FILIPINO visual artist Raul Isidro doesn’t see an absence of life from the grayness of boulders. He sees a canvas.
Isidro is one of the most respected figures in the local art scene since the 1960s who’s always been drawn to the workings of nature. A son of Calbayog, Northern Samar, he remembers watching the resting rocks around his childhood home near the river come alive in spectrum from the rays of the late afternoon sun.
“There is always something from a simple subject,” Isidro said.
Twenty-two masterful interpretations of those scenes light up Isidro’s ongoing debut exhibit at Gallery C in Conrad Manila. The show, titled Raul Isidro: Abstract Meditations, is the hotel’s curtain-riser art event for 2018 that runs until April 8.
Art continues to be a focal point for Conrad since opening its doors in 2016. The hotel carries an all-Filipino collection of contemporary art with over 700 artworks from masters, such as Mark Justiniani and Impy Pilapil, to several up-and-coming artists.
Raul Isidro: Abstract Meditations is part of Conrad Manila’s “Of Art and Wine” series from the hotel’s partnership with Clarendelle Bordeaux France. Laurent Boisdron, Conrad Manila general manager, said the idea is to put up an exhibit at Gallery C every quarter.
“We are delighted to open the year with an exhibit that evokes a warm and vibrant character,” Boisdron said. “Isidro’s abstract-expressionist style of works feature richly textured paintings that reverberate in both natural simplicity and stylistic sophistication, and complements Conrad Manila’s luxurious interiors.”
Isidro, who turns 75 on March 2, said that art appealed to him early. He used to scribble all around their house when he was young, scribbling and doodling wherever his pencil lands. There are etches of his name on the concrete stairs, and drawings on the living room.
But even then, one thing was already clear to him: “Mas gusto ko talaga ang abstraction.”
Isidro believes one develops and expresses more through abstract art. He said he wanted to let out his deepest feelings in a way that only this form could allow.
According to his web site, Isidro has explored different mediums in his career. He has worked on stones, metal and wood for his sculpture, adopted mixed-media abstracts in the 1960s with acrylic, and experimented with gold leaf on canvas in the late-1980s while in the United States. What remained consistent throughout the exploration was his form, which is abstract, and his subject, which is nature.
“Some of my works are experiences of what I saw in a plane,” he said. “’Pag nasa itaas ka, pati tubig, iba ang kulay.”
For his Conrad Manila exhibit, Isidro’s strength come to fore with pieces that range from 16”x20” to 24”x80.” He said there were bigger pieces he couldn’t include in this show, but will be made available at the opening of his studio in Parañaque in early-March.
1 comment
Brilliant writing, JT! You captured Raul Isidro’s visual mastery with your literary genius! #ConradManila is proud to feature a respected artist like Raul at Gallery C’s Of Art and Wine.