Raoul Rodriguez

Thirteen Artists Awardee 2009

Raoul Rodriguez presents a selection of ballpoint drawings on paper that reflect the Philippine socio-political ambiance. His fine drawings recreate the urban landscapes in these tumultuous and challenging times.
This is a valued addition to his drawing series shown in 'Bagong Panahon' a yearend group show for Kulay Diwa Art Galleries. He is known for his figurative and realistic efforts in paintings and large scale murals.
He works with Ugat Lahi on political effigies, performances and installation. Ugat Lahi is an active organization that espouses on progress in societal sentiments, movements and governance. He has also worked with different art groups in traveling exhibitions and have joined well noted ones like Ang De Latang Pinoy. Yes the Filipino Can!
His drawings are representations of socio-political sentiments in a politically atmospheric country.

BY MADS BAJARIAS | While exploring the galleries of Kulay-Diwa, I came across a curious drawing by Raoul Rodriguez. "Untitled II" (pencil on paper, 25 x 20 cm., 2002) is a richly obsessional and paranoiac study about urban strife and isolation. It depicts a maze of buildings and walkways peopled by figures which are either faceless or limbless and large unblinking characters hiding behind walls. Each of the building dwellers are incomplete, missing parts of themselves and cut off from events outside of their towers. On the street, below the buildings and their fragmented beings, is a chaotic clash of arms between helmeted armies brandishing lances and broadswords and mounted on warhorses. The armies on the streets are pressed together, toe to toe, locked in combat.

This work echoes M.C. Escher's surrealistic woodcuts, but while the Dutch master's fascination was with mathematics and architecture, Rodriguez's preoccupation in this work seems to be the urban tensions inherent in a society with wide divisions. You have the rabble fighting for space on the streets while alienated beings peer anxiously from their half-empty buildings.

Iggy Rodriguez, whose body of work reflects the social realities he wants to change as an activist, considers the award an opportunity to introduce people to the mass movement. Artists, he said, should “create for the people” and they should remain conscious that their “real arena is not the closed galleries but the streets, among the people.”

By TERENCE KRISHNA V. LOPEZ

MANILA — Last May, he was detained for two nights when he was illegally arrested along with six other activists protesting the demolition of urban-poor communities in Sucat, Paranaque. Now, he can have the last laugh.

On July 9, Raul Ignacio “Iggy” Rodriguez will receive an award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) no less. He is one of the recipients of this year’s Thirteen Artists Award, an award given every three years by the CCP to emerging artists. Iggy will deliver this year’s “acceptance” speech for his batch.

The Thirteen Artists Award is given to 13 emerging artists every three years. The recipients have to be nominated by curators or former recipients of the award. The selection is based on the nominated artists’ body of work and not on their achievements as individual artists.

Always An Artist

In an interview with Bulatlat.com, Iggy said he is happy and excited, and he talked about hope and challenges of being an artist in these trying times.

For Iggy, artists should be active participants in the movement for social change. “It has always been the role of real artists to serve the people, live with them, experience their lives and struggles while offering to them and to the country the artists’ most colorful and beautiful creations.”

This artist’s portfolio lives up to his ideas about the role of artists. Most of his work deals with the life and struggle of the people. His work reflects the poor and the marginalized and their resolve to fight the establishment.

Asked about other emerging artists whose work mirror social realities but are not directly involved with the people’s movement, Iggy said “we should recognize them for being brave enough to show life’s realities in their works.”

But Iggy added that it is also just as important to recognize the different levels of each artist’s reach in their respective disciplines.

On top of using their social-realist vision in their career, it would be more substantial if they actually live with the people and experience these realities with them.

Of progressive artists who are not directly involved with the people’s movement, Iggy said: “Let us not limit ourselves; nothing is given to us naturally, it all starts in asking questions but eventually, we have to answer the ultimate question, ‘For whom do we offer our work?’”

Overcoming Individualist, Elitist Tendencies

One of the biggest challenges for an artist is overcoming individualist and elitist tendencies, Iggy said. “Every artist must see beyond his own personal interests. The signs of the times have been telling us to set aside our individual interests and contribute to social change,” he said.

There are many ways of overcoming these tendencies, for instance, by collaborating with other artists, Iggy said.

A major part of his portfolio is collaborative work with colleagues in Ugat Lahi Artist Collective, his organization since 1990s. Among these works are effigies, murals and installations that usually show up in mass actions.

For his exhibit for the Thirteen Artists Award, he came up with “Symphony of Destruction,” a collaborative installation art with Ugat Lahi.

Overcoming individualist tendencies does not mean losing indivuality. “There is a huge amount

of individuality that an artist puts in his creations, in terms of aesthetics and style,” he said.

Iggy’s forte is pen and ink. He sees his own work as a mirror of the human drama, of uplifting human spirit and illustrating the human life.

He also said that an artist produces work depending on the event, venue and target audience. What is constant though, Iggy said, is the “political and class stand of the artist.”

An activist since college at the University of Santo Tomas, Iggy is now the acting chairman of Sining Bugkos, an alliance of national-democratic cultural organizations in Metro Manila. The alliance groups Aklas Sining, Musicians for Peace, Dulaang Katig, Tudla productions and Ugat Lahi Artist Collective, among others.

Window of Opportunity

Iggy is aware of the state’s track record of attacking activists as he himself has been a victim. But being awarded by the government through the CCP is not something he considers as ironic.

Iggy considers this award as a “window of opportunity” for someone who works for the national-democratic mass movement. “Although I was selected based on my body of work and not because I am an activist, my body of work speaks of my political and class stand,” Iggy said.

He added that although CCP is an arm of the government, it has a certain level of independence. “This is a chance to propagate the voice of the marginalized masses,” he said of the award. “This is one venue where we can deliver our vision.”

He prizes this award for offering him a chance to be utilized at a certain level — to inspire, influence and encourage other artists to take part in the people’s movement.

Iggy urged his fellow artists “to continue creating for the people” and remain “conscious that our real arena is not the closed galleries but the streets, among the people and with the mass movement.”

Kulay-Diwa Gallery of Philippine Contemporary Art is a privately owned venue for artistic expression. It is strategically located within a cluster of progressive communities South of Manila. It has an independent exhibition area able to accommodate large-scale works, and a spacious garden ideal for outdoor programs, performances and sculpture installations.

Goals of Kulay-Diwa

To discover and promote the works of talented, young and deserving Filipino Artist;

To serve as a cultural outpost and make the arts more accessible to the fast-growing communities South of Manila; and

To foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay(Color)

Diwa(Spirit, Thought)





The images below are examples of the artist’s works and are not necessarily available.

Raoul Rodriquez, "Huwad na Mesiyas", 152 x 122 cms., 2003

Raoul Rodriguez, Untitled I, Pencil on Paper, 25 x 20 cms. 2002

Raoul Rodriguez, Untitled II, Pencil on Paper, 25 x 20 cms., 2002

Raoul Rodriguez, "Untitled III", Pencil and on Paper, 25 x 20,cms., 2002

Available artwork:

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