Big canvases belie a shy artist

IN a contemporary art world awash with cool conceptual art, Andres Barrioquinto's bright and colourful figurative-surrealist paintings come across as an anomaly.

His canvases brim with attention-grabbing patterns, figures and colours, threatening to spill out of the edges of the canvas.

Ironically, the man behind these vivid, animated works is something of a shy recluse. Despite having pieces regularly auctioned off at Christie's and Sotheby's, the 38-year-old appears deeply uncomfortable with fame.

"Meeting a lot of strange people is big for me. I really haven't been socialising for a long time," he says, as he looks at the crowds milling about his solo exhibition at Galerie Sogan & Art on Mohamed Sultan Road.

Barrioquinto spends most of his time at home in Quezon City, Manila, with his wife, fellow artist Iya Consorio. "We paint all the time. We hardly go out," he claims. "For release, I watch YouTube videos."

His latest series of works continues with his method of combining traditional Japanese ukiyo-e (woodblock) images with pastoral images of Filipino folk and landscapes. Colourful butterflies, flowers in full bloom and local characters take centrestage against a busy diorama of ukiyo-e characters.

Barrioquinto is hard-pressed to explain the juxtaposition, only to say that he started obsessing over Japanese images three years ago after marrying Consorio: "She looks so Japanese even though she's Filipina. And because I love her, I started to love Japanese art as well."

He titled the exhibition The Scream of the Butterfly as a reflection of the trials and tribulations of marriage, "the idea that two people have to work out their differences all the time". But it might also reflect his own struggles as an introvert in an art market that needs its artists to mingle with collectors and curators.

Among the exhibition's attractions is the debut of Barrioquinto's new sculptures, which comprise surprising cartoon characters in various poses.

He explains: "I've started making sculptures because there are no expectations there. When it comes to paintings, collectors expect a certain kind of aesthetic from me. But with sculptures, I'm free to do as I please. I like that."

The exhibition is on at Galerie Sogan & Art, 16 Mohamed Sultan Road, till Oct 12