Tuesday, September 30, 2008 Pure ‘fire’ By Ritchie Landis Doner Quijano
AND no, they’re not just made of paint but made as well with the intensity of a more-than-usual emotional drive, and the active arousal of the senses during the artist’s creative and expressive process.
“Quintessence” is an ongoing solo exhibit at the SM Art Center by the abstract painter and University of the Philippines art professor J. Karl P. Roque Jr.
This show of his most recent collection is the next level of the artist’s portfolio.
The paintings are now so very different from his works in the past.
Roque’s early paintings have dealt with narrative interpretations of the environment and the plight of indigenous peoples.
“Although these themes may not be evident in my current works, they are and will always be advocacies I continue to lobby,” explains Roque.
He adds that “in Quintessense, the artworks are personal introspections of my current state of mind. These are reflections of the love, the joy, discoveries and journeys I have undergone as well as the sadness, pain and trials that came along with it.”
Nothing can be more pure than what is felt inside. Art reflects life; it cannot lie because it can’t hide truths.
Pure abstraction is liberating. Perhaps it is the most free of all expressions.
The merging of colors and explosions in all directions are the opening salvo of the artist’s optimistic visions of things to come.
