Francis Arnaez

Painter Francis Arnaez is a storyteller. His paintings are portraits of people whose stories he knew. They are in-depth narratives, a dissection as it were of his sitters’ inner selves. Where most people tend to gloss over imperfections, Arnaez does the reverse and mars perfection.

That’s what his impastos are for, said Arnaez – to uglify not only his models but also the very painting itself. An objective this writer sees as not achieved, because the slashes of thick paint he slathers over parts of his model’s faces only heightened the expressionist element in his “neo-surrealist” works, and makes them more beautiful, I must say.

Arnaez graduated recently from the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP), where he majored in advertising. He used to work as a graphic artist for Wacom before he turned to paint full-time: a decision that’s not easy to come by because of his parents’ understandable disdain for jobs that don’t give one a steady income. But Arnaez is a true artist, a very serious one it seems because he stresses that he is not particularly interested in the business aspect of art. All he cares for he says is to win the appreciation and critical nod of his peers and other art enthusiasts. Thus, Arnaez isn’t afraid to create works which are not of the usual commercial kind. His paintings go deeper than that because they are not meant to be mere adornments. Arnaez’ paintings are veritable still theaters of the inner drama, complexes, turmoils, and rage he feels every time he sits in front of his easel.