Pepe Villadolid's colors rule supreme

CEBU, Philippines - Colors rule supreme.

As a Fauvist, Jose “Pepe” Villadolid believes absolutely in the potency of colors. The sand turns pink and the horizon tangerine. Bolder hues mean expressing more. The color itself is the artwork, as is the way of most radical impressionists.

Visual pleasure is the overall gratification. The working philosophy is “color for color’s sake,” Villadolid shared in a brief interview last week at the Loy King Art Gallery in Barangay Tisa.

As a young boy in Bantayan Island, Villadolid said, he initially learned basic painting from his noted artist uncle cum tutor, Diosdado “Diovil” Villadolid. In 1988, he decided to take up painting and started joining painting sorties with his fellow Cebuano artists to the scenic provincial locations which developed his appreciation for landscapes and seascapes of the countryside.

He then met Manila-based famous artist Romulo “Mulong” Galicano in 1991 who generously gave him pointers. Villadolid has since pursued art seriously and had participated in various group shows: Casa Gorordo in 1988 and 1990; Rustan’s Cebu in 1989; San Diego, California (1991); Cebu City Museum (1992); New York City (1993) and at various times in SM Art Center since 1996.

Villadolid won the grand prize of the Martino Abellana Painting Competition in 1996. He described his art to have “evolved from the realist style to fauvism or post impressionism.”

Currently, he is a member of the Nueves Artists with nine (nueve) members who converge on Thursdays (Huwebes/Hueves) at the Loy King Art Studio. The art group recently held an exhibit at the newly opened galleries of the Museo Sugbo. (FREEMAN)