Dominic Mangila

Now I'll speak on Dominic Mangila and specifically on a newer work of his entitled "Han".  Dominic, originally from the Philippines, now hails from Long Island and is part of the teaching faculty at the Columbia MFA program from which he graduated several years ago.  This is definitely my favorite painting by Dominic thus far.  I love the use of color, the feeling of movement, the energy of the work.  One work it reminds me of a little is Chuck Close's Lucas where the colors emanate from the head.  Here, the eye is drawn to the forehead, with its circular lighthouse effect, a beacon to the rest of the piece.  The ultrafinished upper half in contrast to the seemingly unfinished lower half, almost sketched in some areas.  The stare of the figure draws you into the myriad of colors.   Dominic writes about the background reference for "Han":

"Han painting references human intelligence: mind's power to imagine,

project, gather and process knowledge. initially, the painting was
inspired by a friend who's name is Han who is quite a genius. he's
like a human wikipedia.

later on, as i work on the painting and researched about the Han
Chinese, i realize that it can also make reference to Han Chinese's
'major role in the development of the arts, sciences, philosophy, and
mathematics throughout history.'  (Science and Technology in China)"

 In the details, see the brushstrokes, feel them as they are pulled across the canvas.  You can feel the texture of the paint with your eyes (left side of canvas, midway up).

Then look at this next detail and see how the one rectangle in and of itself could constitute a work.  It's like a lovefest for color (by the left ear/right side of canvas).

 For additional works by Dominic, you can check out these other sites:

http://registry.whitecolumns.org/view_artist.php?artist=8223

http://www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram/share_portfolio.cfm?pf=1638