The “Sensational Painter” takes flight
Some stories deserve to be remembered. And art has a way of keeping a memory alive. In a rare commissioned work, Filipino visual artist Jason Montinola reimagines his recurring character, the “Sensational Painter” as a pilot, eternalizing the memory of a late aviator, with nods to history and personal memories, now kept alive.
“Sensational Painter,” reimagined
Montinola’s “Sensational Painter” has been around for over a decade. A recurring figure in his fascinating multiverse of painted characters, what’s distinct about Montinola’s practice is that he creates a detailed backstory for each figure. And the backstory of “Sensational Painter” is that he is a timeless being who champions art throughout every age of history, ever-so-discreetly, again and again. The humble sentinel has distinct facial features, including a hooked nose and handlebar mustache.
“The Sensational Painter is a character I created in 2014,” Montinola says. “He usually wears medieval armor.” But now, he wears a beautifully painted leather jacket.
With both the slick shine of leather and a sense of wornness, the jacket features the Philippine Air Force logo on its sleeve and a small pin of the distinct plane on the collar. He straps on a helmet with goggles, as well as a Venetian-like mask, distinct to the style of Montinola’s characters. You can easily imagine him sitting in a cockpit, soaring to the skies.
“The one at Signet was inspired by the plane on display at their Mitsukoshi branch,” the artist says. At first, a commission work for Signet’s 10-year anniversary, Montinola describes how he’s “an avid fan of aviation jackets, especially Type A-1 leather jackets.” “I like to incorporate the design of the plane, the North American F-86F Sabre, sa leather jacket ng character,” he says.
As Montinola incorporated his fascination with aviation into the piece, the resulting work for Signet, titled “The Sensational Painter Sabre,” is rendered in oil on canvas and belongs to Signet Store’s private collection.
Memory on canvas
The second incarnation of the character came from an anonymous collector. “There’s someone who inquired for a commission because the painting reminds him of his grandfather, a pilot,” Montinola explains. He admits, “I rarely do commissions, but this one got me interested.”
This collector’s request has realized a bridge between Montinola’s fictional world and real history.
The collector’s grandfather, Capt. Jose “Jess” D. Ticsay of the Philippine Air Force died on November 28, 1962, in a tragic mid-air collision during what had begun as a routine training operation. He recounts the heartbreaking story, “According to contemporaneous accounts from fellow pilots, Capt. Jess Ticsay had been flying a T-33 jet trainer, serving as a radar target aircraft for two F-86D fighter interceptors of the 8th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. After completing the exercise, he began a visual descent while another aircraft—flown by pilot Ben Alameda on a scheduled test flight—was climbing from below. Their flight paths intersected, and the two jets collided in mid-air.”
“The accident, remembered vividly by aviators who were in the air that day, marked one of the most painful losses of the squadron’s early era and left behind families whose stories were forever changed by the events of that morning six decades ago.”
As the details are told, a sense of humanity lingers, with the courage of Capt. Ticsay shining through, his grandson’s memory enduring behind it.
Of a life well-lived
By placing Capt. Ticsay back in the cockpit, Montinola extends life on canvas, continuing to incorporate meaningful details that resonate beyond the frame and into deep feelings. The “Sensational Painter Sabre” is an apt tribute to both family and the greater history of the Philippines, with Montinola not just painting a recurring face in his multiverse, but also meditating on a human story close to home.
Through Montinola and this collector’s commission, an artwork comes to fruition, closer to collaboration—made real in a physical object that acts as a reminder that what can be forgotten can be preserved, and that memory can take flight.
