Alvin Villaruel
Thursday, June 26th, 2008 ~ 8:27 pm
VESSELS | June 26 - July 8, 2008 | SM Megamall
Alfred Vincent “Alvin” Villaruel’s 18th one-man exhibit, simply titled Vessels, features machines and contraptions that are designed to do the simplest tasks or used for more complicated functions, like war and technology. The paintings, all done in oil on canvas, will be on view at West Gallery, SM Megamall, starting June 26 until July 8.
In Vessels, Villaruel uses color to show perspective in a painting. Beige and brownish green dominate this latest series. “The images I selected are from old historical books, rendering the black and white in color when painting, or digitally enhancing the other studies to suit my own preferences…”One painting depicts a post-World War II image of a child sitting on an enormous ocean mine, a circumnavigating hot air balloon, a 1950s image of a man driving a human-powered car, an image of an astronaut doing a space walk as the space shuttle’s huge doors are opened in space, and a boy standing in the cockpit or at the bridge chair of a river houseboat looking through binoculars, as if navigating.
Villaruel notes that this new set of works is similar to a previous exhibit in which he also depicted subjects in motion. “All the works project an apparent foreground-background feel to it.” It involves a build-up of oil pigment layers, “until I achieve the depth I desire and the soft edges, hopefully to achieve a nostalgic effect.”
He continues, “I take each show or series of works as a jump-off point for the next one, so, most probably I’ll use the same process unless I stumble into a new technique or effect that interests me. And it only happens when I’m working continuously. I’m always open to trying new things, maybe a new set of ideas or subject matter, but my technique remains the same because it involves the subconscious or the intuitive working process built in my persona. Like handwriting, we may write anything we want…if we intentionally alter it, it looks awkward or unnatural. And it also evolves as we age.”
Villaruel feels that he hasn’t done his best work yet. “Every time I finish a new painting, I feel there’s still room for improvement. I guess it’s going to be a perpetual obsession, the struggle to [achieve] perfection…and the struggle in art feels so good and exciting. I’m happy to devote a lifetime or two into it.”
Villaruel studied painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. He was a finalist at the 1994 Shell National Students Art Competition and won honorable mention at the 2001 Art Association of the Philippines Annual Art Competition.