“Dante Hipolito’s painting, Salubong, was intended to be a welcome gift for Pope
Francis when he visited the Philippines in 2015,” wrote Spot in “10 Controversial Works by Filipino Artists” dated Nov. 18, 2015.
The other nine works in the shortlist of “shocking, weird, or offensive” paintings are the master works The Parisian Life by Juan Luna; Muslim Betrothal by Carlos “Botong” Francisco; Assassination of Governor Bustamante and His Son by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo; Las Buyeras by Jorge Pineda; and The Builders by Victorio Edades.
The other contemporary paintings are: Untitled (Burnt-out Europe) by Manuel Ocampo; Gothika Filipina 2 by Igan D’ Bayan; Menstrual Cycle in Philippine History by Danilo Sillada; and Poleteismo by Mideo Cruz.
But Spot reported wrongly. Salubong was never intended as a welcome gift for Pope Francis, as the Adobo Chronicles reported. It was meant to be a commemorative of his visit, but there was never an intention to give it to the Pope as Dante planned to give it to this writer as gift. It is now part of my art collection that his family has to borrow when needed.
Hipolito observes his 57th birthday this October 17, and this writer, a close friend of the artist, celebrates it with this feature article on his most famous artwork. This year is also his 25th year of celebrating Filipino Heritage.
In the distinct style of vibrant rural realism of the 29-by-24-inch oil-on-canvas entitled Salubong (2015), Hipolito redefines art. He calls it Composite Realism, which is the smooth interplay of filmmaking elements of production design, photography and digital art based on his experience in stage production and advertising. Thus, he creates distinctively exuberant depictions of country life on their basic principles.
With its remarkable multi-cultural approach, Hipolito’s paintings depict the Filipino heritage — our history, our values, our traditions, our customs, our music and dances, our literature, our myths, our rituals, and our ideals interpreted in a nuanced manner, as vignettes in the life of ordinary Filipinos.
Hipolito set work on Salubong two months before Pope Francis was set to arrive for his first Pontifical visit of the country. His wife Carmen, who is an avid follower of local entertainers, suggested that he paint film and television actors dressed as farm workers welcoming the Catholic leader. As the idea followed the style of Composite Realism, the idea appealed to him.
In an ambiance of rural peace and prosperity, Hipolito shows Gov. Vilma Santos as a farmer leading stars (from left of painting) Gary Valenciano, Sen. Grace Poe, Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes, Coco Martin and Kris Aquino, who are also costumed as country people in the festive welcome.
AGE OF MISINFORMATION
Salubong turned controversial soon after Marian Rivera posted it on her Facebook account. When television, broadsheet and online portals gave it primary exposure, it was inevitable that it would go viral — and controversial — despite its pacific message.
This certainly gave Hipolito major media exposure and turned Salubong into his most celebrated painting to date. ABS-CBN’s Umagang Kay Ganda broke out the news. Television crews sought him for interviews in his Bacoor residence and he was invited for live appearances such as GMA-7’s Unang Hirit and during TV5’s live coverage of the Papal visit as a resource person.
What is basically a depiction of farmers welcoming Pope Francis on his Papal visit turned into a convoluted issue. Clearly, many commenters missed the spiritual dimension of the painting, which was meant to be a non-sectarian approach to spirituality. They turned it into a free-for-all bashing, from the banal to the absurd, currently causing the meltdown of social media. Here are selected quotes:
Carlos Celdran is logical: “The vanity of this painting is exactly what Pontifex is against. And Gary Valenciano is a Born Again Christian. WTH?”
Adobo Chronicles reported its own facts: “It is a gift from Filipino artist Dante Hipolito, who was commissioned by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to do the artwork as a way to welcome the visiting head of the Roman Catholic Church.
“The ‘Adobo Chronicles’ learned that it will be displayed at the rotunda of the Batangas provincial capitol in Batangas City, south of the Philippines’ capital. Santos, who is prominently featured in the painting, happens to be the elected governor of Batangas province. She is one of many Filipino movie stars who have chosen to pursue a political career.”
These are pure manufactured information as there was no such intention or transaction ever took place. I know this as Hipolito and I closely coordinated while he painted the work. The CBCP did not commission him to paint Salubong, as reported by Wikipedia or, for that matter, Santos.
“The painting contradicts the concept of realism as it shows nothing about the submerged reality of the nation’s agricultural workers,” said Michael Beltran, chair of Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan (Karatula), in an article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Ma. Isabel Ongpin articulated in her Manila Times column that the painting had the power to “move the obscenely rich, the comfortable rich and the middle class in this country to share more with their poorer countrymen without whose help they would not be where they are… Otherwise, the visit will just be a celebrity bash, a Pope Francis and me story for the usual suspects and the favored few, albeit using a cast of thousands, with no good and transformative effect.”
Netizen Nathan Briones (via the Rappler Web site) thinks the artist intended the painting to be a satirical artwork. “You decide. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.’ Blessed are the rich and famous, for theirs is an oil painting with Pope Francis,” he commented.
It was unavoidable that Salubong would be compared to Cruz’s Poleteismo installation at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which turned controversial and was eventually banned. This was an unfair comparison as Hipolito’s painting did not have anti-religion content. But Cruz’s statement about the issue opens the mind: “Kung sinasabi ko lagi na walang limitasyon ang imahinasyon ng isang artista bakit hindi ang tumitingin.”
After all the exercise in the freedom of expression, the discussion about Salubong turned high fallutin,’ a dire effort to intellectualize a simple issue. Hipolito stated it best by bringing it back to earth level: “Isa lang po ang naging mensahe ko sa painting na ‘yon... ang pagmamahal ko sa aking kabiyak ng puso.
“Mundo ko ito e. Ito nag-exist ito sa utak ko lang nailabas ko… Kaso na-misinterpret ng tao,” he expounded.
Salubong, no doubt, spawned partial truths, confused interpretations and plain lies. And doing so resulted in bending information and purposely misinterpreting them. For sure, they were done in the logic or illogic of freedom of expression, most of the time without obligation or remorse.
The Age of Information necessarily has been twisted and mangled, becoming the Age of Misinformation.
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Hipolito: Art and misinformation
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