spot_img
27.7 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

MADE 2019 winning paintings shine light on plight of farmers, mental health

- Advertisement -

The winning paintings of this year’s Metrobank Art and Design Excellence tackle some of today’s most pressing issues. 

MADE 2019 winning paintings shine light on plight of farmers, mental health
‘Evanescing Lives from the Homeland’ by Jayme Emille Lucas wins the grand prize in the Oil/Acrylic on Canvas category

Since its foundation in 1984 by Metrobank Group founder and chairman Dr. George S.K. Ty, MADE has continued to be a platform for the discovery of the most passionate and creative visionaries in the country. 

To date, the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI) has recognized more than 400 creative visionaries serving as drivers behind the transformational and uplifting power of visual arts in nation-building. But more than a competition that breeds artistic talent, MADE has become a development program that facilitates a generation of fresh ideas for social development. 

“The dawn of this annual art tilt can be traced back to an aspiration that took hold 35 years ago: to provide a platform for Filipino artistry to flourish. Over the years, MADE has evolved to become a formative platform that enables emerging artists to translate their ideas into masterpieces,” says MBFI president Aniceto Sobrepeña in his message. 

This year’s theme, “Unleash,” reflects MBFI’s continuing advocacy to seek out and exalt Filipino visionaries. 

- Advertisement -

The first Grand Awardee in the Oil/Acrylic on Canvas category is 22-year-old artist Jayme Emille Lucas. 

Emerging from the tradition of Social Realism, her artwork, “Evanescing Lives from the Homeland” conveys a powerful snapshot of farmers. Deeply influenced by “the kind of environment” that Lucas lives in and other places where the artist has been, the work shows the farmers not involved in their back-breaking labor but confronting the gaze of the viewer.

What makes this work haunting and urgent are the ghostly emanations of those who have passed on but continue to influence the living to continue the struggle. 

Intensifying the uncompromising stance of the farmers is the sky, with its churning dark clouds, which threatens rain. The symbolism of the impending rain is two-fold: it conveys both nourishment of the earth or its devastation.

Rendered “like a photo taken from the past being forgotten inside an old photo album misplaced and lost in the house,” the winning work of the Tarlac City-based artist makes certain that the story of struggle and resistance of farmers continues to be told.

MADE 2019 winning paintings shine light on plight of farmers, mental health
Watermedia on Paper category grand winner ‘Existence of Blue’ by Christian Jame Maglente 

Meanwhile, in the Watermedia on Paper category, Christian Jame Maglente’s “Existence of Blue” emerged the grand winner. 

Through his artwork, the 23-year-old Fine Arts graduate deals with the timely issue of mental health, which seems to disproportionately besiege young people who are still trying to gain a foothold in life. 

The “blue” in the title points at the literal color of the painting’s background while at the same time alluding to the “blues,” which is an informal term for extreme sadness or depression.

Depicted in a depressive state, the central figure, mirrored on his left and right sides, crouches on top of a column, as he is consumed by a tumult of thoughts and feelings. His confused interior reality is expressed as an explosion of pigments interspersed with skulls and skeletons, which symbolize the figure’s contemplation of mortality and death. 

Through its painfully lyrical examination of the mind in crisis, the work renders in concrete terms the struggle that attends a breakdown and makes a compelling case for intervention.

Lucas and Maglente will each receive P500,000 and “Mula” glass trophy designed by 2009 Metrobank Prize for Achievement in Sculpture awardee Noell El Farol during the awarding ceremony on Sept. 19 at the Le Pavillon, Metropolitan Park in Pasay City. 

Three other finalists for both categories in Painting Recognition Program will be given Special Citation for their work. 

MADE 2019 winning paintings shine light on plight of farmers, mental health
(From left to right) ‘25/7’ by Christian Cedrick Dela Paz, ‘Upuan’ by Dave Alcon, and ‘Walang Hihigit pang Sandata’ by Arman Jay Santiago

Christian Cedrick Dela Paz’s “25/7,” which confronts how modernity has robbed man the time to recuperate from the travails of everyday; and Dave Alcon’s “Upuan,” which reveals the sheer competition necessary to achieve the throne’s enviable position, both get Special Citation for Oil/Acrylic on Canvas category. 

Arman Jay Santiago, in his “Walang Hihigit pang Sandata,” used art as a vehicle to convey anti-war sentiments, thus earning him the Special Citation for the Watermedia on Paper category. 

This year’s MADE Painting Recognition Final Board of Judges was chaired by artist and Green Papaya Projects art director Norberto “Peewee” Roldan. Members of the Board included multimedia artist Katrin De Guia, 1989 MADE Grand Awardee Antonio “Tony” Leano, curator Andrick Caesar “Ricky” Francisco, and visual artist Albert Avellana. With Carlomar Daoana

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles