Posted on 04:54 PM, February 16, 2010
BY SAM L. MARCELO, Reporter
Komiks relief
In the 1950s, Philippine visual culture was shaped by the twin forces of Carlos 'Botong' Francisco’s sweeping murals and the well-thumbed pages of Francisco Coching’s comic books. Although found on opposite sides of the high art-low art divide, both were modernists who imbued their work with an epic sense of history.
'Coching was very rare,' said curator Patrick Flores, citing that the 'one-man Komiks-making machine' was a triple threat who wrote, illustrated, and �” later on �” adapted his work to film. His career, which spanned from 1934 to 1974, included 61 titles, a majority of which became star-studded box-office hits: there was Fernando Poe Sr. in Hagibis; Pancho Magalona in Barbaro; and Rita Gomez in Maldita.
'His perspective was dynamic and even his use chiaroscuro was very dramatic,' the curator said, citing detailed frames filled with contorted bodies. 'The heart of his work was drawing and his main element was the line, which had to express movement and sound.'
The pages of Coching’s novels are filled with mythical archetypes that captured the imagination of the common folk. 'It was like he offered an alternate universe for them to understand their condition �” an allegorical fantasy that made people fully grasp where they were.'
The exhibit includes reproductions of comic book covers and inside pages, film posters and clips, sketches, and memorabilia. Apart from popularizing heroic Filipino iconography that was characteristic of the post-war era, Coching’s stories contributed to the spread of Tagalog as a national language. His anatomically precise figures, too, provided inspiration for young artistic talents in the provinces who had no access to formal training.
Despite the mass-produced excellence of Coching’s original serials, no one collected popular art in the same manner that Botong’s paintings were. However, archives do exist thanks to 'connoisseurs of comics' who possess a cult-like devotion to Coching’s work.
Placing Coching, the comic book illustrator, side-by-side with Botong, a muralist whose legacy is unquestioned, raises issues about how 'art' and 'culture' are supposed to be defined.
'It’s good to have them both here because it unsettles conventional thinking,' said Mr. Flores. 'They become equivalent expressions.'
TELLING MODERN TIME is on view until April at the National Museum, T. Valencia Circle corner Finance Rd., Manila. The Life and Art of Francisco Coching, on the other hand, is available at Vibal Publishing House Inc., National Bookstore, and
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