Lazaro Trails the West
Richard Quebral
Blanc Gallery

The unembellished life in the barrio exudes from Richard Quebral’s “Lazaro Trails the West”, a solo exhibition that embraces episodes from the artist’s personal experience. The barrio and its neighborhood is a world unto itself with heroes and villains. The stories that captured the heart of the artist, who spent his younger years with his kinsfolk during summer in the farm, are conveyed by Pop-influenced figurative works in mixed media and collage. Six mixed-media on canvases rendering stories captured by Quebral reveal the vibrant rhythm and prosaic living of his clan as they aged in the barrio. 

Take the work called “Midday at Lazaro’s Lair” that highlights the story of a simple man, which the artist has contemporized, effortlessly resting in the sanctuary of feast and indulgence: radio drama that turns nitty-gritty human interactions into entertainment; enchanting melody of roosters; peculiar mountains of imagination; abundant trees and a red brick, engraved house — all of which are creative visualizations of solace.

Quebral’s humour added zest to the everyday ennui of a rustic, rolling farmland in “Lazaro Trails the West.” Phallic imageries in blood-shot eyes, massive plant boxes sprouting leaves and squirting tubular excretions collaged Quebral’s canvases. “The Fourth Eyed Blind” goes beyond by displaying a geriatric lady with larky eyes with an upbeat palette, recreating the scene and uncovering frolicsome images.

While these familial capriccios take place in the “West,” they are not at all cliche. “West” in the exhibition title is a locus of indelible recollections of youngish Quebral — a clever recreation of art in an epoch of comfort and deliberate gratification.

by Princess Neptalia Quebral