Churches in the context of Philippine History

Zafarala, Paul. Philippine Daily Express, 22 January 1985, Art and Culture

featuring Paoay Church, Ilocos painting by Al Perez

For all that they stand for, the Catholic churches in the context of Philippine history have always been the passion of the superrealist painter Al Perez, the 1984 most outstanding son of Hagonoy, Bulacan in the field of art.

A pilgrim to the Catholic churches in the country, he has perhaps the largest body of work on this subject. Furthermore, he possesses an incisive reading of these relics that continue to defy the ravages of time and the elements. The facades presented frontally are his constant fascination. On them are Biblical stories translated in stone, metal or wood reliefs. Where written records have always been biased against us and liberally embellished to project the theo-cultural imperialists in the best light they did not deserve, the reliefs tell revealing stories and rectify falsehoods paraded as truths.

Some of the churches reveal our rich cultural past that antedates the Castilian culture by centuries. The Paoay Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, for instance, narrates the panorama of our cultural past rooted in the ancient civilizations of the world: India, Greece and Egypt. This is manifested by an Init-Tao, an Ilocano sun-god who corresponds to the Indian Surya, the Greek Apollo and the Egyptian Ra - all sun-gods. All these details and more are faithfully recorded in Perez’ works, not for purposes of mimetic representation, but to highlight key points for an enriched appreciation of the churches. By preventing his churches frontally Perez delineates the trinity of ground, church and sky. As such, the world of man (ground) is united with the world of God (sky) through the church. The main portal, closed or open, usually on the viewer’s eye level to serve as his entry point into the nave and finally the mystical body of Christ on the altar where the nave ends.

Churches and Perez have become mutually reinforcing insofar as contemporary Philippine art is concerned. And given the fact of our being the only Christian country in the world’s largest continent, the works of Perez on this genre are destined to be cited many times over. Particularly in the area of Christian art.