Jovi Neri- "Just a Lawyer Drawing Sports Icons" Book Launch at the Tubô Art Fair

-
Lawyer Jovi Garcia Neri holding an Elorde bread with an article in the Visayan dialect


CEBU, Philippines — Cebuano lawyer Jovi Garcia Neri, who is also a dedicated sportsman, artist and writer, will be launching his “Just A Lawyer Drawing Sports Icons” book during the opening event of Tubô Cebu Art Fair on September 15, 2023 4:30pm at Ayala Center Cebu.


The hardcover, large size coffee table book showcases the highly-acclaimed illustrations of Neri, totaling 36 sports icons - including nine Filipinos - featured in ready-to-frame, removable pages printed on specialty art paper designed to mimic the look and feel of the actual original art.

Neri takes the reader along his own art journey told through drawings, sketches and doodles that span four decades. He provides commentary on each illustration, revealing his creative process and artistic evolution, and recounts his personal encounters and interactions with some of the global sports icons who have acknowledged his depictions of them.

Neri,  champion golfer who is the brains behind the successful junior golf program of the Cebu Country Club, emphasized that while his book seems to have an international flavor, it is still very much Cebuano.

Testament to that, two of his masterpieces are full-blooded Cebuanos in boxing great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde from the City of Bogo and basketball star June Mar Fajardo from Pinamungajan town. Moreover, the final art page of the book is his interpretation of the Santo Niño de Cebu.

Neri made special mention of billiards legend Efren “Bata” Reyes as his driving force in coming up with the book that is one of a kind.

“In July 2020, he was the first sports icon I ever drew - the “alpha” of my upcoming book. I even made a special sidebar in the book on how I came up with the drawing of him without a single reference photo,” Neri shared on his Facebook page. “In some twist of serendipity, he was also the last image I submitted to my printer for final inclusion in my book.  So he was also the “omega”. I guess if I never drew him, I would never come up with my book.”

Aside from Elorde, Fajardo and Reyes, the other Pinoys taking the spotlight in the 162-page book in full color are Manny Pacquiao, Robert Jaworski, Hidilyn Diaz, Eugene Torre, Yuka Saso, and Paeng Nepomuceno, who write the book’s foreword. The bowling Hall of Famer and Guinness world record holder will also be Neri’s special guest for the book signing on Sept. 15.

Completing the list of Neri’s fascinating collection are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Canelo Alvarez, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky, Hulk Hogan,  Tom Brady, David Goggins, Royce Gracie, and Shohei Ohtani.

Interestingly, some world-class athletes have recognized, commended, and shared Neri’s drawings to their social media platforms.

Aside from the book itself, Neri said at least 15 pieces of his original artwork, including some cover art as well as matching stickers and postcards, will be offered for sale to the public in their booth located at the Ayala Activity Center “rotunda” along Leona’s and TGI Friday’s.  He will try to be available as much as possible on all three days (Sept. 15-17) to sign the books and even do some remarques (aka live sketches) on the flyleaf page as an added treat for those who support his endeavor.

Priced at P2,000, those who want to buy the book may place an order through website sportsiconsbyjovi.com or direct message to social media pages:Sports Icons by Jovi (Facebook) or @sportsiconsbyjovi (Instagram). — 

Reprinted with permission from the FREEMAN, Cebu

By Emmanuel B. Villaruel


 

Location: 4VC39PHX+PF

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

-
Image
Rodolfo S. Cornejo is the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree from a government recognized music school in the United States . He is also remarkable for his pianistic and compositional know-how by improvising a piano composition at the spur of the moment.   He was born on 15 May 1909 in Singalong , Manila . At the age of six, he had his formal piano lessons. After 2 years, he played fourteen pieces and six encores for his recital. In that same year, he became the organist of the Pasay Catholic Church when they moved in. When he was ten, he composed a piano piece entitled, " Glissando Waltz ". He became so keen and inspired about music by his mother's genuine support.    At 13, he composed the "Salute", a military march that was also published. He also composed the Philippine Suite: Paalam sa Pagakadalaga , Okaka Variations , Paalam na Sinta , Oriental Fantasy , Nocturne in G, Piano Concerto no. 1 , and the Moro Wedding Dance . At 14, tw...
Read more

Kulintang- Philippine Bossed Gong and Subing- Philippine Jaw Harp

-
Image
Instruments that produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself (wood or metal) are classified as idiophones . They are further divided into those that are struck, scraped, plucked, shaken, or rubbed. In the Philippines, there are metal and wooden (principally bamboo) idiophones. Metal idiophones are of two categories: flat gongs and bossed gongs,. Flat gongs made of bronze, brass, or iron are found principally in the north among the Isneg , Tingguian , Kalinga , Bontok , Ibaloi , Gaddang , Ifugao , and Ilonggot . They are commonly referred to as gangsa . The gongs vary in size, the average are struck with wooden sticks, padded wooden sticks, or slapped with the palm of the hand. Gong playing among the Cordillera highlanders is an integral part of peace pact gatherings, marriages, prestige ceremonies, feasts or rituals. In Southern Philippines, gongs have a central profusion or knot, hence the term bossed gongs . They are of three types: 1) sets of graduated gongs ...
Read more

The Great Filipino Series- Antonio J. Molina on Stamp

-
Image
Antonio J. Molina was called the "Dean of Filipino Composers". He was a prominent violoncellist, conductor and teacher. He wrote 500 compositions in his lifetime.   He was the last of the musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago , who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House . Molina is credited for introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had taught many of the country's leading musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon .   Born into a musically inclined family, he raised his own family as music lovers as well, as three of his children pursued careers in music, ...
Read more

The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

-
Image
The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as...
Read more

Vicente Fabella on Stamps

-
Image
Vicente F. Fabell a (1891-1959). Educator, economist, civic leader and the first Filipino certified public accountant . He was the founder of Jose Rizal College .  He was born on May 7, 1891 in Pagsanjan , Laguna , the third of six children of Juan Fabella, who served as mayor of Pagsanjan during the Spanish and American regimes, and Damiana Fernandez.    He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Philippines in 1912 and then continued his studies in the United States, obtaining concurrent degrees of bachelor of philosophy from the University of Chicago and diploma in commerce from Northwestern University in 1915. That same year, he became a certified public accountant in the state of Wisconsin .   In 1916, upon his return to the Philippines, he became a professional lecturer in accounting and auditing at the University of the Philippines . At the same time, he opened the accounting firm, Vicente Fabella and Company.   He was inst...
Read more

Kulintang on Stamps

-
Image
Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture of Southeast Asia , kulintang music ensembles have been playing for many centuries in regions of the Eastern Malay Archipelago — the Southern Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Eastern Malaysia, Brunei and Timor, although this article has a focus on the Philippine Kulintang traditions of the Maranao and Maguindanao peoples in particular. Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sunda . Its importance stems from its association with the indigenous cultures that inhabited these islands prior to the influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or the West, making Kulintang the most developed tradition of Southeast Asian archaic gong-chime ensemble...
Read more

Cebuano Artists Painting Collection- Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr.

-
Image
Bliss (BooNana) , 15" x 20", Pencil Sketch, 2009 Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr . was born on March 7, 1944 in Bindoy , Negros Oriental , Philippines. Graduated from the Cebu Institute of Technology with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Architecture , he then continued and studied painting at the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts in New York. He also taught at the University of San Carlos and Cebu Academy of Arts.    His art journey started with hardships together with renowned sculptor, painter, novelist and architect Arsenio "Arsing" Abella . In 2017, both had a reunion exhibit, Art Biography at Manila Art Frames - the first gallery they exhibited in 1969. Later, with ease together with eminent Samboan artist  Benji Goyha , whom he bonded owing to a shared vision for art promotion , tourism and mentoring of young Cebuano artists. Both organized art workshops and excursions in Cebu province especially in Goyha's hometown Samboan .   ...
Read more