heritage
Lorenzo Gabutina
The Late Blooming Filipino Visual Artist
- LORENZO E. GABUTINA was born in Lagao on January 12, 1950, the ninth child of Liborio ‘Boriong’ and Trinidad ‘Trining’Gabutina. His parents migrated from Kalibo, Aklan to Lagao after the war. Boriong was formerly manager of John Deere tractors and the Caltex depot in Dadiangas, while Trining was a school teacher and a business trader in rice and corn.
They had 10 children and they all grew up in Lagao and studied at Notre Dame of Lagao. Lorenz studied at Lagao Elementary School from Grade 1-Grade 4. In 1960, the family moved to Manila. He graduated from UST in 1971 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising
- His first job was writing scripts for TV/radio commercials and print ads in an advertising agency. From writer, he took on other various ad agency jobs culminating, years later, in top management positions until he retired in 2010. The five years prior to his retirement he was also an advertising professor in UST, St. Scholastica’s College and Colegio de San Juan Letran – a job that he is extremely passionate about.
Photos by https://www.facebook.com/berniceadriannego (Via Lorenzo Gabutina Facebook Account)
Photos by https://www.facebook.com/peter.gabo1 ( Via Lorenzo Gabutina Facebook Account)
It was at the time of his retirement from corporate work that his art journey began. With no formal education in fine arts and completely self-taught, the artist in Lorenz came out of its shell. He began posting his artworks on Facebook and found that many people liked it, including well-known artists and art collectors – to his surprise, people were actually buying his works. He has since then built up a massive fan base in Facebook and recently held his first successful solo exhibit in Sigwada Art Gallery in Manila.
His art can be described as a mélange of pop, surreal, abstract and techno styles. He is a Picasso fan and also loves Miro and Kandinsky. Among local artists, he admires the work of Nunelucio Alvarado and Jonathan Benitez. Perhaps the most unique thing about him is the fact that he uses Powerpoint as his digital art software. “People get surprised about that. They think Powerpoint is just for business presentations. Absolutely not. It’s a great art tool”. Lorenz is 72 years old, happily married to HaydeeCosgayon, with two children Raffy and April, 46 and 43 years old respectively.
Some of Lorenzo Gabutina's Digital Collage Abstract Art
