The Good Word just rode art’s vehicle. Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano meets the men who choose the path less traveled and the medium most celebrated .
Initial shots usually come with beginner’s luck.
Thus at the “Suway Lang” art exhibit at the SM Art Center, a group of hopeful priests-to-be did manage to make the whole affair an overwhelming showcase of neophyte art as they bravely ploughed their hearts for inspiration and dipped their fingers, albeit as of yet stiff, into the avocation of painting.
There we saw an enormous challenge to propagate the good news through visuals. Most notable and common among the seminarians’ product is the image of Christ, adding support to the well-known fact that Christ-likeness is undoubtedly the most reproduced portrait of a man, reaching the heights of iconography. The talented seminarians call themselves the Artist’s Guild, though a rather archaic and traditional name for the present times. However, as traditional as it would seem, it triumphs in having departed from the old context of craftsmen and artists guild system, moving away from homogeneity as style varies with each individual.
But somehow it is appropriate for them to form a guild from a historical model, since the church has always been a great patron of the art through the guild system even from its early foundation.
The art show is intended to be a fund-raising project of the Artist’s Guild of the San Carlos Seminary College in support of the ongoing renovations of the seminary’s general facilities. Apart from the paintings on show, a group of three gigantic sculptures in mixed media stood out to steal attention. They comprise an angel, candleholder and a crucifixion scene that brought modernism to the show amidst a gallery full of representational paintings.
May this not be the first and last we see. Art, I believe, will give more dimension to the seminarians’ studies. In fact there’s more than one reason for the Artist’s Guild members to get more serious in art as they are following in the footsteps of the late Msgr. Virgilio Yap who was a trailblazer in the history of local art. Taking a crack at art and using it as a medium for sending the message isn’t a bad idea.
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