‘Letras y figuras’ master’s fresh look at tradition
Dubbed the Kapampangan master of the 19th century art form called letras y figuras (letters and figures), Alvaro Jimenez showcased his artistic brilliance yet again through an exhibit in his home province.
Held at the Megaworld Capital Town in San Fernando, Pampanga, the show held Feb. 23 to March 2 was titled “Sulyap sa Nakaraan: Isang Pagbabalik Tanaw (A Glimpse to the Past: A Looking Back).”
It featured more than four dozen of Alvaro’s paintings and mixed media creations spanning almost half a century, from his letras y figuras to works executed on banana stalks. These works showcased the richness of Filipino heritage from the mundane to the exceptional.
He used his favored medium of watercolor as well as peculiar materials like banana stalks, coconut husks, and old wooden panels.
Jimenez said his aim is for Philippine culture to remain alive in the consciousness of the Filipino people, and he wants to preserve Filipino culture and express their lives through his work.
The exhibit, supported by Megaworld and the local government of San Fernando, was his 25th solo show.
Self-taught artist
Still at it at 77, Alvaro is self-taught and has previously exhibited his works at prestigious institutions such as the National Museum, Ayala Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Manila.
He has an industrial education degree obtained from the Don Honorio Ventura School of Arts and Trades (now Don Honorio Ventura State University) in his native Bacolor.
After the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, his family moved to neighboring San Fernando, the place they now call home.
As mentioned, he is known for his classic execution of letras y figuras, a painting genre wherein objects such as human figures, flora, and fauna are painted to take the form of letters forming a name. One of its foremost practitioners in the 19th century was Jose Honorato Lozano.
For his lifelong work, Jimenez was awarded by the Pampanga provincial government the Most Outstanding Capampangan in Arts and Culture in 1990 and the Most Outstanding Fernandino in 2016 by the San Fernando city local government.
Among his collectors are known families in the country such as the Zobels and the Zuelligs. He has also made letras y figuras for important individuals such as President Corazon Aquino and former central bank governor and cultural administrator Jaime Laya.
When Spain’s Queen Sofia visited the country in 2012, his letras for the monarch was given to her as a gift of the state.
The names of these individuals as well as other clients are done in his own style, backgrounded normally with historic structures and colonial landscapes in the Philippines.
Fit for a queen
The letters are normally composed of the tipos del pais images showing colonial Filipinos in their native attire and social status.
That gift to Queen Sofia had a background of Spanish colonial buildings in Intramuros such as the San Agustin Church, Aduana, and Fort Santiago, in tribute to Spain’s architectural legacy in the country.
This general theme is repeated in his other works, although he also personalizes his backgrounds depending on where a subject lives or works.
A good example is the piece Jimenez made for former transportation secretary Art Tugade wherein the letters are composed of transportation workers backgrounded by different transport modes—by land, water, and air.
Another example is the letras he did for the Pineda-Pabustan family of Pampanga where he used Mount Arayat, the province’s foremost natural landmark, as backdrop.
Apart from letras y figuras, Jimenez also dabbles in portraiture and acrylic paintings centered on Philippine culture, traditions, and heritage.
