Walled up art

CEBU, Philippines - A wall could only do so much, especially as a fence to a property. Or maybe even as an indicator that that place is yours and yours alone.

However, for student artist Gerard Ismael “GI” Pongase, it is a big canvass where layers of colors could be splashed on not just for the owner of the property but for the whole community to see.

GI is a student leader and artist from the University of the Philippines (UP) fine arts program who loves challenges. He used to be the chairperson of the Fine Arts Student Organization in UP and now has took a full time swing into finishing his degree in the arts.

His professors say he is a natural leader who loves to take on difficulty. According to National Commission of Culture and the Arts Vice Head for Visual Arts Sio Monterra, who also the artist’s adviser, GI has “a creative mind and pursuit of the good.”

With all that said, it is no wonder that his challenge was a huge wall along 96 P Del Rosario Extension to be his own piece of art.

“Work (as an artist) can be done in the studio, but it can be executed on the streets”, GI said saying. However he says that not all street art is graffiti. There could be something different to be done.  And that was what inspired him to pursue Layers, his first solo exhibit which opened on March 18.

Apart from the conventional gallery with easels, his was a wall painted with high contrast and intense colors which gave life to the surroundings. Layers is different from the Graffiti art that we see on the streets today. His is non-figurative and rich in texture.  The title was derived from the process of layering the different colors and medium on the wall.

“I want to lighten up the usual street scene which is sometimes dusty and dull,” explained GI. But it was more than just a beautiful thing to look at. Each of the stroke painted on the wall represented the artist’s struggle in completing his being as an artist. It found him his strength and forte in the field of visual art.

Even if it was non-figurative and abstract, the colors stood out and spoke to each of the viewer. As Noel Godinez Lozada, the owner of the property would put it, “Color is an instrument and this is God’s work in every artist.” And this was what GI had brought to the table, color that captured the senses of the immediate community.

“This (wall) is GI’s contribution to the community, making Cebu a better looking place,” says Montera.

Although GI knows that one day the paint will fade on the well, what matters to him is his giving back to the community which have nurtured him for the last few months as a student in the field of art.

“Like graffiti, it will eventually fade away but the way it is painted is very different from what we see,” he added.