Society Portraitist Par Excellence

 

Essay 29. SOCIETY PORTRAITIST PAR EXCELLENCE

By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol

JUN IMPAS has come a long way. The artist who learned the rudiments of the craft on his own, and started out as a painter of movie posters or cartelons, is now a most sought-after society portraitist. Judges, businessmen, and even Cardinals, among others, seek him out whenever they want their portraits painted.

Impas was born in Cebu in 1970, but spent most of his young life in Surigao. Since his father Florentino senior was just a fisherman who had a wife and eleven children to feed, Impas had to take on odd jobs himself to help tide them over. 

Yet, deprived though they were, the family was still blessed in having a son gifted with innate artistic talent whose creativity shone through early. The path to a future art career was opened to him when he was hired by a movie theater in Surigao City to do the posters of the movies that were to be shown. It was by way of that job that Impas's skill in painting faces was honed.

When he relocated to Cebu, Impas joined local art groups, not only as a stepping stone towards a full-time painting career, but also as a way of learning the techniques of his peers. He further deepened his knowledge of his craft by perusing art books. 

Impas's diligence paid off. From then on, nothing could stop him from winning prizes, among which are the following: 1st Place, Martino Abellana Annual art Competition; 1st Place, Philippine College of Surgeons Painting Competition; 1st Place, Petron National Art Competition; Excellent Award, China-ASEAN Artwork Competition; 2nd Place, GSIS National Painting Competition; Finalist, Bangkok Sentral ng Pilipinas National Painting Competition; 1st Place, Mentor Category Regional Level, Fernando Amorsolo Painting Competition; 1st Place, Mentor Category National Level, Fernando Amorsolo Painting Competition; 8th Place, Outside the Box Category, Portrait Society of America International Competition; 2nd Place, Outside the Box Category, Portrait Society of America International Competition; Semi- finalist, Landscape Category, Semi-finalist, Figurative Category, and Finalist, Portrait Category, Art Renewal Center International Competition; and Finalist, Commissioned Portrait Category, Portrait Society of America International Competition.

Impas had held 12 solo exhibitions so far in prestigious galleries in both Metro-Manila and Cebu City. He had depicted in the paintings he showed happenings from long ago, historical scenes and period genres where women wear "baro't saya". It is apparent in these latter works Impas's special fascination for that clothing which he lovingly captured in dazzling pinks and whites in paint.

Incidentally, Impas enrolled in and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas when he was well into his forties, and is already popular and widely considered too as a young master 

Cebu is the bulwark of realism in art in the Philippines, because gathered there today are the staunch champions or defenders of the classical realist tradition of Fernando Amorsolo. These Cebuano painters stand out in their mastery of portraiture, which is Impas's forte. I daresay that Impas had surpassed - as shown by his portraits which are filled with background objects and details -  their lodestar, the old master Amorsolo himself, when it comes to capturing likenesses on canvas. Well, why not? Impas had a lot of practice. He had been painting, during his younger days, faces of movie stars on cartelons day in and day out.