Interview with Mr. Recci Bacolor:
Noel Sales Barcelona (NSB): When did you start painting? Are their other artists in the family? Can we know what the educational background of Mr. Bacolor is?
John Mari Recci C. Bacolor (JMRCB): I started to paint when I was a child. I grew up watching my father draw and paint. My father works as an art designer and later on pursued interior design. I can’t remember him teaching me how to draw because he was always out of the country to work abroad. Sometimes it took two years or more before he would come back home. But my mother tells me a lot of stories about my father’s work abroad and it motivated me a lot to practice drawing and painting so that whenever my father would get back home for a vacation or break, I would have something to show him to impress him. Since then I never stopped drawing.
I am an undergraduate of Computer Engineering. I took a leave from studying the course to pursue an art-related course which is my real interest. I started by enrolling in a 3D animation course and later on studied Digital Arts. I started studying painting by myself, joining sketching sessions and art groups, but later on undergoing mentoring by Noel Pocot.
Some of my artist relatives who also inspire me a lot and are also active in the art scene are Felix Bacolor and Patrick “Kinigtot” Bacolor. Both are my father’s younger brothers. Some of my other relatives are in the interior design companies and architecture.
NSB: Is this your first major exhibit?
JMRCB: Yes. This is not my first time to participate in a group show but this is the first group show I’ve organized and curated myself.
NSB: How long did it take you to mount this exhibit? What are the processes that you have gone through in order to make this exhibit possible? Did you invite the artists to join you?
JMRCB: I always wanted to curate and organized an art show. But I’m still a novice in the art scene. I don’t know a lot of people. But then I thought, maybe if I organize an exhibit I will meet a lot of people. So I decided to pursue it.
It was around November when I became fully decided to make it happen. After conceptualizing the exhibit concept I started to invite my artist’s friends one-by-one to participate. Then I went to my artist friend and mentor Noel Pocot to ask him to help me out in making a proposal and exhibit concept letter for the prospect galleries. My first choice was My Little Art Place in Greenhills because I found the venue spacious and the atmosphere is great. And since the gallery is just a year old I saw it as a great venue for holding my first exhibit.
Maya, owner of the gallery, after responding to my email invited me to meet her. I was a bit nervous because it was my first time to make a deal with a gallery owner. I even invited my artist friend Xander Calceta to accompany in the meeting. Xander gave me a lot of confidence because I know he is experienced in this matter.
She was interested about the art show I was proposing but the only problem was that they had planned to hold a summer art workshop for kids. It was going to be messy at the gallery and it would not be a good idea to hang artworks there. That’s why they decided not to hold any art exhibit during April and May. She proposed to have it moved earlier or later. In the end, since it would also be my birthday exhibit, she decided to give me a two-week slot so I could open the show on my birth date.
