ADVERTISING arts alumnus Janos Delacruz used prints, paintings and digital art to represent the influence of philosophy and society in his artistic journey in A Visual Journal, his first solo exhibit at the National Commission for Culture and Arts Gallery in Intramuros, Manila last July 6 to 30.
Delacruz is noted for his graphic skills and his representational works usually are laden with social commentary and philosophical musings.
For Delacruz, art is a “continuous journey” driven by the goals of the artist.
“Visual artists must be open to different mediums and artistic expressions that help us in propagating a given philosophical goal in our art,” he said in an online interview.
Displayed along the exhibit entrance was “Not a Day without Lines,” a three-dimensional rectangular wood plastered with Delacruz’s journal entries printed in intaglio, a printmaking technique in which the image or text is incised on the surface.
He further injected his mysterious “philosophical goal” in “Kamaynilaan,” a peach- and brown-hued intaglio depicting a man holding a bottle and a gun beside tall buildings and clocks.
Delacruz also highlighted societal problems in the exhibit.
In “Crossroad,” he illustrated a crowded train and cramped cars, showing the daily struggles of Filipino commuters amid the state’s poorly managed and maintained mass transportation system.
“Art is a continuous process and every exhibition is merely a momentary pause in the search for artistic satisfaction,” Delacruz said.
Delacruz has received notable awards, such as the 2006 Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award from UST, the Philippine Art Award’s 2013 Juror’s Choice of Merit and the Metro Manila Arts Award’s 2014 Juror’s Choice.
He is also a member and a former secretary of the Philippine Association of Printmakers, an organization representing the Philippines in the field of printmaking in exchanges and events internationally. It has produced many distinguished alumni who excelled in printmaking such as his father Fil Delacruz, Lito Mayo and Rodolfo Samonte.
