Binong Javier makes a point
UNDERSTANDING the life journey of visual artist Binong Javier reveals an important truth about his art. What appears to be cohesive explosions of colors— meticulously applied drop by painstaking drop—are actually a mapping of a constellation of experiences, wherein the artist highlights in equal parts the individuality of moments and the role they play in the big picture.
On view at Galerie Roberto in Alabang is Javier’s ongoing second solo exhibition, titled Drop of Life (Stillabunt Vitae). The show runs until April 2.
“Itong mga patak na ’to, istorya ko ’to,” Javier says in the exhibition’s promotional video. “’Yung mga taong nakasama ko sa abroad, mga nakatrabaho, may kanyakanyang kwento. May madilim, may makulay.”
Javier was born and raised in Caloocan. He was introduced to the arts at a young age when his uncles handed him a chalk and asked him to draw on the floor. Such was the impact of the experience that Javier eventually pursued a degree in Fine Arts, Major in Advertising at Technological University of the Philippines.
It was in college that Javier started to paint more frequently and more seriously, joining a number of art competitions in and out of school. After graduation, Javier worked as a muralist, before flying out of the country to work overseas as a graphic artist for advertising agencies.
Javier returned home in 2015 and rejoined the art competition circuit. With a broader view on life after spending years overseas, Javier decided to try a new style in 2016 for the GSIS National Art Competition under the Non-representational category.
The artist toyed with the idea of reproductive science and created art using squeeze bottles, fashioning paint drops in the form of sperm cells. The piece, titled Pwedeng Kami, Pero Ikaw, relates to the idea of one sperm winning the race in a field of millions. The artwork only received an honorable mention in the competition, but it did give birth to the style that has come to define Javier as an artist today.
Of course, Javier’s technique isn’t particularly a groundbreaking discovery. It qualifies in principle as pointillism, a painting technique pioneered by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in Paris in the mid1880s.
The movement involved the application of paint in carefully placed dots of pure color. Seurat and Signac posited that the blending and mixing will occur not on the canvas, but on the viewer’s perception, creating more striking images.
Icons from Vincent van Gogh to Maximilen Luce have dabbled in the style. But while the movement’s
most recognizable works involve representational subjects, Javier mostly deals with abstract expressionism.
His works appear as readings of human emotions. Javier exercises complete command over the direction of his drops, from inside out, outside in, to waves and other patterns. In whichever desired motion he pleases, however, the artist is able to project his idea of visualizing a person through his or her individual experiences.
All these and more are in display in Javier’s second solo at Galerie Joaquin. The artist offers a range of flavors, from sunset gradients in Refined to striking visuals in Red Flower Stamen.
“Iyon ’yung mga experience natin,” Javier said in the video. “’Pag tinignan mo ’yung kabuuan, isang malaking picture, isang malaking painting.” ■