Exhibited: Exhibited: Carroza, Galleria Duemila, Manila. 2003

ABOUT THE WORK

There seems no stopping Negros artist Charlie Co in utilizing the power of Surrealism to produce allegorical, vibrant paintings. His works are exciting and of substance, always out of his passion in taking upon new, refreshing subject matters and themes and not of art market trends. Viewing a Co painting is taking a look at the world of his imagination and personal experiences as well as the emotions attached to them. More than his works with socio-political themes, he paints subjects in colorful garb and surreal environments. Take this whimsical work as a fine example of art that engages the senses in its featured colors and refined strokes. One can also notice Co’s kind of representations of subjects: away from realism while still facing realities with a discerning, passionate eye. Arrogance of Power is part of his Carroza series of paintings that feature passive obedience, blind faith, arrogance, and royalty of power with folk surrealist qualities, exhibited in his 2003 one-man show in Galleria Duemila. In her Asian Arts News Magazine essay, critic-historian Alice Guillermo describes the blond foreign figure as an allusion to the former U.S. President George W. Bush “confidently and indifferently seated atop the platform surrounded with all the trappings of worldly authority” like a divine king of a “nation chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world of justice.” Below, the Virgin stands grieving.