DOS MAESTROS Daniel dela Cruz & Max Balatbat
BALAY Max Balatbat Infused narratives and reflections of prostitutes are focal in Max Balatbat’s work. More than just creative triggers and subjects, they significantly assume as an aide‟memoire in his recollection of his past and inward self and in his formation as an artist. These artworks‟represent his tearless empathy and avowals of his own inspired belief in the goodness and humanity of these tired souls despite the immediate prejudice and contempt that society places upon them.‟ Anchored in his previous works, this recent production is a continuing revelation of territories and remembered spaces and their innate energies, stories of obscure lives, homes and the experiences of these‟ people‟beyond the illicit economy of forbidden amatory pleasures‟ they‟are associated with.‟ By using the idiom of “balay” or home as an aphoristic self reflection,‟ Balatbat‟reconstructs and visualizes his ideas of the collectivity and such‟interesting‟relationships‟among‟these lowly lives. As he contemplates on such sense of place and the interior drama of these spaces, he is also reminded of a “hawla” (cage) that has references to the expression “‟mga kalapating‟mababa‟ang‟lipad”‟which‟literally‟means doves that fly low, an old fashion Filipino term for prostitutes and thus, how their homes can be such cages and prisons of a vicious cycle of desperation. Through his paintings,‟Balatbat‟informs us of an understanding of his artistic muses and the consistent creative personality that emanates from these subjects as well as his zeal for‟aesthetic‟refinement.‟
In his humble and circumspect response to this social reality,‟Balatbat‟ engages to mentally position ourselves to a broader conversation of security, belongingness‟and dignity even in these unwelcoming and squalid sections of society. Indeed, these works embody the spirit of experimentation, evolving sensibilities and this artist’s enthusiasm for his medium. Within these recent works‟is a pronounced yet light stylistic shift and formal gestures from his earlier maze and landscapes of geometrical planes, grids and motifs laid in his massive compositions and juxtapositions. To convey his intentions, he reduces to an extent his play of compositional elements in his created visual language‟while‟faithfully adhering to the demands of his canvas. From his maps of urban blight via collages of shapes and forms, he turns to more recognizable structures of houses‟which reinforce more direct affinities to the subjects.
"Red House" (BAHAY NA PULA) 122 x 153 cm Acrylic on Canvas 2013 HKD 50,000
"Under the Lining Cloud" (SA ILALIM NG GUMUGUHIT NA ALAPAAP) 153 x 122 cm Acrylic on Canvas 2013 HKD 50,000
Roof Marked (BAKAS NG BUBUNGAN) 153 x 122 cm Acrylic on Canvas 2013 HKD 50,000
Blue Home (AZUL NA ABONG) 122 x 92 cm Acrylic on Canvas 2013 HKD 38,000
Lined Clouds (ABONG LINYADO) 122 x 92 cm Acrylic on Canvas 2013 HKD 38,000
Cage (HAWLA) Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 122 cm 2013 HKD 44,000
Floating Palace Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 122 cm 2013 HKD 44,000
Cage 2 Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 122 cm 2013 HKD 44,000
Home Under the White Clouds Acrylic on Canvas 122 x 92 cm 2013 HKD 38,000
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