{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":22037,"auction_id":23,"set_id":42,"lot_number":"130","artist":"Ronald Ventura (b. 1973)","title":"Francism","starting_price":8000000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 2005 (lower right)","medium":"oil on canvas","size":"56\" x 48\" (142 cm x 122 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":"Interview of Ronald Ventura on Francism by Igan d’Bayan in Ronald Ventura \n:Realities; published by Damiani editore, Bologna, Italy, 2011","write_up":"Ronald Ventura was never a devout and religious Catholic. Yet, he went on to study at the University of Santo Tomas, known for its conservative and traditional approach to religious education. As a college student at the Pontifical University, Ventura found himself constantly questioning the dogmas of the Catholic Church, deeming some of them as problematic and questionable. His affinity for harnessing religious themes thrived after he graduated from college. Throughout his professional painting career, Ventura has produced works that dispute the authority and validity of religion. The customs attached to it are often practiced earnestly but sometimes gratified in the form of excessive devotion. He also frequently criticizes and denounces the believers' superficial piety masqueraded as a zealous profession of faith.
Being an artist based in the Philippines, where more than 80% of the population are Catholics, Ventura's criticism of religion reveals one of the many justifications for his art: an attack against the deep-rooted, traditional Christian mythos. This premise juxtaposes the stark differences between the significance of religion in Filipino culture and its repercussions on our moral standards due to us being ignorant followers.
This piece titled Francism depicts Ventura's subversion of the influential force that is religion. It shows a penitent fervently holding a large crucifix. The stigmata wounds of Saint Francis of Assisi mark the man's hands, hence the title of the painting. In Catholic hagiography, Saint Francis was said to have received the stigmata while praying at La Verna in Italy. These wounds, which consisted of lacerations on his hands and feet and a lesion in the side of his chest, emerged from his vision of a seraph manifesting as a cross. Ventura juxtaposes the saint's divine acceptance of the stigmata with the believer's ostensible declaration of faith. This kind of pseudo profession is especially seen in some Filipino Catholics' practice of public display of agonizing penitence while continuing to engage in acts of moral degradation and debauchery.
Ventura unapologetically brings into the open his resentment towards uncritical views on religion, blind adherence to its rituals and traditions, and deeprooted absurdity perpetrated by gullible believers. The artist also decries the multitude of "goats," disguising themselves as "sheep" who turn the passion and death of Christ into an outlandish display of spiritual spectacle. In light of this, Ventura asks, "Isn't it enough that Christ died for our sins? Must penitents do it too and make a mockery of His sacrifice?"","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Ronald Ventura (b. 1973) Francism signed and dated 2005 (lower right) oil on canvas 56\" x 48\" (142 cm x 122 cm)