Orley Ypon’s “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa” features bright, tranquil landscapes that evoke the artist’s memories of home and the spiritual aspects of life.
Galerie Joaquin recently presented the latest collection of works by modern realist painter Orley Ypon titled Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa. The exhibition marks a significant new development in his oeuvre, a deviation from the figure studies he’s known for (which often grapple with the complexities of existential struggle). This time around, Ypon turns to landscapes, painting an assemblage of serene places from provinces like Cebu and Cavite, many of which feature bucolic scenes: clear streams, stalks of long yellow grass, and verdant trees dappled in sunlight abound, each piece a meditation on the natural world’s aesthetic value.
Ypon’s work has earned both local and international acclaim over the years, notably with his Grand Prize win at the International Artist Magazine’s International Painting Competition of the Portrait Society of America in 2009, as well as First Place in the Figurative Category of the Art Renewal Center’s Salon International in 2011/2012 for his piece “Resurrection.” He also received the Ani Ng Dangala award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2011, and was the Grand Prize winner of the prestigious Amorsolo Competition.
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Mapping A Home
Inspired by Andres Bonifacio’s patriotic poem of the same name, Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa is a love letter to the places that have shaped Ypon, ingraining themselves in his memories of home.
“Nung bata ako, mahilig ako maglakad ng magisa sa mga tahimik na lugar. Hinahanap ko ang mga lugar na hindi pinupuntahan ng tao, parang gubat. Siguro yun ang part ng pagiging artist ko,” he shares with Lifestyle Asia. [“When I was a child, I liked walking in quiet places by myself. I would look for these places where not a lot of people would go, like the forests. I guess that was part of how I became an artist.”]
As the exhibition note writes: “The works on display offer a vision of the Filipino homeland as a space of harmony and spiritual connection, expanding the artist’s realism into a realm that speaks to the physical, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of human experience. It is particularly fitting that this exhibition is held during Arts Month, as it invites viewers to reconsider the relationship between land, identity, culture, country, and the transcendent.”
Painting As Prayer
More than a physical act, painting is also a form of prayer for Ypon, one that shows his gratitude and reverence to God. This is most evident through his use of light, which permeates almost every landscape, shaping the land by illuminating its hidden contours and nourishing all the creatures that inhabit it, much like how life flows from the divine Creator, as Ypon views it.
While the exhibition is predominantly made up of landscapes, the artist still pays homage to his roots through the eye-catching “Get Up” —the visual and thematic black sheep of the collection. Similar to his award-winning piece “Resurrection,” the painting features figures in a dark, murky pit of what appears to be mud, grappling each other as one particular individual lies down in a kind of baptism. Though different from the rest of the series, “Get Up” still evokes the religious or spiritual undertones that captivate Ypon, signaling a kind of rebirth in rising from the mire (“For you are dust, And to dust you shall return,” Genesis 3:19).
“Galing tayo sa dumi, kaya ayusin natin ang buhay natin. Dapat makalabas ka diyan, wag mong hayaan na manatili ka diyan; part ng challenge natin sa buhay yun,” Ypon explains. [“We come from dirt, that’s why we need to fix our lives. You need to be able to leave (the dirt), don’t let yourself stay there; that’s part of the challenge of life.”]
Whether we find ourselves clawing our way through the metaphorical mud or peacefully walking through a pastoral glade, Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa gives us glimpses of what it means to live in this beautiful, messy world we call home.
“Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa” runs until February 22, 2025 at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell. Galerie Joaquin Rockwell is located at the R3 Level, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati City. For inquiries, contact Galerie Joaquin at +63 915 414 5502 or email galeriejoaquinrockwell@gmail.com.
Photos courtesy of Galerie Joaquin (unless specified).
