TWO Thomasian artists emerged victorious in the recent Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Art Competition at Pasay City last June 24.
Jesus Santos’ “The Unseen Beauty Beyond Poverty” bested 294 pieces in the representational category. He also won last year’s grand prize in the same category with his entry, “Kanlungan.”
Santos used dark colors such as brown and gray to portray the depression brought by poverty. He used the rule of thirds to place a subject behind a more vibrantly colored and light-infused background to break the monotony of the composition.
Industrial Design professor Butch Cunanan from the University’s College of Fine Arts and Design was shortlisted in the non-representational (abstract) category. His acrylic on canvas titled “Bula ng Buhay sa Tubbataha” portrays the Natural Marine Park in Sulu Sea.
“It’s been in the news for some time. I thought of creating awareness on how it can be taken care of [because] there are already three incidents of ships going astray towards the reef,” said Cunanan, who was a member of the pioneer batch of the UST Industrial Design program in 1982.
The work presents the orange hue at the top of the canvas as a warning to mariners while the blue color at the bottom signifies the deep blue ocean. On the center of the painting are bubbles that portray life. There is, however, the absence of marine life such as squids, fishes and coral atolls. Cunanan said his goal is to let the viewer through his imagination put those missing elements in the painting.
The entries were displayed outside the GSIS theater after the awarding ceremony.
Over 600 pieces in three categories—sculpture, representational and non-representational—were entered in this year’s competition, 100 entries more than last year.
“Isa ito sa pinakahihintay at pinaghahandaan ng mga alagad ng sining dahil ang makasali rito ay isang karangalan. Dito nagsimula ang mga sikat ng pintor [tulad nina] Leon Padua at Joel Bartolome,” Art Association President Fidel Sarmiento said.
This year, GSIS also encouraged artists imprisoned in the maximum and minimum compounds of New Bilibid Prison to participate. Of the 40 entries from the prisoners, one was shortlisted in the non-representational category.
The judges for the representational category were Ephraim Samson, Juvenal Sanso, Jaime Laya, Antipas Delotavo and Camille Vergara. Gina Cruz, Angelito Antonio, Dionisio Ebdane Jr., Justin Nyuda and Rene Robles were the jurors for the non-representational category while Julie Lluch, Robert Feleo and Jun Yee were the judges in the sculpture category.
Of the jurors, Samson, Antonio, Nyuda, Robles and Lluch are UST alumni. Nikka Lavinia G. Valenzuela
