THE strong timber doors of The Peninsula Manila’s Rigodon Ballroom have welcomed guests to countless top-class social gatherings. When it was opened on a recent Thursday evening, however, what awaited on the other side was not another glitzy wedding reception or prom party, but a different era.
Dominic Rubio is a Filipino visual artist who paints and sculpts the Filipino. He is also a transporter, bringing viewers of his artworks to the everyday of 21st century Philippines. And on that night, under the old-world elegance of Rigodon Ballroom, he led a roomful of wineglass-holding art patrons back in time.
Dominic Rubio Mondial is a celebration of Rubio’s 25 years as an artist. Mounted by Galerie Joaquin, the exhibit, which opened on March 5, featured paintings and sculptures of Rubio’s signature straw-necked Filipinos going about life in the 1900s. In one painting, a mother and child are seen doing laundry with a traditional wooden paddle, while in another an affluent couple in period clothes walk by a cathedral.
Rubio was born in Paete, Laguna, a lakeshore town heralded for its wood carving tradition. He studied at the University of Santo Tomas College of Fine Arts, where he majored in Commercial Arts. The artist made his mark in the international art scene in 2006, when Galerie Joaquin chose his works for their sold-out opening exhibition in Singapore. Today, Rubio continues to be a favorite among major collectors in Asia, the US and Canada.
For his most recent and arguably biggest exhibit, Rubio covered everything and everyone from old Philippines. He depicted all social classes in all tableaus in his remarkable background-foreground play, where attention to detail is not compromised in either: He puts as much focus on the layered barong design and the individual bayong weaves worn by his characters, as he does in the bricks of the structure and the texture of its wooden window panels.
In Dominic Rubio Mondial, the artist presented pieces categorized in three parts: Old Manila, where the capital is marked by Hispanic colonial structures; the “Chinoy” culture shaped by Chinese influence; and the plantation life that depicted hard work and perseverance.
Each one, as with Rubio’s body of work, is the attempt of the artist to establish cultural identity for the Filipino by exploring the past.
Image credits: Galerie Joaquin's IG Account