Artist behind painting signed by Jordan hopes to donate it to National Museum

For Christian Talampas, his art isn’t about the money
Feb 16, 2022
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PHOTO: Christian Talampas/Instagram

THE now-viral charcoal-and-pencil illustration of Michael Jordan’s “The Last Shot” moment — personally signed by His Airness himself — is estimated to be worth at least P40 million.

But artist Christian Talampas wants the world to know that it’s not about the money, or the price tag.

“Nung unboxing pa lang, na-appraise na siya e,” recalled Talampas in an interview with Spin.ph. “A million dollar artwork na nga ang kinalabasan. To tell you honestly, yung feeling na, wow, mayaman na ako? Di ko naisip.”

He added: “Ang dating sa akin, mas gusto kong marinig yung, 'Wow, may Pilipinong nakagawa.'”

And so Talampas hopes that someday, he would be able to donate his artwork to the National Museum.

“Eventually, one day, gusto ko siya mapunta [doon],” continued Talampas, who only started sketching during the pandemic, after he left his job as a delivery driver. “Kasi di natin inaasahan, prinesyuhan na nga ng mga tao, yun na yung tingin nila sa artwork ko, na millions na talaga ang halaga. Ayoko na balang araw, yun pa yung dahilan para magkagulo yung family ko.”

He also wants the artwork to stay in the Philippines and serve as an inspiration to fellow Filipinos, instead of, say, being locked away in a collection abroad.

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    About journey of Christian Talampas as an artist

    Talampas never harbored any ambition of becoming an artist. Instead, before the pandemic, he wanted to be a pro poker player. Since 2013, he’s joined a steady stream of tournaments, supplemented on the side by a side gig of driving a delivery van, for which he was paid P700 a day.

    The pandemic changed all that. With so much idle time left in his hands, Talampas picked up a piece of charcoal and started sketching one of his children.

    “September 3, 2020, simula ng may bumili ng unang binebenta kong artwork, sinabi ko na sa sarili ko, 'Artist ako,'” he said. “Kasi kailangan yun ang i-feed mo sa sarili mo e. Kung nagda-drive ka, ikaw si Schumacher kahit delivery driver ka lang. Ganun yung mentality ng nasa loob ko.”

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    He added, almost sheepishly: “Maraming nagsasabi, fairy tale nga ako mag-isip.”

    At the time of our call, Talampas had just come from Bigboy Cheng’s Secret Fresh gallery, where he had taken charge of framing some of the 23 prints of his now-famous artwork. But beyond owning a piece of MJ-inspired art, he also hopes that his own achievement inspires a new generation of artists and dreamers — just like his idol.

    “Yun ang pinagmamalaki ko sa sarili ko, na kahit hindi tayo ganun kayaman, pero meron akong na-i-inspire na tao. Idol ko nga si Michael Jordan. Be Like Mike nga.”

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    PHOTO: Christian Talampas/Instagram
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