IF HE were not a painter, Elmer Borlongan would want to be a photo journalist. “I like how a single image has the power to be part of our collective memory,” he said. But then again, his latest retrospective exhibition, called An Extraordinary Eye for the Ordinary, has done just that — and more, for it is filled with 200 images that mirror the shared memories of the Filipino everyman.

The iconic Borlongan paintings star the hoi polloi in urban settings. Using his signature figurative expressionism, he depicts the common Filipino with touches of humor and wit.

“Gusto ko kahit ang karaniwang tao, nakakarating sa kanila ang ipininta ko. [Mayroong] passion sa pangkaraniwang tao, na kahit maliit sila, malaki ang kontribusyon nila sa society at gusto ko ding ipakita na kahit mahirap, nandoon pa din ang hope (I want my paintings to reach even regular folk. I have a passion for the ordinary Filipino, that they, too, make big contributions to society. I want to show that they may be poor, but there is still hope),” he told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of his exhibition opening on Jan. 20 at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

CHANGING STYLES
An Extraordinary Eye for the Ordinary, which remains on view until March 28, highlights the artist’s works from 1979 to 2015. Most of them are images of street life and living, of underprivileged Filipinos doing mundane tasks, and of religion and love for music.

But there is one mixed media painting called Seryeng Punk (Punk Series), done at the start of his career in 1987, that stands out because it is very different from the rest. It is abstract, chaotic, and angsty, very unlike the Borlongan we know today.

The retrospective is, after all, a documentation of Mr. Borlongan’s journey as an artist, his quest for his own style, and the political contexts he experienced along the way. Before becoming a household name associated with figurative realism, Mr. Borlongan, like many other artists, experimented with and copied the styles of others.

At the age of 11, he began taking formal art lessons under Fernando Seña. Mr. Borlongan said that at that time he enjoyed copying the pictures he’d see in comics, books, and magazines, and the classes opened his eyes to a wider world. “While studying under [Seña] at the Children’s Museum and Library, Inc. in 1978, he’d open the pages of the encyclopedia and show the works of his favorite Dutch painters — Rembrandt and Frans Hals — in class,” said Mr. Borlongan.

The most challenging part of being an artist is the search for one’s own identity. “If I knew from the start what and how to approach my paintings, I could have gone straight to what I’m doing right now instead of imitating all sorts of styles. But I guess it’s part of the process in making art — you discover something and discard what you’ve learned in the early stages of being an artist,” he said.

A year after making Seryeng Punk, he became a social realist. He had his first solo show in 1993 at Boston Gallery in Cubao, where he exhibited works done in the style of figurative expressionism, influenced by artists Danny Dalena, Onib Olmedo, and Jaime de Guzman.

Among his trademarks are figures of men who are brown and bald and with piercing eyes. “The bald men and children started appearing in 1993. The hair of a person as a crown immediately describes the character of the person. [But] by removing the hair, the character of the figure is focused mainly on the face of the individual,” he said. The eyes — the windows to the soul — are also his signature. “The people in my paintings don’t show so much emotion, but you can see it in their eyes,” he said.

CITY BOY
Born in 1967, Mr. Borlongan grew up in Mandaluyong City, and it was there that he saw what urban life is like. But since he got married and moved in Zambales where he’s been living with his family for 14 years and counting, he said his outlook has changed and he’s closer to nature — but his figurations have remained constant.

“Kailangan sa artist ang sincerity. Gusto kong ipakilala ang sarili ko sa mundo, at one way to do that is from my own firsthand experience na lumaki ako sa siyudad, maraming influence sa education, sa art (Artists need sincerity. I wanted to introduce myself to the world and one way to do that is to tell it from my firsthand experience, that I grew up in the city, and the many influences of art and education),” he said.

Over the years, he’s experimented with other styles including photo realistic painting, but decided to stick with figurative realism.

“’Yung development ko hindi overnight. It’s a series of experimentation na ma-reach ko ’yung gusto kong gawin. Pero ayoko din naman maging stagnant o mag stick sa isang style ng painting. Gusto ko pa din habang tumatagal nage-explore pa din ako. Nagbabago ang pananaw ko sa buhay. Malaking bagay kasi ang environment sa ginagawa ko, kung nasaan ako ’yun ang reflection ng subjects ko (My development did not happen overnight. It took a series of experimentation for me to reach what I truly wanted to do. But then, I don’t want to become stagnant or to stick to one style of painting. The longer I am around I will still explore. My outlook in life has changed. The environment I am in greatly affects what I do, where I am is reflected in my subjects),” he said.

He paints every day at his studio at his home in Zambales. He works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but only when there is natural light.

“Every day na pagbangon ko, excited na ’ko agad magpinta, o mag-drawing sa sketch pad (Every day when I wake up, I am excited to start painting at once, or to draw on a sketch pad). ’Pag may (when there is an) interesting subject, I do doodles and thumbnail sketches to practice my thumb and wrist. Very traditional ang process, it’s free hand, no grid and projector,” he said.

The painter, who may be a photojournalist in a parallel universe, has one thing in mind whenever he works on his art: “How do I challenge myself that what I do will be part of the collective memory of the many?” — Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

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