Rachel Rillo, "A Year's Luck"
We made it a point to come in early for Carlos Celdran’s fantastic Livin’ La Vida Imelda at SLab. With every performance sold out, we wanted to make sure to secure our seats. A move we did not regret as we had prime spots from which we spent the next two and a half hours doubled up in laughter. Continue reading
Exhibit entrance
With the crowds surging around me, it felt like Megamall a day before Christmas rather than the middle of July at the bastion of Philippine culture. Thirteen artists stood onstage, each one clutching what looked like mega-sized, brightly-colored, multi-layered snow cones. The ceremony marked the formal recognition of the triennial Thirteen Artists Awards, given to progressive artists below the age of 40, successors to the original Thirteen Moderns who had challenged the accepted notions of 
Philippine art seventy years ago. Continue reading
Noell El Farol Death Mask (Black) and Death Mask (Clear)
Lynyrd...
Lynyrd’s eyes lock with mine from every corner of the gallery. In my favorite, Ang Dilim…Hindi Na Muna Ako Pipikit (How Dark It Is…I Will Not Close My Eyes), they look at me through a mist, an otherwordly, ghostly gaze. In Manhid (Indifferent), they beg in
Ang Dilim...Hindi Na Muna Ako Pipikit
mute appeal, trapped in an unconscionable plight. In Lynyrd, surrounded by a sheen of black, one set of eyes look away, unable to meet mine, as harsh, painful words spurt from his lips, while the other set expresses regret, beseeching forgiveness. In Wala ng Plano Plano (Forget Making Plans), his eyes turn dead, determinedly closed, immune from feeling. In the last of his self-portraits, Apoy…Nakakasilaw (Blinded by Flame), sunglasses deliberately shield him, closing off his vulnerability.
Manhid
Wala Nang Plano Plano
Apoy... Nakasilaw
As in every piece he does, Lynyrd does not fear letting it all out, bringing his pain and rawness to the fore. We feel his jumbled thoughts, articulated as shadowed layers of texts and figures that hover beneath the surface of his images. We wonder what he has gone through to curse himself as blackhearted. More than his incredible skill as an artist, more than the excitement that his future will surely generate, we know that when we acquire a Lynyrd Paras work, we bring home a piece of the man himself.
Sirain Mo Ako
Against His Blackhearted World, 3rd Solo Show is on view from 14 to 31 December 2008 at Blanc Compound, 359 Shaw Blvd, Mandaluyong City. Phone (632)752-0032 www.blanc.ph and www.lynyrdboxes.com
Ngayon Sabihin Mo Paano Mo Pa Ako Masasaktan
