Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

By 1896, the rebellion fomented by the Katipunan, a militant secret society, had become a full blown revolution, proving to be a nationwide uprising Jose Rizal had earlier volunteered his services as a doctor in Cuba and was given leave by Governor-General Ramon Blanco to serve in Cuba to minister to victims of yellow fever. Rizal and Josephine Bracken left Dapitan on August 1, 1896, with letter of recommendation from Blanco. Jose Rizal was arrested en route to Cuba via Spain and was imprisoned in Barcelona on October 6, 1896. He was sent back the same day to Manila to stand trial as he was implicated in the revolution through his association with members of the Katipunan. During the entire passage, he was unchained; no Spaniard laid a hand on him, and had many opportunities to escape but refused to do so. While imprisoned in Fort Santiago, he issued a manifesto disavowing the current revolution in its present state and declaring that the education of Filipinos and their achievement of a national identity were prerequisites to freedom. Bencab exudes pictorial nostalgia, transporting one to the past. He sees himself doing more variations on the old Filipino theme. He works intuitively, always avoiding the risk of limiting himself to a repetitive message. Preoccupied with creating something Filipino, he delves into our rich heritage to unravel the mystery of our identity. Bencab always favored using few colors rather than many; deep browns make for the backdrop of the painting. Bencab’s works assert that fewer colors in a painting gave the art greater force and meaning. Bencab’s prison roomscape, keeps the viewer securely within a small, well defined cube of space. In 1978 Cid Reyes asked Bencab: “I wanted to ask you about your paintings of Filipino clothes like the camisa de chino of which you have done a number of variations.” Bencab answered: “my fascination for them lies in the beauty of their simplicity and fragility take our pina material. I like the way it folds and creases in this rather crisp way. And of course, its rtransparency allows you to play with all sorts of light and shade. It’s so different from the European kind of fabric.” Cid Reyes: “Could you tell us something about the technique you used in doing these paintings? I mean, what elements of photography do you employ? Ben Cabrera replied: “Cropping, for one and also corner clips which were us dim these old albums also, the faded quality of old photographs.”