The Utopian Dream

My friend, fellow painter and quite successful I might add, Omi Reyes, will be having a one man show in Singapore. As part of his exhibit, his wife, fellow classmate, Tutit Reyes, asked me to make a write-up for the show. I am reproducing it here for safekeeping. I am also attaching two of his former works for your enjoyment.

tito rolly

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Man has always been in search of that ideal place where one is completely satisfied with what he sees, smells and feels to the point of a sensory overload. A place where a perfect socio-politico legal system exists, where one can communicate with God through His creations making His word translatable in all languages that leaves man without any ambiguities and where the gap between the rich and the poor is totally non-existent. This longing for the ideal is brought about by the awareness that we live in an imperfect world and is present with different cultures as attested to by literature that is replete with the concept that may have started with the Greek poet Hesiod and Plutarch extending to Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, or the German's The Land of Cokaygne and that ever famous work of Sir Thomas More - Utopia.

However elusive this dream of a perfect place has been, artist Omi Reyes has succeeded in giving us a glimpse of that world albeit within the confines of his canvass, thus illusory, making for at least a visual concept of a place we have dreamt of since time immemorial available and within our grasps, forever etched in the confines of our minds, giving solace to our desolate existence that is full of despair and want and fodder to our hungry souls. This he managed to do using his rich imagination translated unabashedly by flawless renditions of harmonious colors through excellent brushstrokes, hard work and a natural flair for what is truly beautiful.

As a painter, Omi Reyes has undergone several transformations starting from the simple finger painting technique which epitomizes a primeval urge to paint devoid of other implements but his hands, and yet, one can see the complexity of his creative mind for the images conjured by this seemingly raw technique is anything but simple. His landscapes alone can attest to his vivid memory juxtaposing a scene he once saw with his ideal world. The exuberant landscapes illumined by the sun are reminiscent of a stage play where a crafty lightsman distributes hundreds of volts into the right places to suggest a particular mood. This is usually accented by birds in flight making us feel free and unbothered by the pressures of our day to day problems. Echoes of the Valley and Threads of Light are masterpieces we know are teeming with the wonders of nature not of this world but from the rich mind of a master craftsman, a true artist. Through this style, one can feel that he truly knows his medium and speaks to us directly from the heart.

Then, there are those flowers that evoke a feeling of perfection. Once again, we see the mastery of the artist at composition, sometimes radial evoking a life continuum that goes on and on, sometimes linearly upright as if wanting to touch the heavens inducing one to remember his long forgotten dreams and ambitions. Omi has paid very close attention to detail that one can actually see the veins bringing life to his horticultural world. The brilliance of his rich hues is even more captivating than an actual bouquet of flowers one can almost smell the fragrance or feel the softness of the petals that one forgets it is a canvass one is looking at.

His semi-abstractions of multi-planed panels coupled with realism give us an idea of how he works his compositions. Unlike any other abstract artist, there are just no accidents in his compositions. There are no fortuitous effects one sees in Jackson Pollock or Franz Kline. Every single unit has been planned well. The textured background panels, the placing of the bird perched on a tiny twig and the contrasting colored appliques are well-planned that they succeed in taking us back to our ephemeral subsistence.

Lastly, there would have been nothing extraordinary with his attempt at music had it not been done on canvass. His musical instruments cascade with musical notes both lyrical and enigmatic in its execution. He need not play the instrument per se for his canvass is poetry put to music in its purest form. Looking at his Harmony in Still Life and Harmony in Silence can be compared to listening to Beethoven's symphonies or Chopin's Etudes.

If there is one common denominator throughout all these metamorphoses, it would be Omi's search for perfection and succeeding in attaining it. Omi has mastered all the techniques he had invented through sheer tenacity, perseverance and wit. He has given us a view of a perfect world defying the evils brought about by our shortcomings. Through his canvasses he reminds us that somewhere there is a place where there exists a balance between transcendence and reality, of abstraction and concrete, of imagination and fact, if only we look and work hard to achieve it. Going to an Omi Reyes exhibit has always been like living the Utopian dream.







"Harmony in Still-life"

Of Parks and Kims and silver chopsticks

I'm back from a three-day exploration of South Korea! I have many unusual experiences that started, would you believe, at the NAIA like as if I was flying for the first time! What happened was after inspections at the immigration officer, I wore my shoes back putting my passport together with my boarding pass at a nearby chair. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that my boarding pass slipped from my passport upon retrieval. I was very hungry as I haven't had lunch yet so I immediately went to buy some food. It was there when I noticed that my boarding pass was missing. Then I heard my name being paged directing me to a place I could not recall anymore. I went back and two ladies approached me and told me they found my boarding pass which they surrendered to the airport police. When I rejoined my group, they were all laughing saying that my name was being announced. How do you respond to that? I told them I handed my boarding pass to the police for safekeeping first. Gave them a thousand each.

We arrived at Incheon airport around midnight. I couldn't find my luggage. As I used the luggage my daughter borrowed from her cousin which she used in their HK trip, I remembered the ribbon to be on the bluishh side and very slim. It was the wee hours of the morning when my children arrived and my wife immediately replaced my things with theirs in the bag. When the conveyor belt had taken about the fifth turn, I took the bag that resembled mine and tried to look at the name on the tag. You see, my niece's name is Rona and my wife's maiden name. When I read the tag, it says, Rowena Rona but no family name. I put it back and let it go. Several more rounds on the conveyor belt and it was the only one left. I took it again and recognized my padlock. Checked the name again and the address on it and realized it was indeed my luggage. And to think it had been there since the time we arrived.

It was very cold when we arrived. It's spring right now in Korea and temperature can go as low as 11 degrees to 23C. As my jacket was inside my luggage, I had to be contented with putting my hands inside my pockets to keep me warm. We had a bulgogi dinner consisting of beef, clear noodles cooked in soup and other flavors, rice, side dishes and kimchi. Wow! authentic kimchi! The thrill over eating kimchi will soon be gone after having to eat it with every meal everyday. Lol!

It would be wasting your time to narrate what a wonderful time I had during the tour for that is a given. Suffice it to say that we stayed at the Biwon Hotel in Seoul. Instead, I shall give you my impression of South Korea in the three days that I spent there. My biggest impression is that Korea is as efficient as any well-developed country there is. Their systems work well together with how they have adapted technology without forgetting their rich culture. I have seen how proud they are of their ethnic traditions and many more.

If there is one similarity we have with the Koreans, it would be that our countries have been colonized by Japan. They had been oppressed a thousand fold by the Japanese, having been a colony for thirty or so years, and experienced a civil war thereafter that divided their nation into two. And yet, they are more progressive than us in many ways. While I envy the cold climate they have during the short time that I was there, I envy the developments they have made over the years more. I know my observations may be far off from what Korea truly is for I have only been there for only three days. But in the three days that I spent, I nver saw lazy men just hanging around at a corner store making nonsense talk like how they had been bummed out the previous night, or would you see idle land that is not made into a garden of vegetables or flowers. I have been to theme parks that teemed with a lot of people and yet, you do not find garbage like you do in people's park in Tagaytay, for example. Their toilets are well maintained, with soap and tissues around and I am not talking about tourist spots but ordinary public toilets. They practice garbage segregation, street food is clean and the people are very disciplined. They are very industrious working very hard which they inculcate to their young at a very early age.

Giuen more time to stay in that country, I know my impression may change. Who knows? In the meantime, this will be my idea of what Korea is. That if there is something we can learn from them, it will be to love our own country, take pride with who we are, work hard and aspire for a better nation. That the system in Korea is effective and very efficient because the people willed it to be so. They all participate in making their system work and it did.

Note: More pictures coming soon. Unfortunately, my digital camera decided to go bonkers and I have to rely on friends. Besides, my wife and I will be going to Bicol with friends and will be staying there till Sunday. This will be my last hurrah for this year. I start reporting back for work on Monday.

I think we brought it on ourselves

I think I have kept silent for too long. I have passed on several issues that occupied a lot of bloggers recently. I have no intentions of just jumping into the bandwagon. The reason is simple - if I feel I cannot make a good contribution on the subject. I'd rather not talk about it. Recently, a certain segment of the premier showing of this season's Desperate Housewives created quite a stir with Filipinos when Teri Hatcher's character wanted to check a doctor's credentials to make sure that it wasn't just "from some med school in the Philippines". A lot
of Filipinos took offense as they claim that it questions the credibility of medical schools in the country. Even government officials had joined the fray and demanded for an apology from the producers of the show which, to date, has already been given.

After the first onslaught of attacks, the air is still filled with steaming fury, I rise up from the smoke and would like to give my two cents worth.

While the remark was intended to be a joke or a witty remark from the character, it turned out to most Filipinos as a criticism in the end, hence, I am treating it as such. When being criticized, which is quite often too, the first thing I do is to do some honest soul-searching and after I have licked the wounds of my battered ego. I ask myself if there is truth to the criticism. If there is even a hint of truth to the criticism, I try to mend my ways.

To be offended at a certain remark or gesture is the easiest way to confront a similar situation. But now that we have made our point, why don't we do some introspection? I wonder what the writers of the show were thinking when the country suddenly crossed their minds. Why not another third world country, I ask. Why do they think that would have a comic jab to the situation? What was their basis, if anything at all? Surely, the name of the country did not just pop in at random.

Flashback a few years back to a scandal that happened in the medical world. The Fatima Medical School rocked Manila when allegations of cheating in the exams resulted in the questioning of the licenses awarded to its students. Much recently, the nurses had fallen prey to people who were out for a quick buck out of their vulnerability. What about the diploma mill schools and the Recto give-aways? News of these events had come from our shores. Let's go a lot further in time when during the 80's, young boys who went to the US for the little league turned out to be not boys at all! And of course, the very rampant cheating during elections just strenthen one thing - that we are living in aa country full of cheaters. Now, can we claim that the potshot remark is without basis?

While there is reason for us to be angry that we are being pictured in a bad light, I think the more important question we shoul ask is how do we correct this image? How do we erase a tarnished image strengthened throughout the years? It is hard but even a mighty boulder lying passively along the shore yields to the contstant beating of the waves.

Am I angry at this episode of the Desperate Housewives? Hell yes! But for another reason. I am angry because my elders way down to my peers have erred in shaping this nation. I am angry because some individuals have made this country vulnerable to attacks by some foreign show. I am angry that we lay prone and open to criticisms made defenseless for such may border on the truth and it stings to the core of my being. I am angry because while I live on a day to day existence these shenanigans are scot free continuously wreaking havoc on our very being.