A curious presence at Manuel Ocampo’s opening show at Finale Art Gallery on Wednesday night was actor John Lloyd Cruz. Now, we wouldn’t have thought that Ocampo, local art’s provocateur-in-chief, would invite the biggest actor in town to his exhibit. But as we found out later, John Lloyd’s invite came from Romeo Lee, a good friend of Ocampo.
Lee, who is in his mid-50s, is well-known and well-loved in the art community. He has had several solo and group exhibitions here and abroad, and is known for his sometimes racy, sometimes raunchy, but often curiously charming style. He is also known for his colorful persona, and for being “the first Pinoy punk” or “king of punk,” a tag that’s been attached to him since he was still a student at the UP College of Fine Arts in the 1980s.
Lee says he and the actor have long known of each other but were only formally introduced last February, when Esquire editor-in-chief Erwin Romulo brought John Lloyd to one of the Art Fair Philippines cocktails. The encounter seemed to have sparked an instant liking between Lee and John Lloyd.
“Hinila ko pa nga siya do’n sa booth namin e para magpa-picture sa rebulto ko,” Lee recalls, adding that the actor had expressed interest in one of the works on display that evening, a very tongue-in-cheek naked sculpture of Lee painted in gold.
The photo-ops would be followed by a visit to Lee’s home in Marikina to see more of his works. This eventually led to John Lloyd asking Lee to paint his portrait. We caught a glimpse of the work on Instagram, which prompted us to pursue this story.
The actor didn’t have to sit for the portrait nor have his photograph taken from different angles. Instead, the artist based the image entirely from a photograph found on the Internet.
It took three weeks to finish the portrait. But it’s still in the artist’s home studio because the first time John Lloyd attempted to take the work home with him, “hindi nagkasya sa kotse niya.” The oil painting measures 4×4 feet. “Mabait, hindi mayabang,” he says of his new friend. Lee is also giving him notes on which local artists he should keep an eye on.
Photo: The actor in the artist’s studio (from Lee’s Facebook account).
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