Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Creative prime By Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano
THE indefatigable painter Celso Pepito has come a long way to fulfill his dream and has finally come to a full circle. He has a tireless quality. He has been most prolific in organizing group shows and staging his own solo exhibit annually.
This year and the next, he will be going the rounds for his second traveling solo exhibitions collectively titled “Full Circle,” which will make him look back and savor his beginnings.
The show will take a second look and a closer inspection of his history as an artist. It will be a kind of introspection. It will surely be a surprise revelation to art lovers who will learn of the artist’s true origins.
The series of shows will be launched at the Golden Cowrie Native Restaurant on Nov. 28 at 3 p.m.
National in scope, in 2008 it will be moved to the Mactan Cebu International Airport on Jan. 14; then cross the seas for a show at Rosevale School in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 12; travel to the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City on Aug. 4; and culminate at the SM Cebu Art Center on Nov. 12, closing another hectic year for him.
Pepito started his carreer as an impressionist-realist painter after studies at the University of the Philippines. He was greatly influenced by the late maestro Martino Abellana who was his teacher. Years passed and his style began to take a different turn.
The transition was evidently becoming more modern. And his style slowly evolved into figurative cubism. It is in cubism that Pepito carved his own niche in the art community.
His incoming series of shows are significant because they will mark the return to his starting point. He goes back to revisit his roots, to reminisce the old days, and to celebrate the years he spent well.
