In his second one-man exhibit, Lawrence Borsoto shows the different aspects of one’s personality, especially in the way one aspires to do better. Titled Let’s Get Physical, on view at the West Gallery in Quezon City from October 25 until November 12 are Borsoto’s latest oil paintings on canvas and on paper.
The physical aspect may have been Borsoto’s attempt to do as best as he could with the time he had to prepare for this exhibit after shortly recovering from illness. Partly it was also a mixture of a physical and psychological challenge to give up smoking, a habit that he has formed and lived with throughout his young painting career. While he has tried kicking the habit, he reasons that it has also helped drive his productivity—as he has shown in “Self-Portrait.” Borsoto further illustrates his personality in two other works, one involving a child who doesn’t seem to care about surrounding dangers, and the other featuring a tricycle driver lighting up a cigarette after a hard day’s work.
“To Health and Beyond,” on the other hand, shows the physicality of work and working out in an attempt to be “healthy.” One image shows a woman trying to get fit through conventional exercise as another image of novelty singer Yoyoy Villame looks on. Outside that altar of the ideal shows a rather heavy-set, shirtless man, whose physical activity was mostly confined to tilling the fields. While the man in the painting isn’t exactly Borsoto’s father, Borsoto sees his father in him. He knew his father had to work, and had little time to do anything else. Borsoto balances the composition with other forms of industrial advancement. “Reyna Sentenciada” delves on Filipino spirituality and how each tries to atone for one’s sins. Then there is “Solitaire Scrabble,” in which Borsoto focuses on the mental aspect, and illustrates his point in a surreal manner, making the head many times larger than the body.
Borsoto believes that every work is like solving a problem. He connects to each piece just as much as he wants his viewers to find their own connection with what they see. A painting graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Borsoto is committed to continue improving on his craft, regularly joining his peers in painting sessions and practicing his drawing skills as often as he can.
Documentation
