Jonathan Olazo’s paintings in oil on canvas will betray the painter’s personality, based on the summations “You will know who I am in the skin of my paintings” and “I try to hide under cover and veil of what my paintings can be, and stick to my guns”- two axioms of Pop Art.

These two paraphrases are the working veins behind “I Dialogue” and “Noah’s Ark”, which shall be showcased in the exhibit.  What is characteristic in these paintings is that they try to be confessional, a little of one’s self is confessed through the constraint and liberty found in the genre of painting.  Cued in the images is the act of reflection and meditation, allegorizing the excursions of the artist in exploring the possibilities of art, and weighing its reason for being and meaning.

“Painting is a solitary activity engaging a language found only in the tactile, physical and visual, then subliminal.  To go beyond what is an already perceived autonomy of paint and surface is outlawed as narrative and journalistic.  To tell the tales of painting is the mode, and what is incidental in these painterly tales that tell of personal angst just spoken in sign language or mutely in accidental fables is allowed”- Jonathan Olazo
 

On the other hand, RM de Leon’s approach is a bit more academic, perhaps, as he explores the “commonality” in art, and which he documents for us in his works for “Figuring”.  The artist, who also teaches in the school of design and arts in the College of St. Benilde had stumbled upon similarities in his student’s works when given timed exercises and drills at the start of his classes that dealt with “memory retention as theme”.  The students were asked to draw by copying works of the masters, unknowingly timed with short intervals between 1 and two minutes and then were asked to stop and proceed to the next page until they had finished “minimal” looking drawings and were compiled.  A similarity amongst the students’ drawings were noticed by the artist, the observation that people have a “commonality” in recognizing the subject matter given a situation to detect it.

His works explore why and how no matter where an artist may begin a drawing, they automatically zero-in back on a natural, preferred choice of subject matter or “object of desire”, for example the head of a figure in the center of a page.  He explores the “commonality” of traits of people as shown in this situation. 

Once again “attitude taking its form”…it’s in the center of the artist concern again…attitude and form.

Jonathan Olazo attended the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines, has had over 20 solo exhibitions and participated in over 50 group exhibitions around the Philippines.  He has won several awards for his art:  Third Prize in the Graphic Arts Category, by the Art Association of the Philippines in the Rotary Club Open Art Competition & Exhibition in 1986; Grand Prize in 1987 for the Philippine Association of Printmakers Open Graphic Arts Competition and Exhibition; and The Thirteen Artists Award by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. 

Ramon Maunel “RM” de Leon attended UP’s College of Fine Arts, majoring in Painting. He has showcased his works in over 30 solo shows, several with Galleria Duemila, as well as over 20 group exhibitions in the Philippines as well as in West Germany, Bangladesh and Beijing.  In 1984 he was Donor of Children’s Artworks from the Philippines to the Children’s Art; he attended the 10^th International Children Art Festival in Toyoma, Japan; and is the 1^st Philippine Awardee of the Vermont Studio Center of Studio Arts Program for Painting.  Since 1983 he has been serving as teacher and coordinator for the Children’s Summer Art Workshops for Fil-Am Village, Quezon City.

For exhibition inquiries, please call 831-9990 and 833-9990, or email duemila@mydestiny.net .