Exhibited: Pintô Art Museum, Connect with your heart (Sampayan Art Exhibit), Antipolo City, 11 - 26 July 2020

ABOUT THE WORK

Elmer Borlongan's everyman is almost always stripped down to his barest essentials. Dressed in his simplest clothes and face bare of any emotion, we glimpse the everyman as they are, a fact that Borlongan relentlessly pursues all throughout his career. With this 2020 ink and watercolor work, Borlongan's common man is stripped down only to his pants, figure devoid of colors or elaborate shading as he raises his hands up in mock surrender. Where his usual works veer into the contemporary, Borlongan harnessed the ancient in this work as he depicts a growling dog at the foot of the man with an eclipse happening in the background. Even using only ink and watercolor, Borlongan manages to convey a sense of mysticism in this piece, his vivid expressionism elevating the magic of the work. (Hannah Valiente)