Traditionally, devotees of the Black Nazarene flock to the Catholic church in Quiapo, Manila on the first week of January to venerate the image said to have been brought to the Philippines from Mexico during the times the Spaniards ruled the archipelago.
This January at the ArtistSpace, the year starts with a commemoration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila through Panata (Vow), the solo exhibition of Cebu-based visual artist and portraitist Jun Impas.
The exhibition gives tribute to the much-celebrated tradition where devotees of the life-size statue of the dark-skinned, cross-bearing Jesus Christ in Quiapo Church, would flock to catch its procession in Manila. Held annually, it is said the Black Nazarene procession is the largest gathering of fiesta devotees in the Philippines.
The focus of the exhibition is a single, sprawling and panoramic canvas that spans a breathtaking width and length of 90 x 160 inches. According to renowned art critic Cid Reyes, the painting’s colossal size contained in a small gallery reflects the energy of the actual spectacular feast. Depicted in the painting are thousands of barefoot men that follow behind the Black Nazarene, some, in a frenzy to clamber up the carriage to physically touch the Nazarene. The work was created in a painterly fashion, and is seemingly influenced by the Chiaroscuro style.
Panata serves as the climax of the body of work that the artist has created to document and celebrate as many of the country’s fiestas. This is because last year saw him showcase multiple canvasses depicting a particular town or a region’s fiesta. Also, what makes this work worth seeing as much as his other works is the genuine creative process involved in creating the piece. It is said that for all of his works, the artist paints from personal, first-hand experience of a particular fiesta.
Impas studied the arts at Surigao del Norte School of Arts & Trade and later became the youngest member of the Cebu Artists Inc. (CAI). He won Grand Prize in the prestigious Petron Art Competition (2004) and Excellent Award in the China ASEAN Youth Artwork Competition (2008), among his other local recognitions. A multiple awardee in several contests sponsored by the Portrait Society of America in 2013, 2014 and 2016, he is the former of (CAI) as well as the former President of the Portraits Artist Society of the Philippines.
Exhibition runs until Feb. 2 at ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum in Makati City.