Juanito Torres | Quest for Freedom

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Text: Ricky Francisco & Jack Teotico Layout & Design: Carlo Abello

JUANITO TORRES QUEST FOR FREEDOM

Knowledge Life 60 x 48 in Oil on Canvas

Knowledge is Life. Inspired by the sculpture of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino at the entrance of the University of the Philippines Diliman campus that is the UP oblation, Torres uses water to signify the importance of knowledge and its allegorical symbolism to life itself. This artwork pursues the point of many of our founding fathers and elderly statesmen that knowledge and wisdom are key to attaining true freedom – freedom from ignorance, fear, bias and discrimination.

Jose Protasio Mercado Rizal 48 x 36 in Oil on Canvas

Jose Protasio Mercado Rizal. In this artwork, Torres paints Rizal using as a setting the welcome party for Crisostomo Ibarra in the Noli Me Tangere. Rizal, our national hero, is one of the icons that have helped the country and its people intensify the quest for freedom.

The Filipino Identity 60 x 84 in Oil on Canvas

The Filipino Identity. In this artwork Torres takes inspiration from the creation of Adam. He converts this to his own message by giving it historical commentary. The Filipino was created in the image of our foreign colonialists hence the mirror on his fingers. A Western image of the cherubim attempts to wrest whatever matter can be taken from the hapless unrobed figure that is steadying himself against the onslaught of oppression. Other images in the artwork are Chaplin, a lackadaisical monk, a sacred cow and an eagle that has the body of a dog.

Kalayaan 60 x 84 in Oil on Canvas

Kalayaan is a small but very powerful piece. At 23.75” x 18” it captures the message the artist wants to convey in this exhibit. That although freedom is already in our midst, she is but a fragile dove that needs to be supported and propped up.

Tagumpay 48 x 36 in Oil on Canvas

Tagumpay is a tribute to the new heroes of today. The doctors, nurses, the front liners and even the common tao who have been at the forefront of the battle against Covid - 19. Like all tragedies, this too shall pass and humanity will triumph in the end.

We Shall Never Forget (Martial Law) 94 x 144 in Oil on Canvas

We Shall Never Forget (Martial Law). In 1972 President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. It was a difficult and brutal time which tested Philippine democracy. Several international organizations including Amnesty International and local historians estimate that there were over 3,257 extra-judicial killings of libertarians, 35,000 documented tortures, 77 people who “disappeared” and 70,000 incarcerations of opposition figures, activists and anti-martial law personalities. This artwork depicts them as the Rizals and Bonifacios of that era and commemorates the sufferings, tortures and indignities that these martyrs underwent.

What We Value Most 48 x 36 in Oil on Canvas

What We Value Most was chosen as the invitation piece to underscore the point that freedom must be valued and cherished. But it is also something other forces may want to take away from us. Protect it we must, even with our lives. The banana comes because we are an agricultural country while the watermelon stands for the red blood that sometimes must be shed. The egg is symbolic of the values we hold dear, freedom, love of country, nationhood.

The Truth in Reality (The Japanese Occupation) 59 x 48 in Oil on Canvas

The Truth in Reality (The Japanese Occupation). Is it better to remember or to just sweep away the painful past? This artwork reminds us of the brutality of the Second World War and how so many of our countrymen fought the invaders, even giving up their lives for the country and for freedom.

Exposure and Influences (Brainwashed). The endless bombardment of foreign values through media is the crux of this artwork. Through such exposure the Filipino has lost his soul and finds it difficult to weigh things properly or view them in perspective. On the left hand side is an indio seemingly talking to himself. Torres recalls a tale told to him by his grade school teacher that the Filipino has been taught that he is lazy and useless. And this has been endlessly repeated such that one has to talk to oneself to realize if this is indeed the reality.

Exposure & Influences (Brainwashed) 48 x 60 in Oil on Canvas

Hocus Pocus. Inang Bayan cannot help herself.

She is frail and weak and she is entranced by a quack doctor or even Kepweng the magician. On the left is a clown wearing the stars and stripes costume while on the right is a symbol of the opportunists in our midsts. Torres seems to be saying that our whole politics is a major zarzuela.

He adds symbols and items that are part of his life in Bulacan. Roosters and chickens, dogs and other farm animals to complete the story.

Hocus Pocus 58.5 x 83 in Oil on Canvas

And Bagong Spoliarium, Torres revisits the ideas of Philippine painter Juan Luna using his own imagery. Instead of a dead gladiator being dragged by a Roman soldier, Torres paints a defenseless lass.

There is an irregular cast of characters.

There is an imperial Chinese mandarin, a lady signifying wordliness, a military warlord (the Roman soldier) wooden statesman, an unscrupulous businessman and those that may use the faith to mislead us all.

And Bagong Spoliarium 60 x 83 in Oil on Canvas

One December Morning (The Execution of Rizal in Bagumbayan Field) 60 x 84 in Oil on Canvas

One December Morning (The Execution of Rizal in Bagumbayan Field). On a bright and clear early morning in December in the park in Bagumbayan field, one of the most illustrious minds from the Filipino race, Dr. Jose Rizal, was shot dead by the Spaniards.

They felt he was a threat to their rule in the Philippines because his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo were eye openers to the abuses of the religious orders and the Spanish colonizers in the islands.

With the execution, Rizal’s ideas caught on like a prairie fire and opened the doors to the Philippine Revolution.

The Sumuroy Rebellion. In the mid 16th century (1649-1650), the people of Samar led

by Agustin Sumoroy rose up in revolt against the practices of the Spanish colonizers which forced them to do forced labor away from their hometowns. The people of Samar were being recruited to work in shipyards in Cavite. The revolt spread to Mindanao, Bicol and the rest of the Visayas such as Cebu, Masbate, Camiguin, Albay, and Zamboanga but suffered a major setback when Sumoroy was captured and executed.

Sumuroy Rebellion 60 x 90 in Oil on Canvas