PROFOUND SURREALISM IN EDSON'S VIRTUOSITY

We better do what our heart has been yearning

We never know when our life would be over

We should not search for happiness somewhere

We have it in the deepest part of our being!

Seven days before his birthday, I found myself researching about his life and art. I first heard about him from my mother, who was one of his teachers in high school. Then I saw my sister's interview from The Light, the official student organ of the Lopez National (now Comprehensive) High School, featuring him as an artist par excellence. In 2003 when we set the ground floor of our house for a mini museum, Mother went to his family so that we can have him featured as one of the kababayans every Lopezeño should be proud of. I never had the chance to meet him but I believe that I am one of those who really admire, if not adore, the artist in him! 

From the files of  Arella-Suguitan Museum: an article written by Ma. Grace A. Suguitan in "The  Light,"
official student organ of the Lopez National (now Comprehensive) High School in Lopez, Quezon.

I have gone to his bachelor pad cum gallery only twice---first was when we told his family through his brother that Edson Armenta (yes, that's the artist I am introducing to you now) was a recipient of the posthumous Outstanding Lopezeño Award. Second was when I was with the group when we hosted the meeting of Southern Luzon Association of Museums (SLAM) in 2006. If I will be given another chance, I would want to go there again to just look at his creations and marvel at his lasting legacy. I want to just enjoy every piece of the sculpture that gave him the prominence to be  in the country's history of Postmodernism and Contemporary Art!

Armenta Brothers shared Edson to the community through
this art  installation  exhibited at  the  museum since it opened in 2003.
I never had scrutinized it until last week, the first time I saw
the eyes of the trapper, in preparation for this blog. 

"Patibong" It is a Tagalog (Filipino) term that means "trap," subscribing to psychoanalytical theory that destructiveness is inherent in man and Freudian Theory that such is rooted in the libido. It took him three years to complete about fifty sculpture installations using indigenous materials like bamboo, guava wood, coconut shells and husks, wild vine, abaca fiber, rattan, buri fronds, the hide of snakes and other animals, chicken feathers, sea shells, mat, basket, and found objects like stones, cotton cloth, net, glass bottles, etc. Occasionally he used artificial colors. Every piece is a either a question, or description of a man projecting aggression, as manifested in everyday conflicts,  to crimes, or even wars. 

Edson's brothers offered the standing sculpture, the biggest  among
his  creations, but   local  museum had limited space for the exhibits so this hanging installation found its new  home instead.

In 1986, a preview of Edson's work was exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). The following year, "PATIBONG ---metaphors of human destructiveness" his very first one-man exhibit was held for a month at the Pinaglabanan Galleries in San Juan. In 1988, he was one of the six artists who represented the country to the Manila-Berlin Exchange at the Raab Gallerie. There in Germany, his art had been praised and applauded. An exhibit on the Contemporary Arts Museum of the Philippines (CAMP) followed upon the artists' return to the country.  

Mystery of the missing coconut shell:
Yes, it could be a phallic symbol to the creator, but it could also have other interpretations
to the viewer as one part of the pair of coconut shells dropped off after the typhoon.
It wouldn't be a disgrace to the  artist if  another  message comes across his art,
that is to remind us to care for nature and the earth.

Edson's surrealism had become an arena for performance art where the viewer becomes a participant by avoiding sharpened edges of the bamboos which, though obvious, may not be noticed  because of the beauty of each piece. It could be a mirror to the spectator, designed to make a statement that each person has to confront his own aggressive nature. Viewing becomes a ritual for healing the violence within.  His works had been dedicated to both the trapper and the victim to finally create peace, or integration of the individual character coming to terms with his own destructive nature.

One of the sculptures of our international artist, pride of the Philippines, not only of Quezon Province,
not only of the  town of Lopez; EDSON ARMENTA sends a message that doesn't fade away with time!

For the year 1989-1990, Edson was granted the Pollock/ Krasner Foundation Award in New York. Bamboo sculpture with mixed media were his way of sending social commentaries. In 1990, when he had a one-man exhibit at Thailand Cultural Center during the ASEAN Youth Sculpture Workshop and Exhibition in Bangkok, he did "Requiem for Elephants," a strong statement to save the elephants from extinction. 

From the moment he was launched as an artist, Edson had continuously received international awards and citations. In 1991, he won another international tilt out of 87 artists worldwide, the only Filipino of the 15 winners. From the Mid-American Arts in New York Alliance Program and the United States Information Agency's International Fellowship in Visual Arts, he was the visual artist that won an all-expense-paid trip with 30-day-tour to the US and 45 days in-residence at an artist's community/ university/ college art department of art school of his choice.  In 1992, he exhibited at the Institute of International Education in Washington D.C.'s International Exchange Program. Also in that year, he was one of the three Filipino visual artists featured in New Art for Southeast Asia at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in Japan.  

In 1994, he had a one-man installation at Alliance Francais, entitled "Indigenous Visions." He poured out his heart on each and every work of art. On April 1, 1996, Lopez Provincial High School (LPHS, now LNCHS) Batch 1971 paid tribute to the great artist that was their bosom friend from high school. Born and raised in Lopez, he took Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from Luzonian University and graduated from Far Eastern University (FEU) with fine arts, major in advertising. After four years of working with ad agencies, he quit in 1982 and devoted his life to the expression of his art which were all original and uniquely ethnic, meta-tribal, highly intellectual.

He could have done more, but his life was short. On May 8, 1995, his own Creator took him as his life was complete. An inspiration to the artists to go and follow their dreams; to let go of the talent that lies within and express the inner self through artistic statements. He left riddles that can transcend all time. His works, were totally mysterious, leaving the meaning to the spectator. Its message adopts to what is essential at the time being. His creations cannot be duplicated, nor can it be changed but it has left an imprint  to which every individual can relate. 

I had to search for the signature covered with found objects that were trapped
by the  sticky  gum  locally known as "patda." And I was lucky to have found it!

I saw eyes of a rebel, I saw phallic symbols. I saw bountiful harvest of sea creatures, I saw them caught with net. On sea shells, I saw blood. It would probably take time before I can decipher the meaning of it all but I'd love to solve the puzzle which can only be based on my own interpretation. With the experience that I had while  looking closely at his work, I am sure EVERY ARTIST MUST EXPERIENCE EDSON! We all have to be stuck on his "PATDA," the sticky gum that catches everything to be part of the collection. Different elements put together, however unrelated, become integral part of the whole creation that is amazingly beautiful.  Stick to his principle of expressing yourself through art. As I had been part of his collection, so will you be! Are you the trapper or the victim? We need to confront our own destructive nature to create peace in the universe.  

Seventeen years after his death, we have not fully explored the message behind each piece. I wish this tribute touched you in a way, and  to respect the genius in him, search within yourself where you hide some sharpened bamboo poles or have you already come to terms with your own destructive nature? November 14 is his 63rd birth anniversary. Say a little prayer.

To Edson

I am writing this in time for your birthday

I hope I did justice to your persona

As I give my readers a sketch 

of the artist that conveyed his message to the world

with the use of indigenous materials 

that could set the eyes of every human being that sees it

to the Philippines and to Lopez where you came from 

Salute to the man I never met

You will live forever through your art

You may not have envisioned this to happen but

Beyond my words you'll be eternal!