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Ros Arcilla puts the finishing touches on the bust of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Jr. which is now at NAIA. |
Provincial Capitol grounds at Cadlan, Pili the 8-foot high fiberglass statues of Handiong and Daragang Magayon immediately attract the attention of visitors to the 117-hectare tourist destination.
At the Lagoon Area of Rizal Park in Malate, Manila twice life-size bronze bursts of 20 heroes are highlighted in the Gallery of Heroes.
Also in Manila at C.M. Recto Avenue, Corner El Cano Street in Tondo stands the 18-foot high bronze Katipunan Commemorative Mural.
On the 69th birthday anniversary of Ninoy Aquino on November 27, 2001 a giant bronze bust of the martyred hero was unveiled at NAIA.
All these and many more outstanding art works in the country and in many places around the globe are priceless legacies of gifted Caramoanon Rosalio Beltran Arcilla, Jr. who as sculptor and painter established a reputation as among the best contemporary Filipino artists.
When he died on July 26 this year after a brief illness he had achieved the dream of every artist for fame and glory as he was recognized not only in the country but in many parts of the globe where he either had his masterpieces on display or where he had held exhibits. He had, in fact, been chosen once as president of the Union of International Sculptors in a convention in China.
Among his major sculptural works are “Social Strata” in bronze at the Abrams Publishing Corporation in Sydney, Australia; “Oriental Harmony”, in bronze at the Asiaworld Hyatt in Taipei; “Water Technology”, a wall mural in bronze at Budd and Associates, Engineers, at Pennington, New Jersey; “Bird Sanctuary”, in bronze at the residence of Dr. and Mrs. Fred Licanco in Waipahu, Honolulu, Hawaii.
In Manila among his other significant works are the “Gabriela Silang” mural at the Himalayang Pilipino Memorial Park; “Progress” at Manila Ramada Hotel; “Mother and Child” at United Coconut Planters Bank; “Sacred Heart” also at UCPB; “Vertical Expression” at the Bank of America Finance Building; “Family Life” at the Bank of America Finance Executive Office; “The Quest for Water” and “Life-Giving Benefits of Water” at the LWUA in Quezon City.
His “Romance With Glass” is at Splendid Gardens in Makati; “Girl with Jar” at Skyland Plaza; “Head of a Lion with Gargoyle” at Wack-Wack Luxury Towers; “Growth” at Yazakita Torres Manufacturing at Canlubang; “The Bathers” at the George Ty residence at Ayala, Alabang; “Birds at Play” at Pinnacle Tower Condominium, Wack-Wack, Manadaluyong; and “Andres Bonifacio” at PNR.
A first prize winner in Sculpture in the AAP Annual Art Competition in 1978, he also won the grand prize that included a travel and scholarship grant to the Ecole de Beaux in Paris, France. In 1979 he was the Philippine entry at the Indian Triennale in New Delhi, India and in 1981 he was the Philippine representative to the Paris Sud Biennale in Paris, France. He won in a number of other national art competitions including the first prize at SPS annual competition in 1976 which was nullified because someone protested that it was slightly off the size requirement.
Ros as he was called by peers might not be a genius but he certainly had abundant inherent talent that was discernible early in life.
Born on May 1, 1938 in Caramoan, Camarines Sur to Rosalio Arcilla Sr., a school teacher and Trinidad Beltran, he started getting the attention of friends when he started molding figures out of clay when he was just five years old. When he finished grade school at the Caramoan Central School his notebooks were full of drawings, many of them characters from comic magazines.
While studying at the United High School also in Caramoan he did movie posters which earned him money and free passes. He was editor of the school paper and did every art requirement of the school. He was essentially a writer, sculptor and painter.
In 1956 he enrolled at the UP for a Bachelor of Fine Arts course, major in advertising. To earn money to support his studies, he wrote stories for Extra Komiks and Sampaguita Komiks which were illustrated by other artists. In 1959 he moved to Family Komiks where he illustrated his own stories.
After graduating in 1960 from UP he worked for four years with Vasquez Reflective Products, an outdoor advertising company. In 1964 he began his 11-year teaching stint at U.E. In 1967, he received the Fulbright-Hayes grant but passed up the rare opportunity due to some circumstances. The missed opportunity was somehow regained later after he took up Advanced Studies in Sculpture at the University of Hawaii in 1975 and became a scholarship grantee of the French government at the Ecole de Bearax Arts in Paris in 1978.
On January 1, 1969 he married Benny Ampeloquio, also a Caramoanon. The union had been blessed with six children: Mariquit and Jenny who both took up interior design; Roben Patrick, Fortune, Ross and Donna.
His life had been entirely devoted to art and his family. Even as he gained honor and distinction to Bicolanos have achieved he had remained humble and amiable and lived simple, modest life away from the glare that celebrities seek. He worked harmoniously with other Bicolano artists, most especially with younger brother Rafael who was also a painter and sculptor par excellence. Rafael died much earlier five years ago. Several other relatives on the Arcilla side have also shone in the field of art, indicating that the gift was in the genes.
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| Ros Arcilla’s sculptural tableau of the katipunan intiation rites. |
Prolific and indefatigable, his outputs were in public view many times since 1972. He had at least five one-man exhibitions including one at the Hiraya Gallery in Honolulu, Hawaii and was in group exhibitions in more than two dozens occasions in plush Metro Manila hotels as well as in Osaka, Japan and in Hawaii.
Ros was such a well-rounded personality that he sang so well, his forte with his singing brothers being Spanish ballads.
Ros stood head and shoulders over most other Filipino artists because aside from his inborn talent he is among a few who had extensive formal schooling in fine arts which in fact qualified him to be professor in Fine Arts and a lecturer as well.
In a town of diverse talents and potentials like Caramoan many more standouts are expected to hug the limelight. But the niche that Ros has carved will be his legacy.
