Jef Cablog

The Narrative Art Of Jef Cablog 

March 5, 2012 / F-2

Text by Duffie Hufana Osental

At this museum, the eminent National Ar t i s t BenCab was surprised to learn of artist Jef Cablog’s upcoming one-man show. “Sikat na siya dito (he’s already well-known here)!” he exclaims as we have lunch with Cablog at the BenCab Museum’s Sabel Café in Baguio City. 

The question now is why it took so long for Cablog to have his first oneman show? “I’ve worked with many cooperative groups before,” he says, pointing to his involvement with the Tam-awan Art Village in Baguio City. “But I’ve realized that I need to grow as an artist.” 

The wonderful thing about Cablog, whose self-effacing humility is disarming, is that we realize that no matter where he goes and what he sets out to accomplish, he is still a Cordillera artist . In this manner, Jef Cablog is the quintessential Filipino painter. 

One look at Cablog’s striking and fascinating oeuvre and it’ll surprise the art lover to learn that it has taken near l y 1 0 years since he started painting for the native from Barlig, Mountain Province to have his first oneman show. His alluring portraitures, bold in their choice of subjects, are complex narratives taken from the rich cultural heritage of the Cordilleras region. Cablog’s use of familiar motifs and archetypes (mother and child, the traveling warrior, etc) within the context of his Cordillera heritage is, in part, connected to the larger Cordillera art movement which has Baguio City as its base. This regional visual arts movement has seen the rise of many of the country’s top visual artists, including the aforementioned BenCab, and Kawayan de Guia. What sets Cablog apart, however, is his remarkable aesthetic technique. 

Cablog, whose two-bedroom apartment/studio near the Baguio City airport sports impressive views of the city, may be regional in outlook but his influences are thoroughly cosmopolitan.  “I look at the works of other artists and of those artists,I have to say, it’s Gustav Klimt andVicente Manansala that inspire me The most.” Cablog’s alignment to two heavyweights in visual arts (Klimt, the Austrian artist known for his involvement with the Vienna Secessionists, and Manansala, the National Artist who pioneered a form of cubism using transparent layers) leads him to experiment with light, layers, reflections, and refractions. The resulting effect is a haunting image, seemingly frozen in time by many different light a n d l a y e r s . What is more interesting is that Cablog eschews the usage of paintbrushes in favor of palette knives. “I can get more textures by using a palette,” shares Cablog. “I hardly ever use a brush anymore.” 

It is also rare for an artist to admit that a narrative sensibility streaks his works. Much of contemporary art is tainted with a cynical sense of isolation. But Cablog not only revels in the narrative qualities of his works; it has become a defining characteristic—so much so that

images from his memories imbue his works with an almost-spiritual essence. “I usually use models for my portraits,” Cablog says. “But the elderly warrior with the shield, that’s my father. He started me on the path of stories, so I thought it was appropriate that he be a part of my works. My father would tell me stories about how the old folk [of Barlig] would gather around at nights and tell stories. That doesn’t happen anymore, but I want people to see how we used to live.” The Cordilleras region is a defining part of Cablog’s oeuvre. The heart of a Cablog work is its connections back to this culture through the prism of his technique. “I am proud to be known as a Cordillera artist,” he declares. And many aspects of his works demonstrate these linkages—the most obvious being costume. “The Cordilleras is known for textile and weaving,” says Cablog. “It’s something that I try to bring out in my paintings.” 

Because of this combination of narrative fidelity and regional influence, one can clearly see an emotional resonance in Cablog’s work. It is not of angst-ridden sentimentality, however; there is a pervading sense of the spiritual distinctiveness of nature. This is not surprising, given that Cablog keenly places his practice within the context of the culture and traditions of the Cordilleras, whose people revere nature. Thus, it is in Cablog’s attempt to induce a dream-like state of visual imagination attuned to one’s natural surroundings where his works hit their stride. The subjects that are referenced, therefore, take on the Jungian ideal of archetypes— stemming from the world of Cordillera mythologies and legends. In this way, Cablog seeks to link generational gaps between the ndigenous, pre- Hispanic cultures of the Cordilleras with the modern concerns of a rapidly developing region. 

The subjects are both familiar (due to their archetypical nature) and exotic. Cablog’s subjects range from portraits of indigenous girls in native Cordillera dress, to modern musicians, to Baguio urban scenes. Possessing the visual look of light filtered through crumpled paper, the already delicate and sensitive subjects Cablog presents are made even more fragile through his technique. The result is an artist wonderfully sensitive, yet skilled as to represent a bridge between what is traditional and what is modern.

Cablog then becomes a channel between the material and the spiritual. There is a very meditative aspect to his works, falsifying the

perceived narrative form. Cablog makes a very strong case for visual arts as a non-linear, non-literal form as he explores the crevices and

nuances of the heterotopic space between the past and the present. Whilst oral literature is a fleeting proposition, Cablog imbibes the essences of these tales and presents them on canvas. He shows that there can be a narrative without a story.

It isn’t surprising then that Cablog, who took classes at the University of the Philippines-Baguio, is becoming one of the more prolific members of the Baguio art community. The interactions of this community, and their inevitable collaborations, have made the Northern

Luzon region one of the most active art communities in the country. It is apt , then, that Cablog benefits not only from increased attention from scholars, researchers, critics and art patrons – which he has – but also that his works are reaching a milieu that includes inspiration from other famous trans-media Baguio-based artists like National Artist BenCab, Kidlat Tahimik and Kawayan de Guia. These interactions continuously push the discourse forward—with Jef Cablog at the forefront. Taking his place among these prominent art practitioners, Cablog is definitely an artist to watch out for.

Jef Cablog’s First One-Man Show, “Birthmarked”, will open at the SM Megamall Art Center on March 7, 2012 at 6:00pm. Inquiries may be made through Galerie Francesca at (632) 659-2667 or (632) 570-9495.