BY JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
It is often said that when God closes a door, He opens a window. Or, in this former advertising professional’s case, He gave him a billboard.
No, you won’t be seeing Lloyd Tronco’s face along Edsa anytime soon. Instead, you will see his traffic-stopping “Alab ng Sining” artwork — a 62-ft. by 42 ft. abstract painting that required 10 gallons of acrylic paint to produce.
With a surface area of 230 sq. m., the giant outdoor artwork took several months of logistical planning, and was completed by Lloyd and four assistants in about a week’s time. Eight people, in the meantime, had to install the huge artwork on a billboard space at the intersection of EDSA and Ortigas Ave. It now stands proud near the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Building, Barangay Wack-Wack, Greenhills East, Mandaluyong City.
So why a billboard?
Lloyd, who used to run an out-of-home (OOH) media advertising company before he decided to call it quits last year, said that he wanted to start his formal art journey on a platform that he is already familiar with.
“The idea though of doing something like this has been on the back of my mind for years because I have been in the outdoor advertising business for the longest time,” says the 53-year-old Lloyd. Aside from running his OOH media company, he also grew up as part of the Bacolod City-based, family-owned Tronco Advertising Co., Inc., which has been dabbling in billboards for the past 45 years.
As for the artwork itself, Lloyd says that it is a “personal, un-sponsored project,” brought about by years of wanting to go into art full-time. “In a way, you could say that I wanted to start with a statement. Aside from its size, a lot of people told me that the picture I created looked very optimistic, what with its rich colors, even if it was painted on a black background,” he says.
For Lloyd, the project also marks a momentous shift in his life. “I have been an artist by training, as I studied initially at the UP College of Architecture for one semester in 1985. Then, the untimely demise of my dad (who was once a professor at the University of Sto. Tomas in Fine Arts) compelled me to help my mom in the billboard business serving the Visayas and Mindanao. From Architecture, I shifted to Fine Arts at the La Consolacion College of Bacolod.”
Well, after decades of wanting and working and waiting, Lloyd finally seized the opportunity with “Alab ng Sining.” “In a way, you could say that even after all these years, even at 53, I am still ‘young at art!’” he quips.
To see Lloyd’s traffic-stopping work up close and personal, drive along EDSA-Ortigas anytime from now until March 14, 2021!
