Victor Puruganan holds first solo at ARTablado
Over the years, Victor Puruganan has created a body of work that is more than enough to fill up his house and makeshift studio several times over. He can render portraits and visually exciting abstracts with ease, fearlessly shifting from one medium to another, may it be oil, acrylic, ceramics or glass.
One wonders why it took him this long to stage his very first official solo exhibition.
Ilocos Norte-born Puruganan doesn’t crave the limelight but has earned his right to be called one of the Philippines’ best, much like his father, the late Maestro Ricarte Puruganan, who belonged to the iconic group art historians called “Thirteen Moderns” of Philippine Art. The elder Puruganan shared the honor with Arsenio Capili, Bonifacio Cristobal, Demetrio Diego, Victorio Edades, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Cesar Legaspi, Diosdado Lorenzo, Anita Magsaysay, Vicente Manansala, Galo Ocampo, Hernando Ocampo and Jose Pardo
Victor took an Associate Fine Arts degree at the City College of San Francisco in the early 1980s. He worked in a hotel where he polished his skills as an artist, creating artworks that delighted and impressed his superiors and colleagues and the hotel guests as well.
He would continue painting commissioned art while shuttling between the US and the Philippines, limiting his time and ability to fully establish an artistic base.
In his ongoing exhibit titled “Alter Ego” at ARTablado in Robinsons Galleria, Victor shows what he is all about. The works on display are mostly recent, depicting the evolution of Victor’s life and art. It is filled with hope that mirrors the inner reflection of a man and an artist who is far from the twilight of his career.
Like his father Ricarte, and the “Thirteen Moderns” who broke away from the classical and conservative style in the 1930s, Victor today exemplifies an artist who innovates, striving to create something new but grounded in the fundamentals of art.
“Many people forget how much thought and creativity goes into how geometric shapes and patterns are incorporated just to convey an influential message in our societies or our own personal lives,” Victor explains.
“Alter Ego” is on exhibition until December 15, 2022 at Level 3 of Robinsons Galleria. Robinsons Land’s ARTablado continues to support Filipino art by providing a second home for artists where they can showcase their creativity and artistic genius.
