The graphic quality is a strong element in the works of Ramon Manuel de Leon.  New paintings in acrylic on paper at the Galleria Duemila were inspired by a set of collages he had photocopied years ago from an art magazine.  This was during his student years as a painting major at the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines.  He recently re-discovered these black and white copy prints.  De Leon could not recall the artist’s name (the signature in the copy was cropped) but he remembers it to be by one of the pre-World War II artists like Georges Braque, Joan Miro, or Constantin Brancusi.  More than the artist’s identity, it was the sense of space, its sparseness and random choice of objects that attracted De Leon then as now.

In his past shows, De Leon’s paintings were highly figurative, taking images from children’s books and popular icons. He focused on the uneasy juxtaposition of the seemingly innocent and youthful characters with iconic figures prevalent in a dominantly Catholic country.  By manipulating the design elements (e.g., color and line) and the characters’ personae, he created a disquieting relationship that poked fun at conventions and at the viewer’s perception.

His new works are less disturbing in mood, allowing De Leon to play around with abstraction and formal elements as he did in his early works in the 1980s.  One quality that links these new paintings with the earlier series is his desire to create a “dated” look from a bygone era, particularly one that recalls the 1950s.  He plays up on the linearity and flatness of the image and composition, qualities found in printed media and advertising materials from the same period.  His paintings have an almost flawless surface texture.  This is achieved by applying several layers of acrylic to attain a fine look.  Ironically, this polished and hard-edged look make the painted images appear like they printed by hand as in a serigraph or mechanically as in a lithographic process.

This dated or “retro” look, however, does not necessarily equate to an inferior process.  Like many artists of his generation, De Leon is very much a product of today’s technology.  He has come to embrace the possibilities and convenience the digital age has to offer.  It has allowed artists to develop an “electronic palette” that gives access to techniques of pasting, erasing, and multiplication of visual elements. “Digital technology introduced artists to new forms of production not reproduction.”  For De Leon, the digital process was a means towards refining his compositions, the same as how pencil sketches or oil studies serve its purpose, before translating them into large scale acrylic paintings.
 

Today, the phrase “cut-and-paste” often refers to a method in digital technology that allows one to select a text or image (or parts of it) and copy or transfer by pasting onto another page or digital surface.  The principle of this technique is linked to collage making.   In the fine arts, its roots can be traced back to the early 20^th century.  It was 1912 when Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, both proponents of Cubism, incorporated torn, cut and pasted papers and fabrics as integral components of their paintings.  By doing so, they broke the surface into facets, some defined by overlapping materials.  Picasso pasted pieces of oilcloth (fabric used for tablecloths) to a cubist still life and Braque incorporated wallpaper into his artworks.  Later examples included fragments of newspapers and other printed patterns.  These were not intended to be read but were used for their “graphic impact and textures.”  But it was the Surrealists who were more taken by the technique of collage since it emphasized on the process of free association.  “Collage was a conscious attempt to deviate from rational modes of constructing meaning, and building imagery around disparate chance through random or meticulous cut-and-paste.”

It is this same concept that guided De Leon to explore this new series of paintings although the final works do not have the richly textured surface of collages.  Browsing through old picture dictionaries, he randomly selected images and scanned and cropped them.  These illustrations include types of vaulted ceilings (groin and coved vaulting), tools and systems of joineries, measuring devices and other mechanical contraptions.  The educational context is also evident in the numbers that accompany some of these drawings.  The scanned images are then plotted together, arriving at different permutations, set against a white or flat pastel-colored background. De Leon opted to retain and even enhance the grainy quality of these drawings, emphasizing on the origins of simple mechanical printing process.  Although the studies are generally sparse, it took him six months to compile enough to complete a series.

The compositions are lighthearted, implying a playful experience for the artist, as if tinkering with toy objects. In fact, De Leon is amused on how the randomly selected and plotted drawings begin to look more animated, moving like soldiers walking through a field or hanging around on a swing. Color is applied over the linear drawings in random strokes, as if made by a child’s hand.  In contrast to the precisely drawn objects, the flat and solid background is disrupted by erasures to create lines revealing a white surface.  These give us a sense of depth, an impression of a landscape defined by oblique pathways or ridges of a cliff.  Unintentionally, De Leon has created a uniquely constructed world that is more visible to the viewers than to him as artist.  Perhaps because he was more involved with formal issues than thematic concerns.

De Leon has recently taken on a part-time post in a university where he teaches drawing techniques, an experience he enjoys profoundly.  His interaction with young artists may have led him to revisit the formal aspects of art making.  While these are basic to a visual artist’s development, they are by no means simple.  And it is this complexity that De Leon continues to explore.

For inquiries, call Ms. Beth Manuel or Mimi Santos at Tel. No 831-9990 or Telefax 833-9815, E-mail us at duemila@mydestiny.net