MANILA, Philippines - Marami nang serious na artists sa mundo. Tama na,” Meneer Marcelo often tells people who ask why he decided to focus on caricature. “Parang ginagamit ko na siya as my art form to make someone laugh without really having political issues. It’s fun, plain fun.”
It all started when Meneer, 28, asked a co-faculty member at the Mapua Institute of Technology if he could do a caricature of him. He wasn’t really a caricature artist, but requests soon followed. Favors led to referrals, which in turn, became commissioned work. He started posting his work on his Facebook account and signed up on Tumblr. Then things got really serious when pretty racecar driver Gaby dela Merced contacted him and commissioned him to draw her.
Eventually, high society came a knockin’. Rajo Laurel asked him to do a wall painting for House of Laurel and Miguel Mari, the art director of Rogue magazine, requested a couple of caricatures for their April 2011 issue. When Supreme needed a caricature artist to draw Paris Hilton in honor of her arrival, the first person who came to mind was Meneer. “I never imagined my addiction to faces would take me this far,” he says.
Meneer began to breathe new life into an art form that had been relegated to the oft-overlooked Opinion section of broadsheets, lowly sidewalk professions and novelty wall hangings. “Kapag caricature, usually ang iniisip ng mga tao, malaki ang ulo tapos maliit yung katawan, pero hindi lang siya ganoon. Caricature is meant for satire, for comments, usually political,” he explains.
Currently, he’s trying to put together a guild for all caricature artists in the country. When they finally form a substantial number, he hopes to start some sort of mentorship program among the young caricature artists and the more senior ones. There sure is a generation gap to bridge, especially since Meneer relies heavily on CMD+Z (the shortcut for “undo” on a computer) to make his caricatures.
Having just started caricature illustrations a little over a year ago, Meneer isn’t at all sure where any of these happy accidents are taking him, but he sure is enjoying the ride. “I believe in art’s lighter side. I want to use it to make people happy,” he says.
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Meneer Marcelo will be holding a “Head Drawings Essentials 2” workshop today, Sept.24, and Oct. 1 at F*art Gallery, 24 J. Erestain cor. K1st, Kamuning, Q.C. Only 20 slots are available at a fee of P3, 000. A one-night exhibit will be held on Oct. 8. For more information, visit meneermarcelo.com or e-mail meneermarcelo@gmail.com.