Edited by MYRNA PETLICKI

1943-1998 Edited by MYRNA PETLICKI Prof. Ibarra Y. de la Rosa (1943 - 1998) - Ibarra was born in 1943, in Nueva Ecija. He is married to Demetria C. de la Rosa and they are blessed with three children, Herzon, Giovanni, and Rhea. Ibarra earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in advertising at Feati University in 1969. He was a faculty member of Feati University and P.W.U. Fine Arts. He was an original member of the Dimasalang group of progressive artists and the founder of SPEKTRUM art group. His first show at La Solidaridad gallery was followed by more than 70 one-man exhibitions in the sole bead dangling from the other. It was Philippines and abroad. His work was his artist’s whimsy. He would say, “God exhibited in the best Philippine galleries, made the world in six days and rested on including La Solidaridad, Gallery One, the seventh.” You could usually find Ibarra Hidalgo, Luz, Metro, Rear Room, Jeune, barefoot, wearing worn denim pants and a Little, Cosmopolitan, Galerie Bleue, Print wide straw hat, painting in plein air outside Collection, Finale Art File, Quad, Sining the city, where nature remains unspoiled. Kamalig, Micaller, Heritage, Galerie Y, Metropolitan, Lopez Museum, and Ayala His educational background was varied. He Museum. took courses in architecture, business administration, and drafting, finally Prizes and Awards included the CCP 13 graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Artist Award, Rotary Club Art Tilt. and Araw advertising from Feati University. This ng Maynila Heritage award. Ibarra was the varied background obviously had a foremost exponent of Meticulous beneficial effect on his skills as an artist. Impressionism in the Philippines. From the He was also the inspiration of what may be 1980’s, through his death in 1998, Ibarra described as the Ibarra de la Rosa School, was well known for his multicolored which was made up of students and other landscapes, trees, lotuses, and flowers. His followers who emulated his style and color, blots, which he called “WIPPINGS,” is a many of whom are now making names for series of oil splashes on boards. The themselves. project was a pure abstract art experience. Ibarra was a real talent. His talent was Ibarra Y. de la Rosa, was a guru, friend, drawn from his personal philosophy. He poet, art critic, mystic, philosopher, prolific read widely but claimed no Filipino painter, and best father who triumphantly influence in his art, yet his art is undeniably sang the message of his paintings. He was Filipino. He believed that painting is a genial and round-faced, with his ears record of the past and that it should also pierced for earrings, six in a row making a convey a message. He had an almost crescent of gold points on one ear, and a obsessive interest in historical locations of 150 his country’s past. When he painted them, his message was clear: We should not forget from where we came. We should not forget the past. In 1973, his “Intramuros Series” was a mixture of realism and pointillism- impressionism. In 1974, he started his “Fort Santiago Series,” Paco Park, Rizal Park, and the Novaliches landscape. All his work was characterized by his trademark sensuousness of color, testifying to his dedication and his belief that an artist should utilize what he has learned. He began his on-the-spot “Rooftops Series” in Rooftops 1975 broad brushstrokes utilizing masses of Oil on Canvas 14” x 15” color. Artist : Prof. Ibarra Y. de la Rosa In 1982 and early 1984, Ibarra was artists. What others do not like, I like; What preoccupied with a universal symbol in the they do not like, I want them to like. What East creating, “The Lotus.” That flower was they do not believe in, they will someday considered the glorious lily of the great believe.” waters. The lotus, which is both Yin and Yang, contains within itself the balance of Ibarra was self-taught. The fact that the two powers, the Sun (yang) and the painting was not his only activity makes moon (yin), rising from the dark of the his boundless creativity even more waters of pre=cosmic chaos. Its roots impressive. He mastered his medium and deepen in the darkness of mud from which his subject matter, practicing what he each stem rises like the umbilical cord of preached. life. Ibarra exhibited his artwork in the In each variation, the artist transposed Philippines and other countries. Through every subject into a symphonic his art, he gained respect and prestige for orchestration of color, texture, and his country. movement through spontaneity of Fort Bonifacio 1978 techniques, visual perception, and Oil on Canvas 14” x 15” Artist : Prof. Ibarra Y. de la Rosa concepts which sprang from his artistic philosophy: “Art and Life are the sum total of an unending process of creation from birth to death, from something to nothingness.” Ibarra, a prolific artist, was sometimes criticized for being too commercial. Snide comments did not make him angry. He would merely shrug his broad shoulders and point out, “Kaya ako mabilis kasi may mabagal, Kaya madami akong gawa kasi may kakaunti, Kaya ako masipag kasi may tamad.” That translates to, “I am fast because there are slowpokes, I am prolific because there are artists with less, and I am industrious because there are lazy 151.

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