Contemporary Artists
Hernando R. Ocampo is the National Artist for Visual Arts (1991). He is a self-taught painter. He was a leading member of the pre-war Thirteen Moderns, the group which charted the course of modern art in the Philippines. His works provided an understanding and awareness of the harsh social realities in the country immediately after the Second World War and contributed significantly to the rise of the nationalist spirit after the war. It was, however, his abstract works that left an indelible mark on Philippine modern art. His canvases evoked the lush Philippine landscape, its flora and fauna, under the sun and rain in fierce and bold colors. He also played a pivotal role in sustaining the Philippine Art Gallery, the country’s first. His acknowledged masterpiece Genesis served as the basis of the curtain design of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater.
Xyza Bacani is a Filipino Street and Documentary Photographer who has been featured in New York Times, Lens Blog, CNN and various international media publications not only for her excellence in photography but also for her inspirational story. As a domestic Helper in Hong Kong for almost a decade, she used photography to raise awareness about under-reported stories, focusing on migrants and human rights issues. She is one of the Magnum Foundation Human Rights Fellows 2015, exhibited worldwide, won awards in photography and is the recipient of the resolution passed by the Philippines House of Representatives in her honor, HR No. 1969. She is one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the World 2015, 30 under 30 Women Photographers 2016, Forbes 50 under 50 Asia 2016, and a Fujifilm Ambassador
Cesar Legaspi a National Artist for Visual Arts (1990) is a a pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country, he is remembered for his singular achievement of refining cubism in the Philippine context. Legaspi belonged to the so-called “Thirteen Moderns” and later, the “Neo-realists”. His unique style and daring themes contributed significantly to the advent and eventual acceptance of modern art in the Philippines. Legaspi made use of the geometric fragmentation technique, weaving social comment and dealing with close together for contrasting effect the mythical and modern into his overlapping, interacting forms with disturbing power and intensity.
Ibn Saud Salipyasin Ahmad, a native of Kabasalan town, whom the provincial government of Zamboanga Sibugay has been pushing for the conferment of a national artist award. Saud’s style is perhaps an amalgamation of the diverse cultures that revolve around his life in Kabasalan. He is actually a Kalibugan – a mix of local Subanen tribe and traditional Maguindanao Muslim. He thus draws inspiration from local customs and native rituals creating works of art that reflect Zamboanga Sibugay’s multi-faceted character. Aside from his exhibitions in various art galleries around the world, Saud also takes pride in having his watercolor entitled “Soulmates” exhibited at the National Museum. Perhaps as Saud becomes more and more popular in the international art scene, he would provide a better meaning to the word "Sibugay" which originated from the local phrase meaning “come closer my friend." Sibugaynons are fervently hoping that with people like Saud, friendly tourists and investors - and not kidnappers - will come closer to their land.
Carlos “Botong” Francisco, the poet of Angono, single-handedly revived the forgotten art of mural and remained its most distinguished practitioner for nearly three decades. He is the National Artist for Painting (1973). In panels such as those that grace the City Hall of Manila, Francisco turned fragments of the historic past into vivid records of the legendary courage of the ancestors of his race. He was invariably linked with the “modernist” artists, forming with Victorio C. Edades and Galo Ocampo what was then known in the local art circles as “The Triumvirate”. Botong’s unerring eye for composition, the lush tropical sense of color and an abiding faith in the folk values typified by the townspeople of Angono became the hallmark of his art.
Fernando Amorsolo lived during a turbulent time in the Philippines. He came of age during a transition period in Philippine history. The former Spanish colony became a territory of the United States of America. As American influence slowly crept into Filipino culture in the bigger cities, the artist yearned for the life he knew during his early childhood days in Daet. This clearly manifested itself in his artistic output where he clearly showed a partiality towards the rural setting where American culture was slow to trickle down. His paintings would embody an affinity for the traditions and lifestyle he knew during the Spanish era. His canvases were filled with scenes of fiestas, old churches and rituals that were the legacy of the Philippines’ former colonial masters. Amorsolo’s penchant for depicting an idealized world is viewed by his critics as the work of someone who has never experienced pain in his life. It is apparent that the artist’s preference was not due to a lack of exposure to the ills of society but to a conscious effort to hang on to what is pure and good before the harsh realities of the world shattered his peaceful life in the countryside.
Guillermo Estrella Tolentino a National Artist for Sculpture (1973), is a product of the Revival period in Philippine art. Returning from Europe (where he was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) in 1925, he was appointed as professor at the UP School of Fine Arts where the idea also of executing a monument for national heroes struck him. The result was the UP Oblation that became the symbol of freedom at the campus. Acknowledged as his masterpiece and completed in 1933, The Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan stands as an enduring symbol of the Filipinos’ cry for freedom. Other works include the bronze figures of President Quezon at Quezon Memorial, life-size busts of Jose Rizal at UP and UE, marble statue of Ramon Magsaysay in GSIS Building; granolithics of heroic statues representing education, medicine, forestry, veterinary science, fine arts and music at UP. He also designed the gold and bronze medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Award and did the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
Kidlat Tahimik is an idol of iconoclasts worldwide, a pioneer of the postcolonial essay film, and the grandfather of the Philippine New Wave, He has made a career of—as he puts it—“straying on track.” Born Eric de Guia and educated at the Wharton School of Business, Tahimik renounced both career and name to become Kidlat Tahimik (roughly translated as “Quiet Lighting”) and embrace a filmmaking aesthetic unabashedly personal and defiantly political, filled with both warmth and fire. Tahimik’s works take special joy in highlighting the indigenous cultures and history of the Philippines and beyond, whether honoring Tahimik’s beloved bahag loincloth, profiling local craftsmen and women, or recounting tales of Magellan’s Filipino navigator/slave. Assembled from countless hours of filming, drawn from months and years worth of work, “my footages are like tiles in a mosaic,” he writes. “You shuffle them, change them around. In my process, nothing is permanent.”
Imelda Cajipe-Endaya found her art in a period of ferment in the Philippines. She belongs to the middle generation of artists, which includes Brenda Fajardo and Santiago Bose, whose art grew out of the fervid climate of the 1970s marked by political and social awakening in response to martial law in the Philippines, the Vietnam War, and economic crisis. With the cultural barrage from Hollywood, American TV and pop music, as well as fashions in art and style, national identity seems to become an increasingly fragile abstraction. Because of this, there was a perceived need to strengthen identity on the part of writers and artists. Cajipe-Endaya sought for Philippine identity in history, its narratives as well as images in old prints, drawings, and photographs. She looked for clues in the "cracks in the parchment curtain," did research into regional folk art and Filipino printmaking since the 17th century. All these were drawn upon to create a lively and richly textured art consisting of prints, paintings, collages, and installations.
