CEBU, Philippines - A pioneer in the 60s for addressing social and political issues, as well as his portrayal of Filipino identity, Benedicto Reyes Cabrera is acclaimed for his draftsmanship in expressing universal human sympathies and everyday narrative drama.
A National Artist for the Visual Arts since his conferment in 2006, Ben Cabrera or BenCab is an icon in the Philippines, where he was born in 1942. After finishing a Fine Arts course at the State University, and a short stint working as an illustrator and graphic designer in a local magazine, he lived for 12 years in London.
It was said that while he was there, the physical distance to his country caused him to “become even more keenly aware of his root culture and the realities of life in our country, where he returned to settle in 1985.”
He established the BenCab Museum in 2009, in his mountain home of Baguio, to house his personal collection of indigenous Cordillera artifacts, as well as contemporary Philippine art.
Last May 15, he was in town for his first-ever Cebu solo exhibit dubbed “LifeDrawings (Portraits and Nudes). Bluewater Gallery proudly hosts the exhibit showcasing his personal collection of drawings from 2009 to the present.
In a statement, it was learned that these artworks were kept in his Baguio studio (www.bencabmuseum.org). The collection features 20 portraits and nude figure drawings on paper, mostly done with charcoal and pastel with daubs of color.
“They are a result of the artist’s observation and interaction of the human form – from local folk and farmhands that work daily in the farm and garden at the BenCab Museum to visiting models seizing a rare opportunity to pose nude for the master,” the artist’s statement further read.
“BenCab’s works have always dealt with grace of the human form and its nuances. However, this collection is set in a more casual and domesticated character.”
In Strawberry Grower (also known as “Sabrina”), for example, BenCab “masterly captures the woman quietly resting from her chore yet mysterious in contemplation, as her feet are rested on a bolo.”
In Nude V, BenCab continues to “display his fascination of the unadorned female likeness and draftsmanship virtuosity with drapery.” The beauty lies in their form and delicateness, which represents both the intimate interaction between the artist and his model and the artist’s mastery of the formal beauty of the draped material.
At end, the show addresses how we can have different perceptions of a familiar subject matter in art; what gives us these varying impressions, and how we are affected by it.
Finally, Cebu shares in appreciating BenCab’s nudes or portraits in LifeDrawings, “whether simply for the charm of their spontaneity or for the plain curiosity of experiencing the works of a Filipino National Artist up close.”
LifeDrawings (An exhibit of portraits and nudes) is ongoing until June 12 at the Bluewater Gallery, Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, Mactan Island. Non-resort guests are requested to call Carlo Luna or Kat Biol and arrange for an exhibit viewing appointment at (032) 4920100 loc. 512 or email carlo.luna@bluewater.com.ph.
Books and related reading materials for sale include BenCab’s “Nude Drawings” published by Anvil (P2,600); “Tabayag/Lime Containers of the Cordilleras (From the Collection of Bencab)” with photos by Wig Tysmans (P2,800); “Bencab Glimpses” published by Singapore Tyler Print Institute (P650); exhibit catalogue at P250; and “Draped Figures” by Gallery Indigo Baguio (P250).