Malang Celebrates 50

Malang never thought he would become a painter when he started in newspaper publishing as a cartoonist and layout artist in the 1950s. Painting was then just a favorite pastime between press deadlines. Yet since his sold-out first one-man show some 40 years ago, he has not looked back.

Malang marks another milestone in his stellar painting career with his first major one-man show this year, "Malang Celebrates 50 Years in Painting" at the Artspace in Glorietta IV from March 21 to April 2, featuring 50 new works.

Malang’s interest in painting began in early ’50s, just out of arts school and thrust into the world of cartooning. With the encouragement of his colleagues, he switched careers and, to this day, retirement hasn’t crossed his mind.

It all began in the quiet Chronicle newsroom where he was trying to make a name as a cartoonist, creator of "Kosme the Cop (retired)" and "Chain-Gang Charlie". He would occasionally try his hand at painting, a pastime that would launch him into becoming one of the country’s foremost contemporary artists. Doing something everyday for 50 years running is quite a feat, but Malang isn’t about to stop now.

Malang keeps busy nowadays not just with painting but also with guiding the Saturday Group of Artists, developing his dream Marisan Art Center (housing multiple galleries), dabbling in book publishing and passing on his artistic genes to his grandchildren.

Still, painting rules much of Malang’s day. He has never stood by a formula or learned to copy works, so every piece has its own signature stroke. Even his choice of colors is not premeditated, only honed by decades of practice and a sincere desire to create something new every time. In his latest collection, he also includes diptychs and triptychs.

Malang began painting barong-barongs early in his career, dwelling not on the poverty of the common folk but on the strength and the joys of the community. He also tried painting flowers and trees, but he has found his niche in rendering women, all at once firmly built and fragile. He remembers being a salingpusa in the company of the likes of Manansala, Cesar Legaspi, Jose Joya, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Ang Kiukok, Arturo Luz and Fernando Zobel–many of them National Artists–at the Philippine Art Gallery when he was just starting.

He also learned from H.R. Ocampo, his editor at the Chronicle, and from Pepito Blanco, who taught him to mix colors while doing his first big painting that now hangs at the Insular Life Building along Ayala Avenue. He left the UP School of Fine Arts after one semester to work, and sought the advice of peers. He was, and still is, willing to learn, one of the reasons why he is still painting.

Malang says that his staying power lies in "just being honest with my work". His routine has barely changed, making sure that he does his stretching, spending quiet time reading the Bible and starting to paint before he even has breakfast.

So, is Malang ready to give it another 50 years? He is not looking that far ahead, but relishes the blessings that he receives day by day, and the colors that inhabit his canvases.