Daryl isn’t done. In a multi-disciplinary practice that has spanned such fields as illustration, video-making, and installation, Daryl Feril has countless more universes to explore. And to excel at.
Not content with wowing global clients such as The David Lynch Foundation, the DFS Group, Heineken, Hilton, Jo Malone, Singapore Airlines, Tory Burch and Walt Disney with his design and illustration prowess, Daryl has instead focused on bettering himself. He has plugged away at his craft, testing new boundaries, and mastering yet even more skills. Witness, for example, his latest foray into painting, an avenue for expression he has sometimes neglected in favor of more lucrative gigs.
A product of Bacolod, that city with an inexhaustible supply of fantastic talents, Daryl has recently been kept busy adding “entrepreneur” to his multi-hyphenate existence. Last year, Daryl launched his merch space WEREVER at the Orange District (together with partner and fellow artist Faye Abantao), and there just hasn’t been enough time for the making of art.
To start his painterly year, therefore, Daryl joins a select four-artist show at gallery. sort of.’s March exhibition titled “Bed, Bath & Hubad.” Revelation awaits.
Stamping his mark amongst an already superior cast comprised of exciting artists Bea Dolloso, Kurt Manzano, and Nathan Esguerra, Daryl demonstrates sharp compositional and coloring skills to convey hallucinatory snapshots of sensory stimulation. For this show, Daryl contributes half a dozen paintings of raw visual narratives zoomed in on specific points of view, isolating frames that glimmer and gutter with more than just traces of eroticism.
They’re moody and broody. Canvasses of almost garish, neon-infused palettes, potentially visually repellent and yet - not. Daryl successfully accomplishes the trick of compelling the viewer to keep looking at a split-second exposure in front of him. And looking. And ultimately, falling.
A cluttered sink that invites a peek into separate mirrors, look-sees that might, and does, provide a peeping tom some satisfaction. Bare feet poised to join a secret lover indolently waiting in a bathtub. A metrosexual in repose, exhausted from a day’s work. Daryl’s trippy palate is an ultraviolet floodlight into the bath.
And yet, are these really bath scenes? What is a rooster doing stalking amidst feet encased in socks? And yes, why is that rooster between feet now suddenly bare?
Daryl’s personal favorite is Second Skin, a 24x24 inch depiction of a muscular torso encased in black sexy lingerie. A nod towards transvestitism? A tribute to a cross-dresser? Daryl says this piece set the tone for the entire series, although we do not see any sign of any cross-dresser in his other canvasses. Unless?
We are lured into Daryl’s lurid lair. And how willing the victims that we are.
How privileged we are to glimpse this mini-collection from Daryl’s paintbrushes. Much like other digital natives, Daryl is yet another world-class talent hiding within the comforts of a small island. With imagery as rich and as triggering as these, however, it won’t be long before Daryl Feril will be invited into the privacy of our households.
And perhaps, even somewhere more intimate within.
…..
Bed, Bath & Hubad opens on March 9, 2025 at gallery. sort of., located at 37 Camaro St., Fairview Park, Quezon City. Doors open at 4:00 pm.
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