Markus Jentes Inspired by his experiences and emotions
In school, Markus took greater interest in visual arts and, eventually, pursued formal Art studies at Pepperdine University where he majored in Fine Art and Art History
At age three, Markus Jentes picked up his first crayons. His mother, former beauty queen Minnie Cagatao, was showing him how to color within the lines of a few shapes and figures in a coloring book.
“It was then I picked up the interest to learn and create drawings from what I saw, or from my imagination,” recalls Markus, whose solo exhibition IMPRESSION EXPRESSION opens today 20 February, at 4 p.m. and runs until 21 March at the Espace Celine Room, the mezzanine gallery of the Altro Mondo Creative Space on Chino Roces Avenue in Makati.
“My mom, who studied art and interior design, inspired me with what she would draw at home. So, I would try to draw, too,” recounts Markus, who is in the Daily Tribune’s list of 100 Promising Young Men and Women of the Decade. “She was the artist who encouraged me to keep going and learning.”
His father, Ralph Peter, one of our best loved hoteliers, has been into the arts in his own way. “My dad loved to collect and curate work, having also owned a gallery in the past. He gave me the exposure that I needed through our visits to art fairs all over the world and by introducing me to people who he knew had influence in the art world.”
In school, Markus took greater interest in visual arts and, eventually, he pursued formal Art studies at Pepperdine University where he majored in Fine Arts and Art History.
Modern and Postmodern influence
It has been a life of constant learning for Markus who considers as mentors Omeng Masalunga, Joseph Piasentin, Avery Faulkner, Bob Privitt, Sonia Sorrell and Leonard Skuro. “They each had unique disciplines in art and I was influenced by their approach to creating and appreciating art,” he shares.
His greatest influences continue to be “artists from the modern and postmodern era. Elsworth Kelly, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Jackson Pollok tend to be my top
four. Their works remind me that the landscape of technique and expression is very wide, and that one shouldn’t be afraid to reach the edge or explore it beyond.”
Of Filipino artists, he admires Beatrix Syjuco’s work quite a lot. “Her abstract expressionist work is quite beautiful and fluid,” he points out. “I also like Valen Valero’s work with her very constructivist approach to art. Will I see them in my exhibit this time? Perhaps.”
Markus’ extensive background, which includes photography, design and advertising, enhanced by constant world travel, has allowed him to absorb many cultures and artforms.
Markus did not immediately pursue painting as a career though. His university education instead gave him the foundation that led to a career in the creative design and advertising industry for over 19 years.
His advertising career, in turn, “has helped me build a network of friends and clients. It also allowed me to showcase a talent beyond the work field. Many have also become supporters of my work since I got back into fine art five years ago.”
Abstract shapes and linen pattern
Markus’ extensive background, which includes photography, design and advertising, enhanced by constant world travel, has allowed him to absorb many cultures and artforms which, in turn, he says, “have given me great influence, not just as an artist, but as a person. This deep appreciation for variety and diversity around me has paved a special path for the growth of my personal creativity.
“While I may have studied art formally during my Pepperdine University days, it has taught me a more important lesson beyond just art skills. And that is the ability to absorb, explore and self-learn.”
Although “Impression Expression” is his only second solo exhibition, he has had about five shows as a painter, three of which were group exhibitions. He has also exhibited his works in art photography.
Markus’ subject matters of late have been abstract shapes and lines and patterns. “These are inspired by my experiences and feelings. From painting what was in my head, it became more of expressing what was in my heart. Primarily, the art I make uses acrylic and some mixed mediums,” he explains.
They are in keeping with his philosophy of art. To Markus, “one must
keep exploring and expressing one’s experiences and emotions through art (in whatever form is deemed necessary), as well as the continuous learning and experimenting which is important to me.”
“One’s work not only should reflect the emotions and experiences the artist wishes to display. The bigger picture is about assessing one’s progression and reflecting on their evolution as they go along in life. Typically, my work has been very minimalist and geometric. Perhaps an influence of my career in design which has translated into bold and bright art,” Markus says.
Global standards
“My new series titled ‘Impression Expression’ aims to push outside of my comfort zone to explore the ways of expressionism while keeping focus on abstract themes. The departure from very clean hard and solid lines and colors is not only drastic, but in a sense, breaking out of one’s comfort zone to evolve,” he adds.
Markus is hopeful for Philippine art. He believes “it’s heading towards global standards and I am happy Philippine art is slowly being globally recognized.”
Future mentor
His advice to young artists and wouldbe artists: “Keep on learning and pushing yourself to create art. Simply believe in yourself because there’s nobody stopping you.”
His own career goal is simple. “If I could make my living and life out of art purely, that would be ideal,” he says.
For the long term, like 20 years from now, he sees himself still producing artwork, “but I can also see myself passing on my knowledge to the youth who want to take their next steps into the art world. I also see myself consulting for people who wish to collect art.”
If at all, it would be a long way for the boy who first attempted to create art at age three, but as his journey has taken its course so far, his is an envisioned future that is not farfetched at all.
When you have finally exhausted all necessary thoughts and pinpointed every scintilla of nuances, you find yourself lazing in Primehomes’ new sales pavilion, ensconced in an elite exclusivity needed in making your life’s major decisions
There’s a definite stretch that’s laid out between a buyer and the purchase — a long and arduous limbo pockmarked with a series of phantom diversions where many deals may be lost on their way home. Marketers call it the “buyer’s process.”
In Primehomes Capitol Hills, Quezon City, one might call it the green mile.
The mile is literally green in this glorious side of the world, a cultish dreamworld of decent soil and cultivated grass leniently populated with stolid concrete.
The green mile starts at the gate and leads all the
way up to the sales pavilion. Everything in between is your living space.
There’s every reason to trek this Creator’s enterprise on foot, but under the mighty sun of a well-heeled summer, we were ferried on a caddie car — gentle, slow-paced and with a mild Tinnitic buzz as if the view weren’t enough trance.
Along the way you begin to see things that have yet to be there — a family, a community, the whole life ahead of you — to make up for the curious absence of architecture in parts bigger than its sum.
The idea, perhaps, is to have big-enough real-estate to hold big-enough dreams that won’t be realized until you make the transfer.
Who else does this one can’t say for sure, but, on balance, Primehomes Capitol Hills has enough to show off from the caddie, putting a premium on its manicured open spaces as much as its freshly painted interiors.
Inviting the imagination
The real-estate goldrush commonly shoves marketers in your face, pouncing too hard on the sales they can’t afford to miss.
But, here, the idea, perhaps one that even invites design thinking, is sincere experience — to take it all in, to identify yourself with a space designed with you in mind.
It is a far cry from scale models seared in flyers and sales spiels in installations in malls that you’re born to turn down with great force, believing they’re just a ploy to separate you from your money.
When you have finally exhausted all necessary thoughts and pinpointed every scintilla of nuances, you find yourself lazing in Primehomes’ new sales pavilion, ensconced in an elite exclusivity needed in making your life’s major decisions.
The Pavillion Café, where the deals happen, is backdropped with an unobstructed view of the buildings now open for occupation.
The pavilion houses the mockups of spaces in these buildings, such as Laselva’s (Primehomes’ new phase) veritable raft of well-designed living spaces (Studio Premiere, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, which form part of its Living, Breathing Home series). The two-tower condominium has its own basement parking, linear park and direct access to the community’s main clubhouse and amenity.
It’s also home to a realistically rendered scale model of the whole nine yards, where, right then and there, whatever you can take in, you can call home.