Jerry Elizalde

Navarro,

National Artist,

Painting 1999

Jeremias (Jerry) Elizalde Navarro (1924 - 1999)

A multi-faceted quintessential artist with the vision, foresight and prolific genius that made a mould all of its own. 

The richness of his art, its intensity and depth, makes the loss of its creator assume a greater purpose and influence that thrives in that absence. For we distinctly sense what was once and what has been; feel fleeting moments suspended from those shards of hues and colours that reach out from his works and canvasses.

The artist has paid respects to life. He has through discerning vision created avenues for intensity and powerful images – forging, splicing, and moulding bonds between art techniques and a variety of media. The sensual grasp of his images reaches far into the soul, drawing the viewer into the very recesses of his own reasoning. Often baring pains in all their nakedness, confronting truths in mirrors of hues and colours, or seeing through the tedious and the ordinary its glorious self. His works mirror parts of himself. His subjects were the anchor for the dazzling splay of colours that make his canvasses come to life. Free flowing, bold strokes, swift and short dabs and swirls, he forged them into a prism of images. A master in his chosen genre, his work evokes power and deep thought.

A Negrense, he was born in San Jose, Antique on May 22, 1924. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts major in Painting at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Married to equally famous sculptor Virginia Ty-Navarro, He had represented the Philippines in various artistic events from Brazil, Berne, Czechoslovakia, Japan, Indonesia and the United States. The list of his achievements is long and his works ranged prolifically from oils, acrylic, watercolour, sculpture, multi-dimensional and mixed media.

In his relentless pursuit of the ideal, he took cognisance of a formal education in art training as a vital element for creativity, supplemented by experience and constant experimentation. He once wrote: "It is no wonder that graduating from art school while working in advertising graphics resulted in my successful paintings and sculptures. I would say that the stringent parameters of advertising art coupled with the disciplines learned in serious art would help any artist whether he is in painting or art sculpture. Many would agree with me that the same creative adrenaline is expended in the pursuit of any art, be it serious or commercial. In the end, it is one’s talent and integrity that arbitrates on whether one has crapped or laid a golden egg.

Born:  1924  San Jose, Antique, Philippines

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goal of the gallery is to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)

Works currently unavailable. Please contact us if you are interested in his works.

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