“ART is the expression of the profoundest thoughts in the simplest way,” Albert Einstein said.
For showcasing profound thinking through the arts, I could not find a Boholano who has gone better through long “fermentation” like Henri Cainglet (b. 1957) — a Valencia-based artist. He mounts his “37 Years of Henri Cainglet: Artist Extraordinaire”, a retrospective solo show slated April 4 to May 3 at the Escuela De Niñas (old library at the Plaza Rizal).
Most Boholanos have yet to awaken so they can appreciate art as civilized citizens in the 21st century. Many of them still think of buying dime-a-dozen art reproductions to enhance (actually digress) their homes. Which is why Cainglet prefers to showcase in the province instead of mounting the retrospective elsewhere. He wants Boholanos to value Boholano art better and be aware of his existence in the international art scene. He also celebrates his 37 years of art making.
This move is beneficial to us because in the province, we need symbols of excellence to nurture a culture of making prodigies. We need people like Cainglet who inspire us to expand our limits and romp home international acclaim. We should stop saying that all things glittering have already gone elsewhere. Some still live in the province—and for a reason.
With this show at the Escuela De Niñas, our budding artists see what an experimental artist does. It encourages them to flex their creative muscles. If they see someone did it before, they cease to limit what they can achieve in their art careers.
This is the first time that Cainglet brings various mediums and approaches he exhibited in Manila and abroad. The artist fills the exhibiting area with large paintings and sculptures of various materials and themes.
In his “Art On A Box Series,” Cainglet uses narra wood, patched together to form two cabinet-like structures, each with intriguing sculptures inside. One content shows a split seed form with wings. Inside, we find hands and a heads, while another box contains another type of split seed with heads inside.
Cainglet wants to symbolize in this sculpture series a morphing creative person trying to get out of his box. This creative person can be any of us who must defy norms and nurture the “seed” of ingenuity to shine. When this artist gets out of the box, he finds his aha moment and grows.
“Dagohoy, The Last Man Standing: A Homage,” is a large painting measuring six by twelve feet. The artwork is a saga depicting the hero’s conquest against villainous intruders. The famous Boholano holds a bolo and a rifle with blurred figures of his followers in the background.
As a Boholano, Cainglet feels the urge to highlight the longest running resistance against the Spanish regime that withstood superior arms and machineries. His caliber as an international artist gives weight to the historical account that makes us proud. Where else can we get a more credible art about Dagohoy’s triumph? And why entrust this artistic rendition to non-Boholanos? With the recent falling down of the old Loay bridge, one artwork resonates—the “Hold On: Fragile World.” A white car with sharp teeth lies submerged in water, surrounded by dead Bakhaw trees. This 2022 output is prophetic of what later happened when twelve vehicles lie trapped on a traffic caused by a cargo truck, leading to the loss of these vehicles underwater, the death of four, and hospitalization of 31 survivors. We need warning about our drown-prone vulnerability.
Raised in a poor upbringing, Cainglet first took his elementary education in Valencia. Later, he transferred to Bukidnon where he graduated as valedictorian in Kalilangan National High School. To become a farm supervisor in Bukidnon, he quit when he was in second year college. But the job bored him, so he went to Manila.
The artist later became a protegee of famous artist Fernando Sena. Cainglet’s big break came when he mounted a solo exhibit in the Manila Hilton Hotel. Since then, he got several invitations for solo exhibitions in Manila and abroad. He has thirty-nine solo shows in his badge at the Alliance Francaise de Singapour and the National Museum of Singapore; Club Universitaire in Vienna, Austria; Galerie Heilig Geist, Berlin, Germany; National Art Gallery of Malaysia; Gallery David and the Philippine Art Center, New York; and Contemporary Center for the Visual Arts, Holland; not to mention many Meccas of art. Aside from solo exhibits, Cainglet has had many group shows in New York, Florida, Germany, Japan and the country.
Cainglet took advanced schooling in painting and sculpture in California and New York.
Among Cainglet’s awards include the Gold Medal Prize of the Art Association of the Philippines Art Awards and the grand prize in the NCCA’s Diwa ng Sining Art Awards.
If you feel Boholanos can no longer fly higher than their “probinsyano” label, think again. Cainglet embodies how we can defy such labels by excelling in visual arts.
