Romeo Gutierrez

 

Creation is Divine 

Romeo Gutierrez prays with his art 

April 8, 2019 / C-2 

By Hannah Jo Uy

Painting is an extension of the personality of an artist. It is like a signature. A painting should be an artist’s identity. Try to be different, always.’ 

Last year, Romeo Gutier­rez faced the reality of his inevitable mortality, when he had to undergo a ma­jor surgical operation in St. Luke’s Medical City. This had a profound impact on the artist who, after hav­ing recovered, is now bursting with enthusiasm for life. 

“This is my second life in this world,” he says. “I owe my talent to God and I’m expressing it through my intuitive mind. I don’t consider myself as a deeply spiritual person. I’m just a God-fearing person and I just want to acknowledge the many blessings God has given me.” 

Romeo views each painting as a prayer, a celebration of the divine quality inherent in the creative pro­cess all artists partake of. He attri­butes his initial interest in the arts to his father, Jose Gutierrez, a colonel in the army and civil engineer. Romeo says his father was not the impos­ing authoritarian usually associated with those in the military. He was, instead, the epitome of a Renais­sance man. “He was a mathematician, a singer, a poet, a musical composer, a painter, a scholar, and has been all around the world as a scholar of Phil­ippine Military Academy (PMA),” Ro­meo explains. “He was the very first person who influenced my art because of his paintings and illustrations.” 

This influence of his father extend­ed beyond simply opening his eyes to the joys of creation. Romeo’s father, who was also taught at the PMA, in­stilled an impeccable sense of dis­cipline to his children. Such an upbringing made him a particularly or­ganized person, something he car­ries over to his artistic practice. 

Romeo also became a profes­sor of Fine Arts, teaching only twice a week to balance educational duties with his own work as an artist. Though he was the one teach­ing, he says that it hasalso served as valuable learn­ing experience for him as a painter. “I have to study what I teach,” he explains. “Because of this, I have learned more about the principles of design.”

 

Initially, Romeo was exposed to and inspired by the likes of Manansala, Malang, and Legas­pi, which cultivated in him a deep appreciation for classical tradition. This, he says, is essential and fun­damental for all artistic practice and will remain timeless. Given that his father was also a big admirer of the­genre, Romeo says that he wanted to pursue realism in a bid to please him. He, however, became heavily influenced by Pica­ssowhen he began pursuing a full-time career in the arts. “I wanted my own style,” he says, “so I did several experi­mentations until I arrived at my own.” 

Through time and effort, Ro­meo managed to enhance his natural technical talent with regard to color and composition. But questions revolving the issue of iden­tity remained vital for him as he believes in creating a unique artistic voice to contrib­ute something different to the local art scene. “It is a truly hard climb go­ing up,” he says. “There are so many good artists, so I tried my best to be different.” 

The quest to discover and de­velop an identity led Romeothrough numerous periods, soul-searching through the canvas. “A style for me is very important,” he says.

 

“Paint­ing is an extension of the personal­ity of an artist. It is like a signature. A painting should be an artist’s iden­tity.” This, he adds, is the similar advice he would also share to young up and coming artists: “Try to be different, always.” 

This made him dabble in a num­ber of styles, colors, and themes, which he recalls as the blue-green period, the brown period, and the black and white period. His sub­ject matter also ranged from the parapsycho­logical, mother and child, family scenes, species of birds, and the environment. 

“All the paint­ings are unique in themselves,” he explains, em­phasizing how much he cher­ished the differ­ent chapters of his artistic jour­ney. Today, Ro­meo is dabbling in landscape scenes, reimagined according to his own figurative abstract style and pulsat­ing with the enthusiasm he feels to­ward life. This was showcased in his latest show, which was supposed to be held last year but was only recent­ly unveiled. It serves as a milestone for Romeo, owing to the health strug­gles he had to overcome. Many of the works, he says, touch on the spiritual as part of his efforts to give tribute to the Creator. 

“The act of painting is something meditative and spiritual,” he de­scribes, emphasizing that this is what makes artworks unique. “All artist, all creators, do their greatest work when they abandon self and let their talent take over,” he adds. “And their talent is God.” 

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