The Centenary of Mars Ravelo

As a young kid, I played Darna, imagining myself to be the heroine with superpowers who appeared in Filipino komiks popular at that time.

On ordinary days, Darna is Narda, a simple girl with a disability. When she is needed, Narda swallows a magical stone to transform into Darna—a being strong enough to battle bad men, demons and monsters. Darna has been a big part of many childhoods, including mine. From her adventures, we learned to side with and cheer goodness and to oppose evil. We also learned what basically constitutes goodness and also evil. From komiks, Darna has been adapted to movies and television shows, becoming an icon of Philippine pop culture.

Darna is the creation of prolific komiks writer Mars Ravelo, who also created several other iconic characters such as Captain Barbell, Lastikman, Bondying and Dyesebel. Ravelo is revered for creating characters and stories that colored many a childhood memory. On the centenary of his birth last October 9, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) held a celebration. A three-tiered caked was cut in his honor. It was decorated with covers of his komiks and some of his characters. It was crowned, fittingly, with the face of Darna and a small typewriter of sugar icing.

The celebration was held at the Bulwagang Juan Luna or Main Gallery and the Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino, the third-floor hallway gallery of the CCP, where the “Mars Ravelo Reinterpreted” exhibit, which opened on September 15, 2016, is on view until November 13, 2016.

Ravelo was born on October  9, 1916, in General Trias, Cavite, where he spent most of his childhood. He studied in Manila, but he cut classes to spend time in public libraries until he decided to leave high school during his sophomore year. He had already met Tony Velasquez, a well-known komiks illustrator, who influenced him to go into the genre. In 1939, he became the cartoonist for the comic series, “Bemboy,” but his career was cut short by the Second World War. After the war, Ravelo returned to komiks, coming up with original material, which was published in Bulaklak. On May 17, 1950, the first issue of “Darna” came out. Within the span of four decades, he produced more than 300 titles that included stories of superheroes, fantasy, comedy, science fiction, drama and romance, eventually becoming a household name. He died on September 12, 1988, leaving behind a legacy that influences many people until today.

The “Mars Ravelo Reinterpreted” exhibit kicked off the year-long celebration of Ravelo’s centenary. It gathered visual artists Kris Abrigo, Ang Gerilya, Virgilio Aviado, Mariano Ching, Ernest Concepcion, Maishadela Cruz, FaBo, Dex Fernandez, RM de Leon, Leeroy New, Jonas Roces, Jericho Vamenta and MM Yu, who created paintings, sculptures and installations inspired by Ravelo’s characters, challenging the perceived divide between fine art and comic art. It also subverts the statuses—comic art, which is usually perceived as low-brow and escapist, informing and inspiring the fine arts. The works range from the ones that comment on social issues using Ravelo characters to those that are simply homages.

Aside from the works of the featured artists, “Mars Ravelo Reinterpreted” has a section displaying memorabilia and works by Ravelo. There are volumes of komiks, as well as typewritten scripts. A small section displays works of thee of Ravelo’s eight children—Richard, Rita and Rex.

Rex’s work, a charcoal-on-paper painting called Tinapa Literature, depicts torn pages of comic books made into a little bag to hold smoked fish, a common practice then. It is described as “an interpretation of how his father would honestly want to educate Filipinos by passing on both moral values and Pinoy culture even only through repurposed komiks pages.”

Additionally, Rex emphasizes that one of the educational impacts of his father’s komiks stories is the popularization of the Filipino language. Komiks in Filipino were widely read, including in the Visayas and Mindanao, and as a result non-Tagalog speaking Filipinos learned Filipino.

For his part, Rex is keeping alive his father’s legacy, as well as trying to revitalize interest in comics. With partners and associates, he is currently building the Mars Ravelo Komiks Museum on a 2,000-square meter lot in Neogan, Tagaytay City, Cavite. Planned to open during the culmination of the centenary celebration next year, the museum, he says, will not only feature his father’s works, but it will be about Philippine comics as a whole, showing the impacts and influences of the popular art form on Filipino lives and culture. 

The exhibit area at the CCP

Bondying

Darna at ang Babaeng Linta typewritten script

Sisid, Dyesebel, Sisid

An old Royal typewriter of the Ravelos

Ang Gerilya’s Tagapagligtas (flat latex on plywood, 2016)

Darna and Valentina Encounter by RM de Leon (acrylic on paper, 2009) 

History of the Halimaw by Kris Abrigo (acrylic on wood, 2016)

Leeroy New's Still Life with Two Flash Bombas (plastic toys) 

Plastickman, Plastikman 2  by Virgilio Aviado (mixed media on tarpaulin and found objects, 2016)

Kikay Okay

Portrait of Mars Ravelo by Richard Ravelo

Tinapa Literature by Rex Ravelo

Dex Fernandez

Dyesebel by Jonas Roces (brass on stainless steel stand, 2016)

 

MM Yu

Mariano Ching 

Mars Ravelo

Mars and Lucy Ravelo

Mars Ravelo, Amaya, Cavite

Ravelo family

Me

A Gathering of Galleries: Manilart 2013 Reaches Outside Metro Manila

From left: ManilArt Foundation board director and ManilArt 2013 Media Relations Committee head Delan Robillos; SMX Convention Center director of sales Charry Casabar; Ciara Eadie of Archivo 1984; ManilArt Foundation board member and ManilArt 2013 Finance Committee head Robert Bjorn Santos; Skyjet Airlines president and CEO Dr. Joel Mendoz; dean of SoFA Design Institute Tobias Guggenheimer; National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ National Committee on Art Galleries head Amy Loste; SMX Convention Center assistant vice president of sales and marketing Marivic Marquez; Lifestyle Asia associate publisher Cheryl Tiu; Lifestyle Asia editor-in-chief Anna Sobrepeña; Diageo Reserve marketing executive Mara Chen; ManilArt Foundation board member and ManilArt 2013 art fair director Romana Go; and ManilArt Exhibitor Relations Committee head Rio Ambrosio

From October 9 to 13, 2013, prominent and emerging art galleries around Metro Manila will converge in the fifth mounting ManilArt at the newly inaugurated SM Aura Premier Convention Center in Taguig City.
Included is the Galleria Duemila, a custom-built gallery in Pasay City said to be longest running commercial gallery in the Philippines, having been established in 1975 by Italian-born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz. Galleria Duemila, which specializes in contemporary paintings, sculptures, works on paper and installations, as well as rare secondary-market stock by modern Filipino masters, will feature its roster of artists including Raul Lebajo, Julie Lluch, Duddley Diaz, Nelfa Querubin, Lindslee, Margherita de Balzo, Onib Olmedo, Romina Diaz and Roberto Robles.

An exhibitor's booth during the ManilArt 2010 art fair

Street art demo brought indoors during the ManilArt 2010 art fair

On the other hand, Big and Small Art Company will banner its resident young artist Aleah Angeles, after presenting Ronald Ventura last year. According to gallery owner Dr. Joel Mendez, the figurative artist, whose painting Lazy Daisy was auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong in 2012 for $7,759, almost twice its estimated original value of $4,138, will showcase her trademark lyrical and romantic large-scale paintings of young, innocent girls in a solo exhibit called “Seed.” Aside from using oil on canvases, Angeles ventured into a whole artwork featuring miniature paintings from top to bottom.
In an effort to showcase art outside the National Capital Region, this year’s ManilArt will show exhibitors from the regions. In addition to pioneer member/exhibitor Tam-Awan Village of Baguio City, the Amarela Gallery of Bohol; Charlie’s Gallery of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Yaru Nu Artes Ivatan of Basco, Batanes; and a huge contingent of Visayas-Mindanao artists presented by Qube Gallery of Cebu City will also join the art fair.
The rest of exhibitors include L’arc en ciel, Galerie Francesca, Galerie Nicolas, Archivo 1984, Vmeme Contemporary Art Gallery, Finale Art File, Quattrocento, Leon Gallery, Qube Gallery, Galerie Anna, Artes Orientes, Galerie Joaquin, Galerie Stephanie, Manila Contemporary, Blue and Gray Gallery, Paseo Gallery, Artery Manila, Arte Pintura Gallery, Renaissance, Galeria Delas Islas, Gallery Nine, Transwing Art Gallery and Gallery Big.
ManilArt is organized by the Bonafide Art Galleries Organization with governmental support through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and support form the private sector including Lifestyle Asia magazine and the One Mega Group.
According to Imelda Loste, head of the NCCA’s National Committee on Art Galleries, ManilArt over the years has showcased over 2,500 works of Philippine artists. Attendance is also increasing. Last year, the four-day event at the SMX Convention Center of SM Mall of Asia registered about 11,000 visitors, mostly art patrons, collectors, enthusiasts and students.
Loste said that the ManilArt is timed during autumn in many parts of the world and when many big art expos are happening. They aim to make ManilArt a big art event of the country comparable to those abroad.
This year, the slogans for ManilArt are “Celebrating Variety” and “Art According to All” to emphasize “the continued government support, participation from other regions, and the private sector rallying behind the art fair.”
ManilArt will open with an invitational gala night on October 9, expecting to draw foreign and local dignitaries, art collectors and enthusiasts, government officials and heads of the industry, prominent artists and museum professionals. The regular run of the art fair will be from October 10 to 13, from 11 A.M. to 9 P.M.
Among the activities of the art fair is the Walking Tour for students and enthusiasts, to be held everyday (1 to 2 P.M., 2:30 to 3:30 P.M., and 4 to 5 P.M.). There will be a separate walking tour for bloggers, with lectures and workshops.
An art fair catalogue, sponsored by Lifestyle Asia magazine and the One Mega Group, will be available at the fair as well as new ManilArt merchandise featuring images of artworks. Parents who will be bringing children aged seven to 12 will get the chance to receive storybooks illustrated by noted visual artists.

For inquiries, call 910-8016 or 0917-3272529, or e-mail info.manilart@gmail.com.

 Aleah Angeles’s Rare Fairy Seed 3 (60 by 72 inches, oil on canvas) will be showcased in ManilArt 2013