course, if they really insisted on pursuing an art career, well, fine, I`ll give them my blessing. Happily, to my relief, they didn`t. They seem more intent on getting rich. An attitude I approve of very much, because perhaps, this father now have reason to expect a comfortable old age courtesy of the two.

The Right of an Artist to Choose His Own Subject Matter

By Arnel Mirasol

Eyes of Love, 2008, acrylic on paper

Not too long ago, I had an online tiff with Kirsten Anderberg, who describes herself as a feminist, historian, human rights activist, writer and musician. When I checked her profile info, I realized that she is also a 1997 graduate of the Whittier Law School. So, she must be a full-pledged lawyer by now. Awesome credentials indeed, anyway you look at it. Our discussion revolved mainly about the paintings I did of nude female models (sample above) featured in the several girlie magazines I kept at home. Kirsten wondered why I was doing only female nudes. She asked me to add male nude paintings to my repertoire, to which I answered that it's a big no-no for me, because naked male bodies disgust me. Apparently, she overlooked , the "hahaha..." I end my answer with to indicate that I'm just being facetious. She assailed my saying that, because she must have thought my disgust real. She quickly presumed that I was homophobic, or a hater of males. ( Kirsten and I were both wrong in our understanding of the word. Homophobia actually means fear or hatred of homosexuals. My apologies.) Well, what else should I say. I'm a true blue straight male who don't exactly relish painting models with dangling, or, God forbid!, tumescent sexual paraphernalia.

She next told me that she can't quite believed that I see nothing beautiful in Michelangelo's naked male sculptures (left). Well, which artist won't be entranced by them. In fact, when I was still in art school, Michelangelo's paintings of powerful males (below) were the first artworks I tried to emulate. I was so enthralled by him that I bought two books that featured his art.

But Kirsten should understand that when an artist admires male nude artworks, it doesn't follow that that artist will be obliged to also create male nude artworks. Not wanting to paint naked male bodies doesn't imply hating them, or the male specie in general. Kirsten insistence on their being one and the same is stupid logic. My fascination with Michelangelo's paintings of naked males is over, and I'm now pouring my efforts in painting, not only female nudes, but also picture book illustrations and other paintings depicting a variety of subject matter and styles.

Her supposedly observant eye then focused on a female nude painting I did - that of Marilyn Monroe in high heels - Maria Lina Desnuda (left). She remarked that Marilyn shouldn't be so glamorized because she led a sad life. She may have achieved fame and fortune, but she in truth felt exploited. That's why she succumbed to the lure of drugs and was so depressed that she eventually committed suicide. How true and how sad.

But what Kirsten said next, floored me. Here, unedited, are her exact words: " I ask you paint a few of her DEPRESSED, LONELY, DRUNK ALONE DESPERATE let's paint REAL portraits of who she was for once! Paint THOSE pictures, not this trite predictable made up crap of a "fairy tale" of what women never should want to be unless they want to be MISERABLE AND DIE YOUNG."

The nerve! Who does she think she is? She has no right whatsoever to dictate to me what I should paint next. It's none of her business if I want to paint a thousand portraits of a glamorized and orgasmic Marilyn Monroe oozing with sex appeal and joy. Kirsten opinions on my art doesn't count. She may affixed to her name all those highfalutin titles, but still, I won't consider her critique valid and relevant: because I can see at a glance that her knowledge about art is sparse and threadbare.





The only opinions about art I highly esteem and put a high premium on are those of my peers - my fellow artists; those of the art critics, art dealers, art collectors, and most especially those of my family and friends, because I know that they always mean well even if they negatively criticized my artworks. If she wanted more male nudes painted, then I, a male painter, shouldn't be the one she should pester. She should ask the female and gay painters she knows to do it for her. Maybe, she should also request the best painter nowadays of pin-up style female nudes (below), Olivia de Berardinis, to cease painting those naked women in porn poses and high heels, and instead start painting male nudes from now on. And Kirsten should also stop from lumping us painters of female nudes with pornographers. Nude female art is not pornography. The biggest pornographers are all there in the US. It would be best perhaps if she send Hugh Hefner, Bob Guccione and the other porn moguls there a facebook message each sometime. They might appreciate it and may add her perhaps to their list of friends. They'd be thrilled having a feminist as friend.

BYE-BYE HUNGRY CHILD DISSECTED

By Arnel Mirasol

Hungry Child Dissected, 1983, mixed-media, 2 X 4 feet. Elvira Gonzaga collection

Although Hungry Child Dissected is not my best work (as some friends say), it never fails to stir up pleasant memories every time I look at it. For good reason - that's because this painting marked my first success as a serious painter. It was one of the three Best Entry winners in the First Metrobank Annual Painting Competition in 1984. The other two Best Entry winners were the paintings August 6 by Roberto Feleo, and Mga Batang Pag-asa by Joel Marayag Ferrer. The competition format then did away with the usual First, Second, and Third Prizes. All of us three Best Entry winners received ten thousand pesos and a medal each. That amount may look measly compare to the more than two-hundred thousand pesos being awarded these days to the First prize winners of each Metrobank competition: but to the aspiring young painters of the nineteen-eighties, that was a lot of money. By the way, the ten thousand pesos prize money we received were not purchase prize; the painters retained ownership of their prize-winning works.

The competition format also called for another round of competition among us three Best Entry winners to determine the recipient of the Grand Prize -  an educational scholarship worth twenty-thousand pesos. We three were asked to submit another five paintings each for judging. There was a tie - Feleo and I both got the judges nod. The twenty-thousand pesos educational scholarship was split between us. But I never availed of it because I've decided that I had enough of schooling already.

Lupa, 1983, oil on canvas, 2 X 4 feet, Nicanor Tiongson collection

I had difficulty choosing which of the two paintings I considered as my best at that time to enter in the competition. Aside from Hungry Child Dissected, I also considered Lupa (right) as my entry. Close friends I consulted chose Lupa (Land), but I decided on Hungry Child because I saw it as more innovative. Lupa is rather conservative - the technique I used there hewed closely to the classical realist tradition. Hungry Child Dissected was part of a series of paintings I did where I began experimenting with new composition formats, painting techniques, and materials (below left). There were lots of straight lines in those paintings, and materials like ink, silver tempera, acrylic, and modeling paste were used freely. Magazine cut-outs and photographs were also incorporated into the paintings as collages. The most telling innovation, however, was my use of real fish-bones as collage material. After the triumph of Hungry Child Dissected, other painters were inspired to also used that collage material in their paintings, including another Metrobank Best Entry winner for 1985 - Lito Lopez  - who was a fellow student from the University of the East (UE),

Gift of War

Nueva Gomorrah

My UE Fine Arts friends: standing from left; Jerry Dean, Oca Magos, and Veng Gonzaga ; sitting from left; myself, Jojo Garcia, Dulce Ramos-Falsis, and Bert Falsis.

You'll ask why I'm bidding goodbye to Hungry Child Dissected. That's because, after keeping it in my possession for thirty years, I've finally decided to let it go. I offered it to another UE Fine Arts schoolmate, Elvira Gonzaga (above, at extreme right, second row), who didn't hesitate to buy it. This was her third purchase from me - she had already bought two of my paintings - Supremacy of Eve and Music is a Magic Carpet. Elvira - or Veng- is among my several UE friends who made good in life. I can even rank her near, or even at the top, of my list of successful Fine Art friends, because painters like me hold art collectors in high-esteem. They decide the fate of artists, and get to choose which artist will flourish and which artist will starve. Since we owe them our living, art collectors are like gods to us. I thank God therefore for art collectors.

JACK OF ALL STYLES

By Arnel Mirasol

Oca Magos and his painting Gitarista

Oca Magos astounds. He is what I'll call a jack of all styles who can nimbly shift from one painting technique to another seemingly without any prodigious effort. He can turn out an Amorsolesque pastoral as easily as cubistic figuration. True, hints of Ang Kiukok's style including his trademark angst are discernible in Oca's new works, but the bottled-up violence latent in Ang's style is not. Unlike Ang's figures who seem to be in perpetual revolt, Oca's mostly male figures displayed stoicism and acceptance of their lot. Art historians may classify Oca's work within the ambit of rural genre, but I propose a narrower category- Rural Pop- because of his usage of imagery ubiquitous in rural settings and the color schemes peculiar to pop art which are strident, garish, and loud.

Gitarista, oil on canvas, 18 X 24 inches, 2011

Deboto, oil on canvas, 24 X 30 inchea, 2013

 Neck to Neck, oil on canvas, 12 X 12 inches, 2013

Gintong Ani, oil on canvas, 30 X 30 inches, 2011

Oca was one classmate who even then showed signs already of being an accomplished draftsman. While many classmates were still struggling in getting their human figures drawn right, Oca was one of the few who can do that with ease. Thus, I'm not totally surprised when news reached me that he won second place in the 2007 GSIS Painting Competition.

A friend told me that Oca's new Ang Kiukok-inspired paintings are very easy to sell, a statement proven true when Oca revealed that he'd already sold two versions of the painting above.. But the same friend also told me that if Oca wants to make his mark in the art scene, he should varied his technique and forms gradually, until he came out with a style that he can truly call his own. He is right.

While Oca visibly oozes with artistic talent, it is not for that that we'll always remember him by: it is for his laughter which never fails in turn to also elicit laughter from us. That's why whenever our group go out of town for our summer snorkeling trips (below), our company seems incomplete if we can't take Oca along with us.