Understanding each of this artist’s strokes

By Philip Paraan

Knowing artist Josef Laureano is to understand each of his strokes and is an act
of burrowing inwardly into the interesting psyche of this young promising
talent.

The prominence of black and white as basic colors in his beguilingly

bold oeuvres is not a coincidence, it’s a conceptual gambit that is distinctively
his. Broad and hefty strokes, undulating patches or streak of black like
masterful calligraphy in dominant white frames are well manifested in his
current works.

He says, black is a neutral color and besides its aesthetic value, he finds
steady refuge in its forlorn and its ponderous calmness.

The inclusion of other mesmerizing hues as completing elements in

his works demonstrates his fine skills in bringing out the depth his black
strokes and wide white spaces, lyrically complimenting and adding to the
The artist in his studio.
beauty and effectiveness of his work’s overall composition.

Notably, his paintings feature forms and compositions which strangely combine an alternating type of visual movement in brushwork: calm,
steady, static and at the same time could also be gestural, excitedly crawling and sweeping across the canvas.

Laureano sees his works as beautifully insane projections of his emotions and angst yet filled with tenacity, ingenuity and refined
techniques in very engaged language of abstraction. Always it’s a liberating feat of visualizing the unpicturable.

Though his work and painterly play is necessarily governed by formality and technique, in the main, its merits lie in other qualities and
visual impact it wants to induce and engage its viewers. His paintings are entirely poignant than they are visceral and evoke melancholy and
emotional forces pulsating at every turn. The depth of his expression is reflected out in his use of the subconcious to create imagery, making it the
core value of his ongoing artistic practice. Borne out of his inner artistic vision, his abstractions are willfull natural conceptions out of the uncon-
scious, rather than reason and logic.
His artistic temperament is mainly characterized by value for personal space, his artistic decisions only shapes in emptiness and in solitary mood. It is
that quietness that foments his dialogue with his mind, brush, and canvas. In the end, producing canvases of veritable and persuasive visual prose are
only part of his emotional and introspective process of pictoral construction.

Assertive signs of his creative self were already very evident early on. Growing up, he recalled drawing and copying endlessly DC Comics
and Marvel characters from editions he used to borrow from playmates and neighbors. In school, he would doodle images and whatever in
blackboards when he had a chance.

For a time, he dabbled into figurism and experimented with various subjects and approaches. His relatively nascent art career is no jaunt or
so to speak, a walk in a yellow brick road. Before making his successful “ take off” he also suffered from a laggard phase because of personal and
creative issues. During those days, he turned reluctant to pick up his brush and whether to continue painting or not became a personal and persistent
a struggle he later surmounted.

Fellow artist- friends in his art collective, Sininggang, Fitz Herrera and Maxbal helped allay his fears and were instrumental into his decision
to keep a tight grip his brush as well as his decision to later explore abstraction. He carefully sought the advice and encouragement of his peers and
it was in no time that he had his first canvas lined up in an art exhibit of Sininggang in 2003. This group was an impetus in his art making, because of
its collective boldness that was ripping the rule books of galleries somewhat pugnaciously challenged the status quo and its crass commercialism
that hindered young talents to grow and be recognized.

He called his first ever abstract piece “ No. 9”, a highly textured oeuvre which remains to be his favorite work ever; he got the idea from artist,
Gerry Tan. In 2008, he was again part of a group show in Renaissance Gallery called, “Semi-sweet” with Fitz Herrera and other artists. Among the
competitions he had joined were those of Nokia and Shell and score of other national competitions. In July 2008, after years of successfully tweaking
the rules of the game, Sininggang celebrated its 10th year anniversary and had a landmark exhibit.

In February, 2009, he was recently exhibited at Lunduyan Art Gallery in a show called “ Where We Are Is What We Have Become” and took
part in Gallery Anna’s group exhibit Unang Hayag.

Laureano is steadily growing as a single artist, in fact, he confidently inhabits a place for himself in the ambit of other young promising
abstract artists. But he thinks that his creative journey has only begun and still has a long way to go. The art world has yet to discover his vision, his
then feelings of reluctance and dismissal have now been subverted by his resolve and commitment to his art.