Dilag…dalagang bukid…binibini…diwata…nimfa…paraluman…bathaluman…diyosa…Various are the names ascribed to the Filipina, reflective of the affectionate regard of the race for the native maiden. And the descriptive virtues inherent in her nature are equally lavish with admiration: kariktan…kagandahan…karilagan…kahinhinan…
From the start, the art of Hermes Alegre has always been devoted to the depiction of the essence of the Filipina as woman of the earth, the embodied feminine spirit, distinct from the Chinese philosophy of the negative and dark feminine yinin contrast to the positive, bright and masculine yang. Rather, theFilipina in myth and fantasy, fact and reality, is always associated with the very mystery of nature, and as flesh-and-blood creature, her persona is charged with a seemingly conflicted spirit: modesty, reserve and repose but concealing a capacity for carnal rapture. The Filipina is thus a provocative equilibrium of the spiritual and the physical.
In Alegre’s recent body of work, the artist contains all these simmering emotions within the realm of nature. Titled “Foliage,” the works are an exultation of the beauty and mystery of the Filipina, with nature as a medium, permeating her entire presence, in fluid osmosis, as if her sensuous brown physicality, her tissue and blood, is porous and permeable membrane. The setting is an Edenic woodland, a universal space where masses of clustered leaves, luscious with dewdrops, envelope the Filipina, who weaves through the thick foliage in movements as quiet as a murmur. In a tropical paradise of perpetual summer, by turns nourished and lashed by monsoon rains, and seared by a furious sun, Alegre’s foliage is at the heart of a deep green woodland.
Indeed, Alegre has many artistic forefathers. The presence of foliage interplayed seamlessly with woman has been a stimulus from artists of the past. The 19thcentury French artist Post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau was famous for his jungle theme. Amidst a dense jungle foliage, his painting titled “Reve” (Dream) depicts a reclining nude, adorned with lotus flowers, and kept company by birds, monkeys, elephant, a lion and snake. The French Fauvist, Henri Matisse, painted nudes and odalisques against a panoply of sassafras leaves. The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo painted her self-portraits immersed in leaves and flowers.
In “Foliage,” Filipino artist Hermes Alegre is equally moved to capture the physcial and psychic vibrations of the Filipina maiden as emblematic of Mother Nature. With no need for specific identity, she is not cryptic and strange. Rather her constant presence infuses a vision of Philippine pulchritude with dimensions of memory and mystery.
The limited artworks will be on exhibition at the 10thAnnual ManilArt Fair. This 10thedition of ManilArt will run fromOctober 17-21 at the SMX Convention Center, Taguig, with the theme “Celebrating a Decade of Artistic Excellence”. The fair headlines the celebration of Museums and Galleries Month. For the whole month of October, in partnership with the Intramuros Administration, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) includes activities and showcases around Metro Manila.
ManilArt is co-presented by the NCCA and Bonafide Art Galleries Organization (BAGO) with support from SMX, SM Aura Malls, BDO, I Love Taguig, The Manila Bulletin, Lifestyle Asia, Art+ Magazine, Don Papa Rhum, Giffard Liqueur & Syrups Philippines, Savaroso Inc, Via Mare, Manilascope and Ladder Events. Tickets are available online at www.ticketbooth.ph. For details, visit www.manilart.org.