The visual artist’s epiphany is that moment when he gathers all influences and comes up with a style he can call his own. And then it’s a matter of finalizing, and with some boldness giving his own style a name. Lander Blanza’s 24 by 30-inch oil / acrylic on canvas Sinardinas na Pasahero (2012) in his Transparent Layering (Translayering for short) style reveals a hidden agenda. The style’s newness was recognized by the Art Association of the Philippines Art Competition with an honorable mention when Blanza first joined the annual competition in 2012. The image, which he sourced by using Google, shows a realistic rendition of a provincial jeepney packed with passengers up to the roof, like a can of pilchards in tomato sauce. The painting is composed of interlocking horizontal and vertical squares and rectangles, an element of Translayering that gives it an abstract quality. The squares and rectangles are not cubes, to differentiate Translayering from Cubism. To emphasize the overloading, Blanza placed a realistic rendition of the jeepney against a negative-like depiction of passengers on the roof on a black background. And then the jeepney is reflected in red on a mirror-like foreground. The images are repeated in various degrees of detail that translate into larger-than-life depth, movement and tension. In his imagination, Blanza seamlessly stirs styles in a study of contrasts that goes beyond recognition. The smooth blend of the figurative-abstract without appearing like cubism or surrealism and the reinvention of scale put extraordinary vigor into Blanza’s painting. Blanza wanted to show a common scene in our remote provinces in an uncommon manner. He showed how an ordinary photo can be interpreted in a magical rendition, just like storytelling but without sermonizing. Like Andy Warhol, Blanza started as a “pure artist” (read: commercial artist). Warhol drew shoes in the style of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. He developed the “blotted line” technique, a direct reproduction style in order to produce business-related designs. Then he revived the method of creating a painting’s idea, rendering its most important part, and passing the remainder of the artwork to assistants, like the Renaissance artists did. Warhol adapted industrial subjects and styles into fine art, thus giving impetus to Pop Art, creating not only a style but an art movement, the way Claude Monet did for Impressionism, Georges Braque for Cubism, and Andre Breton for Surrealism. As an accessories designer, Blanza designed hang tags and pocket flashers. He collected and collated ideas relative to the subject and put them together like a small-scale mural with a narrative for a visually attractive presentation. He eventually adopted the style and called it Translayering when he decided to diversify as a painter. But unlike Warhol, his paintings are painstakingly executed by Blanza alone. Translayering is not an adaptation of Vicente Manansala’s Transparent Cubism where he masterfully superimposes figures and environment in geometric shapes and patterns in delicate tones, giving it a transparent quality. It is also unlike analytical cubism, which arbitrarily fragments and dissects the figure into complex abstract compositions with only traces of the subject. Manansala opted to innovate, staying close to the figure which he simplified — and this marked his exceptionality. Adapted to local themes, Manansala called it Indigenous Cubism. Blanza’s Translayering is the exact opposite. While he started painting commissioned works in realistic style in 2012, he also opted to develop a style all his own in Translayering. There is no attempt to distort; it opts for realism that is finely rendered in overlapping layers which, in turn, give the composition a see-through quality. Thus the term transparent. What Blanza aims for is not a three-dimensional effect but more like multi-dimensional impressionism. While Manansala presents a scene in a painting — in relation to his murals which depict inter-related scenes of stories on a large scale — Blanza portrays it as an interrelated story, giving it the quality of a mural. His style allows him to execute it in a relatively small scale with surprisingly strong impact. It may not impart historical perspective or hero image or both but the portrayal of humanity and humanness is remarkable. By its mere size, a mural has a dramatic impact with its varied and detailed design by subject, often its artistic value incorporated with a social, if propaganda, message. In the case of Blanza, he uses Translayering to expound of a subject by presenting its different facets with a surprisingly important impact. In effect, Blanza is also layering his subject, putting images in various perspectives one over the other in a seemingly disorderly composition. This is deceiving as the over-all effect is to put dynamic action in clear harmony. Translayering gives him the liberty to go out of the box of reality without having to resort to automatism. As such, the persistence of planes often surrounding the focal subject — such as in the oil on canvas Sa Pula, Sa Puti (2012) — allows a unique composition style. He incorporates the photo negative element, a black-and-white rendition of certain elements to effect the Translayering. He contrasts this with part of the subject rendered in pure colors for the desirable impact. Blanza’s style is a tedious process. To get the Translayering effect, he has to execute the painting’s design with as much as five layers of paint with varying degrees of tonality, a gradation of light to dark tones. For each layer, he has to let the paint to totality dry up to be able to apply the next layer of paint. He also opts to show the brushstrokes as all good painters aim to achieve and not present a smooth texture which gives it an unreal quality. Blanza fully defines the style in such canvasses as Bukobayk, The Magician, and Sa Pula, Sa Puti. The same with Friendship Knows No Boundaries, one of the 10 finalists in Life of Rizal in Europe Art Competition that will be exhibited in the key cities of Europe this year. In all, Blanza’s paintings are somber-looking even if they project gaiety; indeed part of the Translayering process is to take the viewing at a different level of understanding. For good measure, it is the language of the male ego which disallows too much show of emotion. Blanza, a decidedly masculine artist and admittedly a lover of female beauty, holds back. If he can help it, there must be no restraints. But he does not want his painting to be two-dimensional so he exercises control. His intension is clear and apparent: He knows too well that somewhere outside the painting, somebody will be doing the smiling, and he does not want to miss on that. Translayering must be Blanza’s gift, a fresh approach to perspective in small scale. Yes, there is a current tendency for local painters to give their style a name when in reality it is not worth that distinction as nothing new has been presented. Blanza is different as his style requires a divergent name to differentiate it from other styles of visual arts. Having defined Translayering to distinguish it from the other “isms,” it cannot be mistaken for other genres. I think the artist’s logic here rests in content. Blanza’s subjects are always positive, or if they have a negative suggestion such as in Sinardinas na Pasahero, his tendency is to project them in silent humor. This makes his art so desirable when the exhibition halls are enamored with gothic themes. The grand prize win of Blanza’s Panginoon, Huwag Mo Po Kaming Pabayaan (2014) at the First Rizal Arts Festival in connection with the National Arts Month celebration, spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, confirms the validity of Translayering as art expression. To differ from the trend and present a differential is a measure of genius. A developing style, let us wait and see where Blanza will take Translayering.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 03:01:31 +0000
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