ARTIST SIGNATURE SERIES: Roel Obemio

Shop the collection featuring the works of Roel Obemio

Many things come to mind when we consider the art of Roel Obemio. Fernando Botero as an obvious reference would perhaps be the first cue. Boterismo becomes Obemize in his parlance, but this is less due to any allegiance and more to Obemio’s interests as a caricaturist. At the beginning of his crossing from a working artist in animation to a serious artist in the art world, his themes and aesthetics were simpler and easier to understand. Characters in nostalgic proto-narratives inhabited his early canvases, which gave a sense of an artist on a journey. Obemio has invested his figures or characters, for they are cast within a narrative flow—with tremendous warmth and engaging solicitude, unashamedly embracing emotion, empathy, and affection, thus resonating with a Pinoy audience.