A
Sense of the Fantastic
by Alex Y. Vergara
(April 24, 2000 - www.inquirer.net)
FANTASIES do come true.
Young graphic novelist--illustrator, if you will--Arnold Arre will finally
realize his with the opening tomorrow of his first one-man show featuring a
15-piece collection of, well, fantasy art.
''I've been wanting to do
something like this,'' Arre gushes. ''I didn't have any second thoughts when
the chance finally came.''
Titled ''Mythos,'' the show
will run until May 14 at the SM Megamall's Crucible Gallery. The pieces are
said to be inspired by characters from Philippine mythology and pop culture.
Think of them as Darna meets tikbalang, a marriage between modernism and
traditional folklore.
The UP-trained Arre, 28,
first made a name for himself as writer-illustrator of ''The Mythology Class,''
a four-part comics series that has grabbed the attention of wide-eyed kids and
hard-to-please Gen Xers.
From plain pen and ink,
Arre added watercolor on acid-free paper to mark his transition. And no
computer-generated art, please. The painter has chosen to do it the hard way by
air brushing his canvas to achieve a similar effect. He then relied on
conventional brushes to painstakingly bring out the details.
''My art may be
whimsical,'' he says, ''but I'm still very traditional when it comes to doing
it.''
Arre's attention to details
is also quite impressive in such works as ''Trip to Tagaytay'' and ''Ride to
Mandaluyong.'' He effortlessly plays with colors and shades to add depth to
such busy pieces.
But this quality wasn't
lost on more solid works such as ''Tala'' and ''Diwata'' In the latter, for
example, Arre comes up with a textured and life-like image of a fairy garbed in
fusion costume inspired by tribes from both North and South
Real life
''Tagaytay'' and
''Mandaluyong's'' setting and cast of characters may be more impressive at
first glance, but several pieces which focus on a central character look more
inspired, if not, more timeless.
Then again, Arre is no
realist in the tradition of Amorsolo or Francisco. If anything, he admires the
work of such contemporary fantasy artists as Jean Giraud, H.R. Giger, Boris
Vallejo and Olivia de Berandinis--foreigners who have made their mark painting
outlandish images straight from their outlandish imaginations.
A true-blue member of the
Voltes V generation, the first wave, mind you, Arre also drew inspiration from
countless Japanese robots and animÈ.
''I'm unaware if anything
like this has been done before locally,'' he says. ''That's also one of the
reasons that enticed me to do a show. I love to be the first to present a new
idea.''
True to his roots, his
choice of subject matter borders on the bizarre to the campy. In
''Mandaluyong,'' for instance, he explored the unlikely possibility of how
people, animals and beings from the netherworld could coexist.
Forget conventional
vehicles, too. In ''Tagaytay,'' he came up with a new mode of transportation, a
floating and oversized banca lifted by angels.
Humorous side
Arre's humorous side is
also evident. For where earth or in the heavens can you see a clone of Maria
Clara and Crisostomo Ibarra literally on the same boat as the tianak, engkanto
and duwende.
Do they pay the same fare?
Who gets to sit in front? Does the lamang lupa find the beautiful Maria Clara
hideous, too? The viewer is free to weave his own stories.
Then there's ''Two
Cherubs,'' images of two naked angels, one sporting a bucket hat and the other
texting somebody on her cell phone. Now who would want to go to heaven if these
are the types of beings you would bump into everyday on earth?
Another of our favorites is
''Darna 2000,'' a buffed version of Mars Ravelo's heroine hovering before a
threatening icon of her arch nemesis Valentina. ''Are you willing to join me?''
the snake woman taunted. Over Darna's curvaceous body!
''Painting and illustrating
have more similarities than differences,'' the artist shares. ''Both try to
tell a story. This time, though, I'm only given a single scene to do it. But
unlike in comics, I'm not restricted by certain considerations such as story,
dialog and audience. I'm freer to explore wilder ideas in painting.''
It looks like the magic
Arre wielded on comic books will easily cross over to the canvas. When we
interviewed him last week, we saw for ourselves how his pieces readily appealed
to a young crowd. Already, several eager teenagers wanted to examine his pieces
up close when they chanced upon them being unwrapped at Crucible.
Such is the appeal of
comics, rather, graphic novels in this country. They readily pander to the
fantasies of the young and the young-at-heart.