Artist Daniel Coquilla knows no boundaries when it comes to his paintings. In Abot Langit, his 16th one-man exhibit, he revisits childhood memories and touches on current pop culture references. Featuring his latest works in oil on canvas, Abot Langit formally opens at West Gallery in SM Megamall on October 2 and runs until October 14.
Coquilla is quite adept at observing people and how they react or behave under certain circumstances. His keen senses serve as handy recorders, taking note of each fascinating scene and reserving it for later when he faces his canvas. He says that all he needs is to come up with a title for that scene, and he will remember that scene like he took a picture at close range. What makes his body of work so unique is how all the people in his composition seem to be staring back at the viewer from the top, as if the viewer is in the balcony trying to make sense of what is happening down below.
It is with such enthusiasm that Coquilla freely speaks about his latest works. “Serogan” is a blast from his past, when vendors would sell Chinese medicine with a snake show. Coquilla recalls that the ointment can cure anything, even neutralizing a snake’s venom. Painting the scene is like going back to what it was like in the town where he grew up. One of his favorite pieces is “Group Hug,” all at once a popular reference to the eagerly anticipated reunion of the 90s band Eraserheads and a nod to the current political landscape of trying to achieve a “peaceful solution.”
Then there is “Dentalbularyo,” another attempt to recall fascinating small-town scenes. It is a spectacle. The crowd gathers while the “town dentist” performs tooth extractions and other dental procedure on a patient by only using threads and herbal medicine. “You can see the dentures right there on the table.”
“Breakfast Meal” is a slightly different take on the quite familiar budget-friendly breakfast offerings from popular fast food chains. It is set on a carinderia, and the sight of a father feeding his three children before he sends them off to school catches Coquilla’s attention. He is witnessing another facet of what he calls “feeding programs.”
To Coquilla, a CCP Thirteen Artists Award recipient in 2006, the “top view” is the best seat in the house, as he discovers layers upon layers of perspectives throughout the process. He is even able to inject humor in how he portrays people or the situations in which these people find themselves. “The act of looking up can be seen as positive or negative, either finding happiness and being in a state of contentment, or finding oneself still looking for answers.”
Abot Langit, for Coquilla, is a culmination of the joy he draws from painting, about being able to execute an idea on his own. He knows that our culture is so rich that there is plenty more he is yet to chronicle visually. He also revels in the opportunity to explore such possibilities without neglecting his day job as a video editor at the UP National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Department.
Documentation
