Victor Puruganan is an artist who has carved his own path in the art world, something that cannot be taken away from him. Over the years he has created a body of work that is more than enough to fill up his house and makeshift studio several times over and yet one wonders why it took him this long to stage his very first official solo art exhibition.

An artist who can do portraits with ease, abstracts that excite visually, and is not afraid to shift from one medium to another may it be oil, acrylic, ceramics or glass.

Ilocos Norte-born Victor Puruganan is a naturally humble person who doesn’t crave the limelight but has earned his right to be called one of the Philippines’ best. The seventh of nine children of Victorina Sales Puruganan and the late Maestro Ricarte Puruganan, one of the 13 Moderns of Philippine Art, Victor has had to scratch and claw his way through life and carve a path all his own.

Victor took an Associate Fine Arts degree at the City College of San Francisco in the early 80s and worked in a hotel where he was able to apply and polish his skills as an artist, creating artworks that would delight and impress not just his superiors and colleagues but guests as well.

He would continue creating artworks—mostly commissioned—after that but he would often be flying back and forth from the U.S.A. and the Philippines, limiting his time and ability to fully establish his artistic base.

In his ongoing exhibit titled “Alter Ego” at ARTablado in Robinsons Galleria, Victor Puruganan is finally able to show what he is all about. Although the works on display are mostly recent, it shows the current evolution of Victor’s art, filled with so much hope and the inner reflection of a man and an artist who is far from the twilight of his career.

Much like how his father Ricarte, Botong Francisco, Victorio Edades, Galo Ocampo, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho broke away from the classical and conservative style in the 1930s, Victor today is a prime example of an artist who continues to innovate and strive to create something new that is grounded in the fundamentals of art, breaking beyond the abstract realm through simple methods and presentations.

“Many people forget how much thought and creativity goes into how geometric shapes and patterns are incorporated just to convey an influential message in our societies or our own personal lives,” Victor says.

“Alter Ego” is on exhibition until December 15, 2022 at the Level 3 of Robinsons Galleria. Robinsons Land’s ARTablado continues to support Filipino art by providing a second home for artists where they can showcase their creativity and artistic genius.