"NO TIMER, NO COUNTDOWN" by ULYSSES DUTERTE
Ulysses Duterte
January 2023
Artist’s Statement
With this series, I wanted to show the world the feelings and thoughts of Filipinos living in America. In each picture I draw, I let the viewer discern the thoughts and emotions of these hardworking individuals—most are living in the U.S., away from their families and relatives in the Philippines. Also, there’s been a belief in some quarters that abstract expressionists cannot draw. Well, that’s not always true! In fact, before I became one, I was a social realist. The drawings of “No Timer, No Countdown” reflect how I grew up drawing the barong-barongs and ways of life in the Philippines. Jose Joya and Gus Albor were two well-known Filipino abstract expressionists who encouraged my painting. Both denied the notion that abstract expressionists cannot draw! As for the orange line in my drawings, they represent truth in the sense that whatever the viewer’s interpretation of my subject, that’s the TRUTH! I chose the color orange based on an ascribed meaning to orange that I discovered on the Adobe website: "a mix of red and yellow, orange combines the passion of the former with the positivity of the latter. Bright and vibrant oranges are fun colors that burst with youthfulness, energy and happiness. They inspire creativity and uplift people's moods."
The series title, “No Timer, No Countdown,” reflects how selfies and group pictures don’t always tell the truth. I am not after the beauty of a portrait but the emotions, the feelings and the Truth in each subject.
Drawings: Acrylic and Colored Pencils on Paper, 8.5" x 11"
"Untitled #3"
Ulysses Duterte continues to draw from this series. From a recent trip, he recently made the following drawings for a category he calls "Oahu, Hawaii Series" that reflect the same medium and orange line:
Verticality clearly has a significance for Ulysses, as reflected in the vertical paintings previously exhibited at the Gallery: "Prison Sunsets and Landscapes." As well, his insertion of the vertical orange line both disrupts and deepens the significance of his images in a process that's also true of truth-searching. While Ulysses incorporates the line as a symbol of TRUTH in these drawings, he also has applied it in outdoor sculptures as well as the following small table-top sculpture (from the NFAP Gallery's permanent collection):
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More information about Ulysses Duterte is available on his Instagram. Here is the artist's hand during his trip to Hawai'i:
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THE REFUGEE'S ART GALLERY
Note From the Gallery Director:
Due to California's 2020 Glass Fire, gallery operations at North Fork Arts Projects (NFAP) were temporarily suspended. But as NFAP's curator, I didn't feel like giving the wildfires the last word. I decided to open NFAP’s offsite operations at my fire evacuee residence. Given that this residence and studio is much smaller than my pre-fire digs, the gallery's physical space also has downsized to, not even the closet but, the closet door. The Refugee's Art Gallery may well be the world's thinnest gallery—perhaps I should apply for a Guinness World Record!
My studio has a closet fronted with two sliding doors. One sliding door introduces the gallery. Slide that door away and the second door will be revealed with the hanging artwork. Obviously, all artwork will be flat as the distance between the two doors is 3/8th of an inch. But I can work with that (e.g. Ulysses Duterte inaugurates with an exhibit of drawings). I am glad to present NFAP's offsite Refugee Art Gallery because ART IS RESILIENT. I hope viewers also enjoy the presented artworks.
Thanks so much for this opportunity Eileen and for supporting the Arts!👏👍
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