Multidisciplinary artist Demetrio dela Cruz explores new grounds for his art in his latest exhibit 'Serigraphos'

A blank canvas is an invitation to do great things. In its simplest state, it can be a battlefield or a playground that holds many possibilities and challenges that an artist must conquer. The process is all about daring.

An ode to the blank canvas as the starting point for Demetrio dela Cruz, as for any artist, his latest and just-concluded exhibit, “Serigraphos,” at the Pintô Art Museum in Antipolo, Rizal showcases the artist’s break from routine via silkscreen plates. From the word seri, a Latin word meaning “silk,” and graphos, a Greek term for “graphs,” the exhibit name guides the exploration of the idea of “repurposing” by making something new of what has been used or even discarded.   

“I was inspired by the form of my old and used silkscreen plate, its roughness and even the spilled paints over it,” says Dela Cruz, Demet to people close to him. “I used it as my ground, adding a layer of acrylic serigraphs over it and another layer of images using oil paints. This combination makes a new art form and provides a new purpose for the materials.”

His early foray into the advertising industry helped Dela Cruz begin a life in the arts. After finishing his advertising studies at the Far Eastern University in 1992 and a decade in the design field, he became one of the top five winners of the Philip Morris Art Awards (now Philippine Art Awards) in 2006. In 2008, he staged his first exhibit “Interartive,” which featured a multi-sensory art experience by merging artworks centered on tinapa, daing, and other figurative works with light, sounds, and real dried fish during the showcase. 

“My experience in the design and advertising world is probably the backbone of my creative outputs now in fine arts,” says the multi-media artist. “I somehow infuse advertising principles and combine them in my paintings.”

In “Serigraphos,” his 19th exhibit, people can expect to see his passion for pop surrealism with paper, wood, plastic, and metal, among others completing his designs set on repurposed silkscreen plates. His pieces such as The Ladder and Better Days pay homage to Filipino visual arts masters but are true to Dela Cuz’s aesthetics, his use of unconventional materials, and his knack for contemporary design. While the Supreme, Burning Faith, and Heartbeat paintings focus on symbols and icons that play with the themes of religion and consumerism.

For Dela Cruz, “art appropriates life, it’s an expression and celebration of life.” With his current showcase, he is inviting everyone to see it all through a refreshed, more purposeful lens.