Artist Janos Delacruz explores love at the time of COVID-19 pandemic
MANILA, Philippines — Art Lounge Manila features "Pag-ibig at Lumbay" by Janos Delacruz happening until tomorrow at the Podium in Ortigas Center.
"Pagibig at Lumbay" is a collection of artworks that tackles a journey of adoration and unrequited love between an artist and his muse amid the reality of a global pandemic.
Although Janos’ icons do not revolve around a particular key image or subject, each artwork is intended to be viewed as a Chapter Illustration of an unwritten novel (a self-contained short story in an ongoing narrative).
The paintings, sculptures, drawings and fineprint in the exhibition are used as vehicles to capture the frantic search for both meaning and creation. Our eyes are invited to matriculate the etched lineal and spiral patterns, as if we’re looking at striations of exposed musculature under a microscope. The viewer is asked to participate / self-reflect on each artwork to create their own truth and find their own narrative in each panel.
Janos’ drawings is an assemblage of random lines and patterns. An unfiltered brainstorm of a surreal idea from an incomplete dream to a fully rendered work on paper. As he transforms his work from one medium to another, the artworks will also evolve (affected by limitation / advantages of the material but also the temperament of the creator).
Although most of the artworks are rendered in black and white in this art exhibition. Janos has always been fascinated in the Art of Printmaking and considers printmaking as his First Love. Inspired by Illustrated Medieval Manuscripts, the artist left the impurities in the plate and hand colored his Etching Fine Prints. By doing so, he hopes to capture “individuality in the face of uniformity."
Janos’ sculpture titled “Kuya Daks” (Big Brother) tells the story of a man in his most fragile state – removing the “smiling mask” that he showcases in society. The artwork is a commentary on hiding your beliefs and true self as we try to conform to social pressure, norms and biases. It represents the reawakening of unique thought and removal of the shackles of docility. To be able to love freely and to create without limitations.
Janos studied at the University of Santo Tomas, where he majored in Advertising Arts. A consistent winner in national student art competitions and a recipient of the Benavides Award for Outstanding Achievement, in 2006. In college, he learned the basics of printmaking i.e., etching and woodcut. After college, he made further experimentation in printmaking and painting. He held a solo exhibition of Intaglio Prints at the Crucible Gallery in 2006.
A prolific painter and printmaker, Janos practices art that is a philosophical narrative that often delves into social commentary and self-exploration. His subject matter is about the conflicted relationship between the ethereal beauty of the divine and the frail reality of man. As a visual artist, the urban landscape and its rich surreal imagery is his continuously evolving muse.
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