Visual artist Michael Delmo presents his view of the world in his latest exhibit ‘Magdaragilon’
In our modern world, silence has become a luxury. Everywhere we go, noise inevitably follows. The sound of the wind passing through trees is overshadowed by loud horns. Back then, we wake up to bird songs. Now, the endless pinging of our phones wakes us up every morning. There is also the uproar of crowds that express loud opinions on everything they could rant about. Worst of all is the explosions from the war between Russian and Ukraine. One would assume that the only way to escape these unpleasant sounds is through sleeping. Noise, however, has a way of invading dreams.
With everything that’s happening, we could say that Doctor Strange is not the only person having terrible dreams these days. Among those who are having troubled subconscious thoughts is Iloilo-born artist Michael Delmo. For his latest exhibit dubbed “Magdaragilon,” the painter confronts these nightmares by putting them on his canvas.
“Magdaragilon,” the Hiligaynon term for “murmur” or “noise,” is a collection of images that are direct and artful reflection of what happens in Delmo’s mind when he is deep asleep. “I’m personally affected by everything happening in the world today that is why I absorb them subconsciously,” explains the visual artist. “It is not just the sounds, but also the thoughts.”
A self-taught painter, Delmo became an artist in his teens as one of his school’s representatives for a special program for the arts. In 2016, he decided to do painting fulltime after finishing his Information Technology course. With his experience as a production designer at many local festivals, he married that carnivalesque aesthetic with the spirit of folklore and the natural beauty of flora and fauna, producing artworks that are full of fantasy.
‘I believe I’m just a vessel to transform or translate the language and power of art through my pieces. Art will define itself, but you’ll definitely enjoy the process.’
While that creative process is still evident in his latest works, what makes his “Magdaragilon” exhibit different is that it takes viewers into a place that almost looks like a battlefield, far from his previous candy-colored wonderlands.
There are a lot of elements people would find interesting in Delmo’s painting. But a recurring icon of a masked figure, who kind of reminds one of the flamboyant guises worn by street performers during fiestas, is most striking. In his past exhibitions, these masked figures were set in a surreal utopia. In “Magdaragilon,” meanwhile, they represent something grim, dark, and aloof with their emotionless demeanor and hallow eyes.
In his Utlanan pieces, the subject is seen donning the colors of camouflage, adorned with a rosary and a crown of thorns. The character appears again in Gawas, carrying a gun and joining Mickey Mouse in a mad world. Delmo’s favorite, the Kaambong, has the right tone of hues he wants the exhibit to exude.
As for the purpose of his works, the artist leaves it to the viewers. “I have learned that the more I describe my works, the more meaningless they become,” Delmo says. “I’ll just give the freedom to the people to see what they need to see. I believe I’m just a vessel to transform or translate the language and power of art through my pieces. Art will define itself, you’ll definitely enjoy the process.”
Check out Michael Delmo's artworks below:
“Magdaragilon” ran at Ronac Art Center in Ortigas Ave. Greenhills, San Juan City.