Joven Mansit And Jose Rizal

Joven Mansit , "Mein Kampf", oil on canvas

Joven Mansit ends the year with a tribute to Jose Rizal’s sesquicentennial. The exhibit’s title, Dimasalang, which translates to untouchable, comes from one of two pseudonyms that Rizal adopted for his writings in the struggle against Spain. Joven’s suite of medium-sized and small-scale paintings reexamines the cult of our National Hero, one whom we regard as the father of our nation. “I wanted to challenge the common representations of Rizal”, he explained in the vernacular. “We have so many urban legends about him…They reveal more about ourselves, how we assess our history, and how we look at our past.”

The 27-year-old artist has made his name in the Manila art scene via stunningly realistic recreations of old photographs that he paints with humorous manipulations. He culls through Philippine history books and archives for material he can inject with his own visual statements, typically wry nationalistic observations. While only on his second solo exhibit, Joven enjoys quite a following among Manila’s collectors, in part because of the dearth of his pieces. He works at a very measured pace. This exhibit had originally been scheduled for June, to mark Rizal’s birthday. But circumstances and health concerns led to its postponement to this month, to mark Rizal’s martyrdom instead.

Joven spent time researching at the Filipinas Heritage Library and the Lopez Memorial Museum. As intended, the paintings stray from the conventional, and are infused with irreverent elements. Dimasalang, the title piece, is a sepia portrait of Rizal framed in gold. All the details stay true to the original photograph, including its creases, except that Joven has rendered Rizal completely bald. “I wanted to see if he would lose his luster without the familiar slicked-back pompadour”.

“Among the stories about Rizal are those that claim that he is either gay, the real father of Hitler, or even that he could be Jack the Ripper.” Pink explores one of these tall tales. In this piece, Rizal stands arm-in-arm with Sixto Roxas, a pink corset visible underneath his open jacket, the exact shade as the blossom on his ear. Mein Kampf, the most engaging piece in the show, has Rizal holding on to his “son”, a miniature Adolf Hitler. Both sport identical moustaches.

The Death of Cleopatra comes from a photograph of the hero fooling around with Juan Luna, Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo, equally notable figures in the quest for Philippine independence. Ofelia Soap is a fictional advertisement that examines Rizal’s role as a product endorser. “We have so many brands named after Jose Rizal, from matches to cement!” observes Joven. The grisly Bone Marrow Stew has refashioned the urn that contains Rizal’s remains into a cauldron set over a low fire surrounded by ingredients used for bulalo. Here, the artist attempts a commentary on how the Americans cooked up Rizal as the hero of the 1898 revolution to gain support from Filipino natives.

The exhibit also includes small works on paper, paintings that present various versions of Rizal on old currency bills from the 1940s or from pages of old books written about him.

Yes, all the images in these works are paintings, not prints. Joven paints with obsessive detail, and his finished pieces frequently make his audiences wonder. He works with the utmost skill and, as evidenced here, a killer wit too.

Dimasalang runs from 14 December 2011 to 2 January 2012 at Art Verité, 2C-05, 2F Shops at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Phone (632) 915-1982 or visit www.artverite.net

Portions of this post have been reproduced from the June 2011 issue of Town And Country Philippines. Visit https://www.facebook.com/townandcountry.ph