Monday, September 24, 2007

THE WRONG SACRIFICE



By Joel E. Ferraris

THE WRONG SACRIFICE is the newest painting that I finished just last Thursday night, a day before September 21, 2007 which is 35th anniversary of martial law in the Philippines under the Marcos regime.

Painted on canvas using acrylic and mixed media, the artpiece was a result of a collaborative idea initiated by the Philippines' running priest and activist Bro. Robert Reyes and myself. I spent two weeks to complete the painting and Brother Robert painted the green cross.

This project was triggered by the recent death by hazing of Cris Mendez, a student of the University of the Philippines. There are now a total of 12 dead students who were victims of either hazing or fraternity wars in UP alone since these Greek and Roman lettered brotherhoods were first established in this university.


Although I'm no longer a Catholic but a reformed Christian, I agreed to this collaboration because of our common advocacy against the culture of violence perpetuated by fraternities not only in the University of the Philippines but also in many of our country's campuses. Brother Robert Reyes has been the parish priest of our university for several years and I was once the head of our fraternity. And and we are both witnesses to these sick culture and its trail of deaths.

It is now a common and easily available knowledge, especially through the internet, that there exists an ongoing fraternity culture of violence not only in the Philippines but also in the US.

As a fratman myself and a survivor of those bloody fraternity wars in our university campuses during our time, I understand the nature of the problem not only of the frat system but of the fratmen themselves. Therefore I started another blog, A FRATMAN'S OASIS, in the hope of giving insights derived from my experiences that could somehow help in giving solutions to a lot of our society's problems.

With this painting THE WRONG SACRIFICE it is my hope that some kind of understanding would lead to enlightenment because art is a powerful tool for education instead of becoming just a mere object of idolatry.

This painting is now with the NCPAG (National College for Public Administration and Governance) in the University of the Philipines in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.

For more images and readings about THE WRONG SACRIFICE kindly visit my new blog A FRATMAN'S OASIS.

Click here for news and video about the painting
THE WRONG SACRIFICE.

This painting was recently unveiled at the NCPAG in UP Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines after a mass by the running priest Bro. Robert Reyes.


3 comments:

Ebriel said...

A very powerful painting, Joel. This puts the issue in the public eye, and makes people around the world aware of it.

Kudos to you for another incredible work.

artspace2000.com said...

We thought you might like to know that we have just released
an e book on our web site Art Space 2000.com called
"Marketing Your Art" An Insider's Guide To Selling Your Art".

This e book will provide you with all the information you need
to market your art work in professional, and profitable manner.
This book contains over eighty pages of information that is vital
to any artist that is looking to turn their art into a moneymaking business.

We invite you to take a moment to learn more about this exciting e book
and to view the video presentation. Click on the following link
http://www.artspace2000.com/marketing_your_art/marketing_your_art.htm

Thank you for your time,
Artspace2000

joel ferraris said...

thanks a lot Elizabeth. Feel free to visit http://thetestofarealman.blogspot.com/
from time to time and be updated regarding the issue about frat violence and any positive moves being initiated to completely eradicate it.