LESSON 1: WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY ART?
“MODERN”
Being modern means being up to date and
technologically advanced
Being modern is often equated with being contemporary
Art that is new or current is also often referred to as
“modern” as opposed to “traditional” or “conservative”
In other words, the terms are interchangeable.
WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY? IS IT THE SAME
AS BEING MODERN?
History and chronological – the first difference between
the contemporary and modern
Fajardo and Flores – art studies professors who
suggested the table titled “historical overview of
Philippine art” (2002)
- the table shows a summary of the periods of Philippine
Art from Pre-Conquest to the Contemporary
WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY? WHAT IS
MODERN ART?
Contemporary – art produced by artists living today
- present or new art that is existing
- art of the present which is continuously in
Process
- by the virtue of being “of the present”
- “contemporary” is a fluid term, and its use can
change depending on the contexts
Modern – art produced between American colonial
period to the post-war period
- can still be considered “contemporary kay still
present today.
At times, the Modern and Contemporary can be
used simultaneously or interchangeably; however, there
is also danger of using them carelessly or loosely. Thus,
it is important to know the historical, and stylistic
contexts of the terms
Historicaloverview:
overview:Philippine
Philippine Art
Art
Historical
Form
Form
Painting
Painting
Sculpture
Sculpture
Architecture
Architecture
Pre-conquest Spanish
SpanishPeriod
Period American
AmericanPeriod
Period Japanese
JapanesePeriod
Period Postwar
PostwarRepublic
Republic 70s-Contemporary
70s-Contemporary
Pre-conquest
(1521-1898)
(1898-1940)
(1941-1945)
(1946-1969)
(1521-1898)
(1898-1940)
(1941-1945)
(1946-1969)
- potter
- religious(icon
(iconand
and - landscape
- landscape
- potter
- religious
- bodyadornment
adornment ecclesiastical)
ecclesiastical)
- portraiture
- body
- portraiture
- ornament
- secular(portraiture)
(portraiture) - genre
- genre
- ornament
- secular
- interior
- interior
- stilllife
life
- still
- pottery
- santos
- Freestanding
standing
- pottery
- santos
- Free
carving
and
furniture
relief
- carving and
- furniture
- relief
woodwork
- reliefs
- public
woodwork
- reliefs
- public
metalwork
and
jewelry
- metalwork and
- jewelry
expression
- metalwork
expression
- metalwork
- pieta
- pieta
- ornamentation
- ornamentation
- dwellingsand
and
- church
- cityplanning
planningparks
parks
- dwellings
- church
- city
houses
plaza
complex;
waterfronts
houses
- plaza complex;
- waterfronts
- shelters
townplanning
planning
- civic/gov’t.
- shelters
town
- civic/gov’t.
worship
areas
fortification
- structures
- worship areas
- fortification
- structures
official
civic
buildings
and
- publicworks
works
- official
- civic buildings and
- public
residences
installations
- apartments
residences
installations
- apartments
- mosque
- privateresidences
residences
- residences
- mosque
- private
- residences
masjid
commercial
- offices
- masjid
- commercial
- offices
- stateedifices
edifices
structures
- healthand
andpublic
public
- state
structures
- health
- cemeteries
education
- cemeteries
education
- bridges
- businesschalet
chalet
- bridges
- business
lighthouse
- lighthouse
Xyza Bacani – the photographer who hails from Nueva
Vizcaya, worked as a domestic helper.
- she used photography to raise awareness about
migrant workers and human rights issues
HR Ocampo – his painting was painted in the early
1960s
- at that time, his painting was considered
contemporary. Today, we refer to these works
as examples of modern art
- wartimescene
scene
- wartime
(aggression,
(aggression,
nationalism,atrocities,
atrocities,
nationalism,
symbolic,protest,
protest,
symbolic,
aspirationforforpeace)
peace)
aspiration
- propaganda
- propaganda
- indigenizingand
and
- indigenizing
orientilizing
works
orientilizing works
genre
- -genre
- idlyllis(Amorsolo,
(Amorsolo,
- idlyllis
Francisco
Ocampo)
Francisco Ocampo)
- modern
- modern
- conservative
- conservative
- abstractexperimental
experimental
- abstract
- publicartart
- public
- publicworks
works
- public
- realestate
estate
- real
safe
housing
- safe housing
- accessories
- accessories
- tenements
- tenements
- squatters
- squatters
- conventionarch
arch
- convention
- commercial/business
- commercial/business
- condos
- condos
- malls
- malls
- subdivisions
- subdivisions
- development
- development
- lowcost
costhousing
housing
- low
- figurative
- figurative
- non-figurative
- non-figurative
- artforforartartsake
sake
- art
- multimedia
- multimedia
- mixedmedia
media
- mixed
- transmedia
- transmedia
Arturo Luz – (National artist) a modern artist who
continued to produce work till today.
- His works can be described as contemporary.
- he continues to produce paintings in his 90s
and well into the 21st
- his paintings’ hard-edged and minimalist
abstract style is associated with the modern
style of the late 20th century
- in this case, his works are based on historical
and stylistic.
Artists who paint in styles associated with modern art:
Victorio Edades – National Artist
- head sa modern art movement
- credited for initiating the modern art movement
that challenged the neoclassic style, which was
dominant at the time he came home from
studying in America before the war
- he challenged what were described as
“conservative art” seen in the works of
National artists Fernando Amorsolo and
Guillermo Tolentino
Modern artists – they do not aim to copy and idealize
reality; instead they change the colors and flatten
the picture instead of creating illusions of depth,
nearness, and farness
- modern artist like Edades depict contemporary
art as “ugly” and unpleasant.
Modern Art – was considered new and shocking at that
time
Neoclassic style – depicts reality as closely as possible
and idealizes it.
- was familiar and comfortable
- is also described by historians like Guillermo
as “academic” along with other established
styles imported from Europe via Spanish
colonization.
Neoclassicism – is academic as it was and continues to
be taught in schools, particularly the then
University of the Philippines School Fine Arts
(now UP college of fine arts), where Amorsolo
and Tolentino were most influential
The School of Fine Arts (is now the University of the
Philippines School Fine Arts)
- students are being exposed to various styles
- neoclassic style (associated with Amorsolo and
Tolentino) is included in the curriculum
or informally through workshops and
apprentices, or through self-learning or selfstudy.
TODAY…
Modern Art – is referred to as “traditional”
Contemporary Art – is the art of the present, which is
continuously in process an in flux
What is contemporary today might become “academic” or
“traditional” at some point. The styles of modern art for
example are now part of art school curricula and have
become academic. Thus, the distinction between modern
art and contemporary art could also be a matter of
perception and reception depending on the contexts.
WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MODERN ART AND
CONTEMPORARY ART?
Difficult process – Carlos Francisco’s depiction of
fishing
Calm and placidity – Amorsolo’s rendition
The following art shows the oppressive condition of the
unprivileged classes:
- Francisco’s Magpupukot (1957)
- HR Ocampo’s The Contrast (1940)
- Cesar Legaspi’s Frugal Meal (undated)
- Edades’ The Builders (1928)
The following artists who actively depicted the social
conditions in the aftermath of W old war II:
- Romeo Tabuena
- Hernando Ocampo
- Vicente Manansala
- Victor Oteyza
- Ramon Estella
- Cesar Legaspi
Neo-Realists - called by critic Aguilar Cruz
- these artists depicted society’s problems and
challenged the neoclassic rural-pastoral style
associated with Amorsolo and Tolentino
- the Social Realists of the seventies are
considered heirs of this tradition.
Social Realism – continues to influence contemporary
artists. e.g., Imelda Cajipe-Endaya’s FilipinaDH
(1995)
Imelda Cajipe-Endaya – social realist, but the style and
medium of the installation is markedly different
(The table in next page shows the difference in style and
medium between Modern Art and Contemporary Art.)
(The table below shows the difference in style and
medium between Modern Art and Contemporary Art.)
Form
Precolonial
Spanish/Islamic
Colonial
-
Painting
Sculpture
Architecture
STYLISTIC OVERVIEW
American Colonial
- Religious
(animist or
Islamic)
- Communitybased InterEthnetic relations
- Collective
history
Classical
- Idyllic
- Nostalgic
- Worship-related and
residential
- Earthquake baroque
- Hispanic revivalist
(neogothic, neoromanesque,
Islamic)
- Neoclassic
- art deco (Juan Arellano,
Juan Nakpil, Pablo
Antonio)
- Art Nouveau
- California Mission Style
- Abstract Expressionism
Cajipe-Endaya’s has been exhibited in galleries and
museums, just like Modern Artists
Painting
Sculpture
Architect
- Incipient triumvirate 13 moderns
- abstract
- neorealist
- surreal
- expressionist
- Religious / devotional
- Secular
- Formal
- Naturalistic (homegrown,
miniaturismo, guild)
- Academic
(The table below shows the different contexts that
belonged to Contemporary artists Bacani and CajipeEndaya)
Form
Modern
- International industrializing
- eclectic
Postmodern/Contemporary
- Collaborative
- hyper-realist
- new painting
- Junk/scrap
- duchampian
- arte covera
- neo-indgenous
- site-specific
- performance art
- hybrid
- Filipino architecture
- urban planning
- economic zone
- neovarnacular prefab
- regionalist
- cosmopolitan
Bacini
- exhibited her works in Internet Platforms like blogs
and caught the attention of photographers.
- She soon became very popular in social, print, and
broadcast media.
- Her works crossed over to the domain of the Fine Arts.
CULTURAL OVERVIEW
- Indigenous
- Islamic or
- Folk or lowland - Fine or world-based
Southeast Asain
Philippine Muslim
- Ritual and governance
- Colonial and
- Museum-circulated
post-colonial
- artist centered
gallery-distributed
Ibn Saud Salipyasin Ahmad
- from Zamboanga, Mindanao
- comes from a hybrid mixture of the local
Subanen and traditional Maguindanao Muslim
cultures.
- he is a contemporary artist but his cultural text
is indigenous Southeast Asian and Philippine
Muslim
- his style can be considered “traditional as it
draws on the tradition and intricacy of drafting
technique
- his medium is watercolor
- his subject matter is the people of his locality
Kidlat Tahimik
- a filmmaker
- he and his family perform their life as their art
and vice versa, as evident in the art spaces in
Baguio which have become associated with a
mix of performance, installation, architecture,
and culinary arts
- popular or urban
and mass based
- mass produced
- market oriented
WHAT ARE THE GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTEMPORARY
ART?
- generally process-based and integrate various mediums
and art forms.
- distinguishable from modern art in historical, stylistic,
and cultural terms
- most common characteristics revolve around their
being site-specific, process-based, collaborative, and
interactive
- there are also artists who use a mixture of
contemporary, indigenous, Islamic, popular and
traditional art forms, media, and content
- contemporary art is never fixed, but open to many
possibilities
- the art of so-called “past” continued and continues to
evolve until the present, and therefore in that sense,
“contemporary”. This art continues to be produced even
if the conditions behind its production have already
changed significantly.
LESSON 2: A BRIEF HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE ART
I. Pre-conquest
“pre-conquest”
- in historical terms
- art before the coming of the first colonizers
“indigenous”
- in historical terms
- to emphasize the idea that our ancestors have been
making art even before colonization
“pre-colonial”
- in cultural terms
- a term to use for the general way of life before
colonization
WAS THERE “ART” BEFORE COLONIZATION?
Prior to colonization, art of the ancient Filipinos was
woven into the fabric of everyday life. They do not refer
to “art” as we do today, that is, as an expression of an
individual, and seen largely in museums and concert
halls. They did not distinguish forms into different
categories like music, theater, visual arts, etc.
Everyday expressions were all integrated within rituals
that marked significant moments in a community’s life,
like
- planting and harvesting,
- rites of passage,
- funerary ceremonies,
- weddings, among others
Aside from the communal functionality of indigenous
art, creative forms such as
- pottery
- weaving
- carving
- metalwork
- and jewelry
also embodied aesthetic, technological, and ritual values
that exist in various forms with the present
“hunter-gatherers”
- Our ancestors, just like all others in the world during
those time
“pre-colonial Filipinos” were hunter-gatherers
- Before there were cities and large monuments, they
hunted food and game that were shared among
members of a community in a gathering where they
told stories about the hunt.
Filipino hunter-gatherers imitated the movement of
animals and prey, and the sounds that they made. In this
simple activity alone evolved ritual, music, dance,
theater, literature.
• Ritual
- Performed by Filipino hunter-gatherers through
hunting and praying to be endowed with the strength of
the animal that they hunted.
- when they partitioned what they hunted and gathered
and feasted on the fish that they caught or the pig that
they slew, this too was a form of ritual.
• Literature
- started when they told stories about the hunt by the
form of oral storytelling
- in time, they would learn to devise an alphabet and
write these stories down.
• Theater or play acting
- started when they imitated the movements of the
animals that they hunted
• Music and Dance
- started when they learned to add drum beating and
attach a rhythm to their movements
RITUAL
Cañao or Kanyaw
- a similar ritual that was found in the Cordillera
Autonomous Region
- officiated by a Shaman or Mumbaki
- involves animal sacrifice, where the entrails are read
through a process of divination that is performed
either for healing, or to announce the birth of a child,
or a coming of age, during wakes, weddings, burial
ceremonies
Kashawing
- a ritual in lake Lanao in Mindanao
- this ritual is to ensure abundance during rice planting
and harvesting is still observed and performed
- involves a reenactment of the pact made by the
ancestors of the community and the unseen spirits
that inhabit the lake
• Tagbanwa
- in Palawan, they believe that every thirteenth moon,
three goddesses descend from heaven to bless the
planting of rice
- the tagbanwa shamans go into a trance amidst ritual
chanting and dancing and are believed to be to be
taken over by the goddesses themselves.
MUSICAL CULTURE
- the pre-colonial people of the Philippines already
possessed a varied and vibrant musical culture long
before the coming of the Spaniards
- through the existence of ethnic musical instruments
such as pipes, flutes, zithers, drums, various string
instruments like
• kudyapi - a three-stringed guitar,
• the kulintang - an array of bossed gongs
• the gansa or flat gong,
• bamboo percussion instruments, and
• the agong - a large bossed gong
- ethnic musical instruments are further complimented
by native dances forms whose movements often
imitated the movements of animals, humans, and
elements from nature.
• Pangalay – from the Sulu archipelago is mimetic of
the movement of seabirds
• Mandayas’kinabua
• Banog-banog – of the Higaonon and of the B’laan
communities
• Man-manok – from the Bagobos of Mindanao
imitate the movements of predatory birds
• Talip dance – used in courtship and is mimetic of the
movements of wild fowls
• Inamong – of the Matigsalugs represent the comedic
movements of monkeys
• Kadaliwas danca – of the T’bolis represent the
comedic movements of monkeys
• Tinikling – a popular Tagalog folk dance often
showcase for tourists, is evocative of the
movements of the crane, balancing itself on slitlike legs or flitting away from the clutches of
bamboo traps.
CARVING
- Pre-colonial Filipinos have been making images
before colonization. This is exemplified by the
country’s rich tradition in carving.
• Bulul – carved by the people of Cordillera, regarded as
a granary god that plays an important role in rituals
• Anthropomorphic bulul – also appears in containers,
bowls, and spoons
• Hagabi – a wooden bench produced by Ifugaos that
marks the socioeconomic status of the owner
• Santos or sculptures of saints as well as other wooden
sculptures of secular or non-religious orientation – are
carved by Christianized communities in Laguna and
Pampanga
• Paete, Laguna – is recognized for its carving tradition
• Betis, Pampanga – remains active today despite the
many challenges posed to contemporary practice.
• Okir
– curvilinear decorations in the Southern Philippines
(termed ukkil in Tausug/Samal/Badjao) are employed
in wooden carving
– Sensuous figures are sometimes painted in primary
colors follow the basic designs of the mythical
sarimanok, the naga or serpent, and the pako
rabong or fern
– Elaborare okir designs can also be found in the
panolon or protruding beams of sultan’s house called
the torogan.
– The ubiquity of okir is evident in its diverse
applications, from ornamentation in musical
instruments and sheaths; to grave markers called
sunduk, as well as marking for ceremonial boats
Some of the ancient forms are made out of terracotta.
• Manuggul Jar
– discovered at Manunggul Cave, Lippun Point, Palawan
is dated to the late Neolithic Period (890-710 BC).
– It is a secondary burial vessel, where buried and
exhumed bones are placed
– Glazed with reddish hematite and incised with
curvilinear designs, it has two anthropomorphic or
human forms atop the lid: a boatman paddling to
transport his deceased charge, whose journey through
water is interpreted as a metaphor of travel to the
afterlife
– Another type of anthropomorphic burial jars was
produced during the Metal Age (5 BC-225 AD). It
was found in Ayub Cave in Maitum, Saranggani
province. The human figure is more pronounced in
these jars, with the lid taking the form of a head and
the base, its body
• Palayok
– other forms of pottery that remain in use for cooking
• Banga and Tapayan
– containers for fermenting food or keeping liquids
• Pagbuburnay
– traditional in Vigan thrives and is currently valued in
Ilocos as part of its creative industry.
WEAVING
– another cherished tradition
– according to Respicio, textile weaving has a long
history that the Philippine ethnolinguistic groups have a
rich textile weaving tradition.
– textiles are not only functional; they also impart
knowledge about people’s belief systems:
• the reverence for spirits and nature,
• criteria for the beautiful, and
• their societies ‘sociopolitical structures.
in Tradition Weaving, the
– fibers are gathered from plants like
• cotton, abaca, and pineapple leaves
– while the pigments are extracted from
• clay, roots, and leaves of plants.
Backstrap Loom or pedal loom
– is used to weave designs that hold special meaning for
a particular cultural group.
Examples of woven textiles include:
• pis siyabit – a headpiece woven by the Tausug of Sulu
• malong – with exquisite tapestry panels called langkit
woven by the Maranao of Lanao del Sur
Aside from textiles, other forms of weaving include mat
and basket weaving.
• Tepo mat – double-layered mat of the Sama of TawiTawi made of pandan leaves is a remarkable example
of a mundane or everyday object with high artistic value
• Ovaloid baskets – made of nito and bamboo in
Itbayat, Batanes used as head sling to carry harvests
Weaving techniques – are also applied in creating tools
for agricultural purposes
• Bubo – fish traps woven from sturdy bamboo strips in
the Ilocos region
ORNAMENTATION
– The tendency toward ornamentation could also be seen
in the way early Filipinos adorned their bodies.
– in the 16th century, the illustrated manuscript the boxer
codex featured representations of various ethnolinguistic
groups.
– an upper class Tagalog couple was portrayed wearing
gold jewelry while the Visayans are shown fully covered
in tattoo, corroborating early accounts that referred to the
visayans as “Islas de los Pintados”
– aside from static function, tattoos were valued because
it was believed to protect the individual from evil spirits,
and in some cases, it was considered as a badge of
maturity and bravery
– shared by other regions in Southeast Asia and New
Zealand, other Philippine ethnolinguistic groups which
practiced tattooing include the Kalinga, Knakanay,
Ibaloy, and Ifugao
– Aside from bodily inscriptions, jewelry is also
believed to make the wearer more attractive to the
opposite sex in as much as it is considered pleasing to
the gods
– the T’boli in particular are known to wear brass chains,
bells, and colorful beads to complete their elaborate
ensemble.
JEWELRY
– As with jewelry, painstaking attention to detail is
manifested in metalwork, such as the lotoans or betel
nut boxes of various shapes, made of brass or bronze
produced chiefly by the Maranao of Lanao del Sur.
– Textured designs of rhombuses, spirals, circles, and
tendrils swarm over exterior of functional containers.
– the design is achieved through a special technique of
metal casting called the lost wax or cire perdue process
which involves the use of moulds filled with liquefied
metal that eventually hardens.
– the removal of the mold reveals the design in relief.
– other vessels that employ the same techniques are the
brass kendi and the gadur, which are used in ceremonies
and our cherished status symbols or as heirloom pieces.
Kendi – is a vessel used for pouring liquids
– it has a round body with no handle;
Gadur – is a container with a tapered top, a round body,
and a flared base.
II. Islamic Colonial (13th century to the present)
HOW DID ISLAM INFLUENCE ART BEFORE
THE COMING OF SPANISH COLONIZERS?
- even before the coming of Spanish colonizers, Islam
was already well-entrenched in southern Philippines,
where it continues to be culturally dominant and
strong.
- Islam was said to have gained significant grounding
in solo as early as the 13th century.
- however it was in the arrival of Sayyid Abbubakar
of Arabia in the 15th century that led to a significant
turn of events.
Sayyid Abbubakar
- he married Princess Piramisuli, daughter of Rajah
Baguinda
- when is father-in-law died, Abubakar succeeded the
throne and established the Sultanate of Sulu.
Madrasa
- a religious school that facilitated the teaching of Arabic
writing in the 16th century introduced and built by
Abubakar aside from holy texts via the holy book of
Quran.
Islam
- Natives from Zamboanga and Yakans from Basilan
were converted to Islam, with teachers coming from
Jolo, Sulu, and other practitioners from nearby regions
like Brunei.
- as the Islamization process in Mindanao strengthened,
Islam became the driving force that enabled the natives
to resist centuries of Spanish colonization.
- Islam was embraced as a region and as a way of life by
the people of Mindanao, among them, the Tausug,
Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Samal, Badjao, to name
a few; as well as some areas in Palawan
WHAT ARE THE MAIN BELIEFS OF ISLAM
THAT INFLUENCE THE WAYS ART IS MADE
AND INTERPRETED?
- Filipino Muslims recognize that they belong to an
ummah or a community of believers.
Islamic faith
- is the doctrine of Tawhid or unity of God.
- This belief emphasizes the impermanence of nature and
the incomprehensible greatness of the divine being.
According to Prof. Abraham Sakili, we can then relate
this with two aspects of reality.
- one is the object perceived by the ordinary sense,
- while the other is the sense of nothingness.
nothingness - a space or a void empty of all things; to
evoke that God is above and beyond all things
Tawhid
- In Islamic art, we can observe how artists are
influenced the notion of the Tawhid.
- considering the goal of negating materiality, we will
find that the interior of most mosques are covered with
elaborate patterning in the form of relies to draw the
attention away from the concrete object, in other words,
away from human forms and nature “toward the
contemplation of the divine”.
- unlike other religious traditions which make use of
icons, in Islam, divine unity is expressed through
abstract forms and patterns that will build the believer to
engage in mental concentration
How Philippine Muslims organize space and architecture
is also telling of their adherence to the Tawhid and other
Isalamic beliefs.
- for example, parts of the mosque like the mihrab or
niche and the Quibla wall are oriented toward the west –
may it be in Sultan Kudarat or in Quiapo, Manila – in
order to fulfill the requirement that all Islamic buildings
must be oriented toward Mecca as an expression of
oneness with the larger Islamic community.
- For it is in Mecca where we find the Great Mosque of
Mecca and its bulbous dome, which is a characteristic of
Islamic architecture
- the dome tells us about how the order of the universe is
imaged. As the central feature of the Mosque, the dome
related to “all levels of cosmic existence,”
• The Octagonal base symbolizes the spirit,
• while the our-sided main base refers to the earth or
material world.
Ka’bah
- In the courtyard
- a black shrine believed to be built by the Prophet
Muhammad himself. It is the most revered Muslim
architecture which serves as a reference point for Qiblah
Qiblah
- the direction that should be faced when a Muslim
prays.
An area for water supply, like fountain
- serves the function of ablution, or cleansing before one
enters the sacred space of the Mosque.
Gardens within the Mosque compound or even outside
homes are evocative of paradise
- while Islam continues to shape the Philippine Muslims,
the influence of folk (non-Muslim) and indigenous
practices previously discussed persists as well.
- although Islam rejects the direct copying of images in
nature, it is apparent in the curvilinear and flowing forms
of ukkil/okir that artists take inspiration of it nonetheless
- an example is the luhul or canopy which may feature
motifs from the tree of life.
- the forms however, are so repetitive and elaborate that
they seem to distract us from the actual natural elements
from which they were derived
ukkil/okir decorations
- can be found in Tausug and Sama houses, traditional
boats, weapons, sunduk or gravemarkers, musical
instruments, and in textiles
- Sakili observed that many of the Islamic forms are
inclined to project, grow, or have an upward orientation,
in tune with the regard for heaven and to veer from the
“material earth”
- we can see this upward rendition of design elements in
the panalong, an elaborately carved protrusion akin to a
wing attached to the torongan or the royal house of the
Maranao. Aside from the mythical sarimanok, the
burraq, a horse with the head of a woman, is also an
important figure believed to carry the Prophet in his
ascension to heaven.
III. Spanish Colonial Period (1521-1898)
WHAT KINDS OF ART WERE DEVELOPED
DURING SPANISH COLONIZATION?
While the south remained resistant to Spanish
colonization, the colonizers gained inroads in the central
part of the islands whose inhabitants we now refer to as
“Lowland Christians.” Art that flourished during the
Spanish colonial period conformed to the demands of the
church and the colonial state. Religious orders were
dispatched to convert the natives to Catholicism as part
of the larger project of colonization. The art forms that
the period are referred to stylistically and culturally as
religious art, lowland Christian art, or folk art.
To carry out the project of colonization and
Christianization, the natives were forcibly resettled in
towns structured according to the Plaza complex. This
relocating give a means of organizing and gaining
control of the native populace. The complex was
designated as the town center and consisted of the
municipio or the local government office and the church.
Designed according to the prescriptions of the Spanish
crown, the church established its importance in people’s
lives through its imposing scale and overall visual
appeal. During this period, cruciform churches following
the shape of the Latin cross were built. In keeping with
the prevailing design of Hispanic churches, the baroque
style was predominantly employed; they were
characterized in grandeur, drama, and elaborate details
that purposely appealed to the emotions. Examples of
baroque churches that have survived to this day are the
San Augustin Church in Manila, Morong Church in
Rizal, Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, and Sto. Tomas de
Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Ilo-ilo. Although the
designs are European-inspired, local interventions have
been employed in this order to suit native sensibilities
and adjust the local environment conditions. The façade
of Miag-ao Church features St. Christopher surrounded
by reliefs having tropical motifs like palm fronds and
papaya trees. The use of adobe, limestone, or brick and
the construction of thick buttresses or wing-like
projections reinforce the church structure to make it
more resistant to earthquakes. In other words, the result
is a fusion of both native and European elements,
promoting some art historians to refer to the style as
colonial baroque or Philippine tropical baroque.
Images of saints and interpretations narratives were
considered essential to worship. Under the strict watch
and patronage of the church, images were produced
through painting, scooting, and engraving. The friars
brought with them western models for local artists to
copy. Made of ivory or wood, the imagery of the santo
would be based on classical and baroque models. During
the 17th century, Chinese artisans, under Spanish
supervision were engaged in making icons or saints or
santos (in the vernacular) in wood and ivory; builfinf
churches and houses; as well as making furniture. They
were spread throughout centers of creative production
such as cebu, batangas, manila, and ilocos. Their
involvement resulted in works that drew upon Chinese
features and techniques. An example is a painting of
nuestra senora del Rosario in bohol, the image of which
was said to be inspired from Kuayin, the deity of mercy
in East Asia Buddhism.
The greek and roman classical influence can be seen in
the proportion employed as well as the formality of
expression while the trace of the baroque is evident in
the expressive and emotional characteristics of the santo.
In colonial churches, santos are displayed in a
decorative altar niche called the retablo.
Featuring the town’s patron saint, the retablo integrates
architecture and sculpture and is often embellished with
rosettes, scrolls, pediments and solomonic columns
which may be gilded or polychromed. The Via Crucis is
an important inclusion in colonial churches which are
presented either as a series of 14 paintings or relief
sculptures depicting Christ’s crucifixion and
resurrection. Images of the Holy Family, Virgin Mary,
and the four evangelists proliferate in the ceilings and
walls of the church, sometimes in the ornate manner of
trompe l’oeil as seen at the Taal Basilica in Batangas or
at the St. James the Apostle Parish in Betis, Pampanga.
(Tromp l’oeil is French for “fooling the eye.” It refers to
paintings that give a heightened illusion of threedimensionality.) Church altars are sometimes decorated
with carved figurative protrusions on the surface called
relleves; or with the organic designs of hammered silver
or the plateria. The plateria technique is also applied in
the body of the carroza, where the santos are paraded
during town processions.
With the coming of the Spaniards, who brought western
musical instruments like the pipe organ, the violin, the
guitar, and the piano, Philippine musical forms also took
on a very European flavor – with new rhythms,
melodies, and musical forms, that Filipinos proceeded to
adopt them and make their own. Catholic liturgical
music was introduced in 1742 when the then Archbishop
of Manila, Juan Rodriquez Angel, established a signing
school at the Manila Cathedral that taught western
church music. Its curriculum was patterned after that of
the Madrid Conservatory of Music. The Santo Domingo
and San Agustin convents would soon teach choral
music to young boys and would soon create Filipino
composers like Marcelo Adonay (1848-1928). Outside
of manila, a musical form based on the Catholic faith
would emerge in the pasyon or pagbasa as it is
sometimes called – or the biblical narration of Christ’s
passion chanted in an improvised melody. It is a
tradition that has survived to this day. Atonal and
repetitive, the melody is sometimes read and chanted to
the tune of love songs popular with younger readers who
would otherwise spark up this activity in other ways as
this could last for the entire length of the Holy Week.
This practice is evident in areas like Sampaloc, a
contemporary neighborhood of the city of Manila.
Among the lowland Christian communities of
Pampanga, Ilocos, Bicol, and Iloilo, secular music forms
such as the awit and the corrido soon flourished. These
were musical forms that were chanted stories based on
European literature and history and were popular even
among the peasantry who learned the verses purely by
rote. At this time, the kundiman and the balitao, balitaosentimental love songs and lullabies also evolved.
During the latter half of the 19th century when
revolutionary sentiments began to develop, the
kundiman which usually spoke of resignation and
fatalism, became a vehicle for resistance. For all intents
and purposes, the lyrics were that of unrequited love,
except that the love object was the Philippines who
would be cleverly concealed as a beautiful woman. This
is demonstrated in such songs as Kundiman ni Abdon
(Abdon’s love song), a kundiman which became a
feature of protest actions against Martial Law during the
seventies, and the still popular Bayan Ko (My Country),
a kundiman which experienced renewed during the
EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986.
Among Mangyans who inhabit the islands province of
Mindoro, bamboo poles are cut into smaller nodes and
are etched with Baybayin script used to compose short
poems that tell o courtship and other emotional
concerns. In the town of Ticao, located in southern
province of Leyte, a hue stone was discovered that
contained Baybayin writing be an invocation for a safe
journey by sea. They may not have chronicled a precolonial history, but they do however, provide evidence
of the presence of pre-colonial writing system. Spanish
colonization brought with it printing technology. Printed
literature came in the form of catechism and prayer
books in Spanish that were used not only to teach the
local inhabitants to read and write, but more so to
evangele.
Local theater forms would develop earlier than literary
fiction. The shamanistic rituals, dances, and chants of
pre-colonial Philippines which were probably the earliest
forms of theater; were replaced by the pomp and
pageantry of religious processions that were introduced
by the Spanish colonizers, complete with highly
embellished carrozas containing religious tableaus of
catholic saints and scenes from the Bible. During the 19th
century, a popular form of musical theater was imported
from Spain. The Zarzuela or sarsuwela was an operetta
which features singing and dancing interspersed with
prose dialogue which allowed the story to be carried out
in a song. The first zarzuelas that were staged in the
Philippines were entirely in Spanish and featured in a
European cast. Local playwrights later wrote librettos in
the local language, hence the term sarsuwela. Severino
Reyes and Hermogenes Ilagan, who wrote sarsuwelas in
Tagalog were the most distinguished playwrights of their
day with Honorata’Atang’dela Rama (National Artist for
theater and Music, awarded 1987) as their most
celebrated leading actress.
The fist senakulo or Passion play was written in 1704 by
Gaspar Aquino de Belen. Its narrative was culled
entirely from the biblical account of Christ’s passion and
death on the cross, adapted into verse form and
translated into the local language. It is performed during
Lent and in some cases, may last for three days. In some
areas, the senakulo was tweaked to convey Christ’s
suffering as a metaphor for the suffering of Filipinos
under Spanish colonial rule.
The komedya is another local theater form that emerged
during this period. The komedya depicts the conflict
between the Muslims and Christians. There were two
main types of komedya. One type was the komedya de
santo or religious komedya. It centers on the life of
Christ or any saint. It usually seen during church
celebrations. The actors move in a stylized way, have
extravagant costumes and elaborately choreographed
war scenes. Another type is the secular komedya. The
moro-moro is a type of secular komedya. The word
‘moro’ is derived from the Spanish word for Moor or the
North African Arabs who rules parts of Spain from the
eighth to the 15th century. A typical moro-moro story
would usually involve a love story between a Christian
hero and an Islamic heroine or vice versa. Dialog would
be done in verse, in the vernacular language, and clashes
between Christians and Muslims were done in dance,
ultimately resulting in the conversion and baptism of the
leading Muslim character, and ending with a Christian
wedding and the protagonists living happily ever after.
Today, there are several groups that still perform both
the komedya and the senakulo in many parts of the
country. In the municipality of Santa Ana in Metro
Manila and in San Dionisio, Paranaque for instance,
there are several families and barangay (village)
members who align themselves with the local parish
church to stage a senakulo and komedya respectively. In
both these sites, the scripts of these theatrical art forms
are handed down to children or to apprentices who
normally take on the task of performing as a form of
panata or devotion to the church. Costumes are
sponsored by affluent families also as a form of devotion
and in the hope that their children will form part of the
cast, as performing is considered not only a privilege but
a display of social status in their community. In many
towns in the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac, the
senakulo is not only performed in either Kapampangan
or Ilocano, but a full staging of the crucifixion is
enacted. Devotees are actually nailed to a cross as a form
of penance. This yearly event has not only become a
theatrical spectacle, it is also a major tourist and media
attraction. In Nueva Ecija, the senakulo is called araguio
or arakyo and is performed all throughout the seven days
of holy week. In Iligan, the Comedia de San Miguel is
still very much performed as San Miguel or Saint
Michael is the patron saint of the city.
Centuries of the galleon trade between Mexico and the
Philippines also served not only as a means of
governance for Spain. The trade and the viceroyalty
arrangement also brought Mexican influences in the
Philippines folk music and dance. Folk dances such as
the cariñosa, pandanggo or fandango, polka, dansa and
the rigodon carry traces of the habañera, jota, and tango
dances from Spain and its colonies. During the
American period, western ballet would also find its way
to the Philippines.
In the visual arts, painting served an instructive function
through visual interpretation of biblical texts central to
Catholic devotion. An example is Heaven, Earth, and
Hell (1850), a mural by Jose Dans in Paete Church,
Laguna. A map of the universe features a terrifying
depiction of hell. The painting seems to warn that a
sinful life on earth would lead to torment and eternal
damnation. In another part of the church, we see two
versions of San Cristobal. The more restrained depiction
of the saint was painted on a woven panel. It was
discovered later on that this version concealed an earlier
work of the same subject, painted directly on the wall
(fresco). In this version the saint appears more native
looking and ordinary. Prof. Brenda Fajardo proposed
that the friars might have disapproved the fresco so it
was covered with a more acceptable portrayal of the
saint. The above example illustrates how representation
in painting can also be indicative of power relations.
Image making during the period generally conformed to
the preferences of the patrons and not just solely the
interest and preference of the artist’s. such relations are
at work is the Basi Revolt, a series of 14 paintings by
Esteban Villanueva. It chronicles the defeat of Ilocanos
who rebelled against the Spanish government’s
monopoly of basi or rice wine in 1821. Commissioned
by the Spanish government, the paintings illustrate the
bloody consequences of insurgent actions, an overt
reminder of the might of Spain over its colony.
Nonetheless, although patronage strongly influences art
production, we will see in the course of this lesson how
artists have exercised their subjectivity to initiate change
in various ways in order to transcend the limitations
posed by the patronage system.
The reprographic art of printmaking was introduced in
the Philippines as early as the 16th century. Applying the
technique of xylography or woodcut printing, Doctrina
Christiana (The Teachings of Christianity) was printing
in 1593 in Spanish and in Tagalog by Dominican priests.
Doctrina is the first printed book in the Philippines
compiling song lyrics, commandments, sacraments, and
other catechetical material. Aside from prayer booklets
called estampas and its smaller counterpart estampitas,
printmaking, particularly engraving, was developed to
produce secular or non-religious works. During the
period, the Spanish crown commissioned scientists and
artists to produce maps and other sources of
classification. Surely, it was a means of gaining more
information about the colony and engaging in the
production of knowledge in the age of expedition.
Although religious art predominated during the Spanish
colonial period, some of the other best forms of art that
flourished were non-religious or secular. In 1734, the
Jesus priest Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde collaborated with
homegrown talents, the artist Francisco Suarez and
engraver Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay to produce Carta
Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas
Filipinas, the first scientific map of the Philippines.
Surrounding the map are vignettes of everyday life that
focus on different “types” of people and their
surroundings called tipos del pais. Suarez and de la Cruz
Bagay were among the first to acknowledge their roles
as artists by signing their names at the bottom of the
map. Other known engravers include Laureano Atlas and
Felipe Sevilla, who also produced religious images.
On the other hand, the development of lithography
facilitated the reproduction of color plates as well as the
mass printing of newspapers and periodicals. The
Augustinian Botanist Fr. Manuel Blanco produced an
extensive compilation of the Philippine plants in Flora
de Filipinas in 1878. Covered with exquisite leather, the
contents consist of lithographic reproductions of
remarkable watercolor illustrations by Filipino artists,
and these images are as scientific as they are aesthetic.
The opening of Manila to international trade in 1834,
and of the Suez Canal in 1869 gained economic benefits
for the native elites. The enlivened trade and commercial
ventures also presented to them the opportunity to study
in Europe. From this class rose the ilustrado or the
“enlightened” ones. With the emergence of the native
elites as new art patrons, secular themes in art were
explored and developed. Although this is the case,
religious expressions persisted both within and beyond
the confines of the church. In church, the development of
music was largely attributed to the efforts of Pakil-born
Marcelo Adonay who was recognized for his
compositions based on the western tradition of
Gregorian chants. In the domestic realm, families tended
to their altars comprised of delicate santos palced in a
viriña, a bell-shaped glass case; or urna, a humbler,
domestic version of a retablo, oftem attributed to the
craftsmanship of artists from the Visayan region.
The rise of this new elite would also manifest in town
organization. Among those that occupied the plaza
complex were the bahay na bato which housed rich and
prominent families. Filling up the spacious interiors
were commissioned portrait paintings in the miniaturist
style that allowed the artist to reveal meticulous details
that signify the wealth and refinement of the sitter, or the
one who is posing for the portrait. Simon Flores’s
painting Portrait of the Quiazon Family, 1800
documents the family’s affluence: the magnificent
interior of the family’s home, the mother’s jewelry, the
delicate fabric and embroidery of their clothing, and
their dignified poses. Other renowned miniature painters
include Antonio Malantic, Isidro Arceo, Dionisio de
Castro, and Justiniano Asunction who also rendered
portraits of individuals. Attention to detail in painting
can also be observed in Letras y Figuras. Combining
names of individuals and vignettes of everyday life, this
painting style became popular when Filipino natives
acquired Spanish names in compliance with a decree
implemented in 1884. Jose Honorato Lozano was a
practitioner of this art where the tipos del pais are
painstakingly rendered within the graphic outline of
letters spelling out the name of a person or family in
watercolor on paper. A closer look reveals scenes
depicting the person’s specific circumstances such as the
family’s trade or business. Meanwhile the plaza,
landscapes, or seascapes fill the background.
Aside from miniaturist painters, academic painters
gained ground as they received their art studies in local
schools, or abroad as in the case of Juan Luna and Felix
Hidalgo. In 1821, Damian Domingo, the painter known
for his watercolor albums of tipos del pais established
the first art school in the country right at his studio in
Binondo, Manila. The Academia de Dibujo was
eventually absorbed by the school put up by the Real
Sociedad Economica Filipina de Amigos del Pais where
Domingo served as director. Closing down in 1834 after
Domingo’s death, the school was reopened in the 1850s.
The professors were predominantly Spanish-born
residents of the Philippines. They championed European
academic styles in painting. Some of the latter’s features
would include the use of large panels, the adoption of
mythological themes and historical scenes, and the
application of chiaroscuro or the play of light and dark
and the contrast between them to heighten the
composition’s sense of drama. On the other hand,
landscapes, still life, and genre remained popular
choices. The Academia-trained Lorenzo Guerrero
painted the Water Carrier, which exemplifies the use of
chiaroscuro in genre of the late 19th century. The
Pampanga-born Simon Flores also produced genre
scenes. A distinct example is the painting, Primeras
Letras, 1890, which features a woman teaching a child
how to fucking read.
In 1884, the expatriates Juan Luna and Felix
Resurrection Hidalgo won medals in the Madrid
Exposition. Luna won gold for Spoliarium; while
Hidalgo garnered a silver medal for Virgenes
Christianas Expuestas Al Populancho. Both works
testify to Filipino artistic excellence which proved to be
at par with the standards set by the European academy.
We recall Jose Rizal’s brindis or toast before a group of
ilustrados lauding the efforts of the two artists,
articulating one of his famous sayings, “genius knows no
country.” It was during this occasion that Rizal spoke of
the importance of the paintings as the propagandists
campaigned for reforms in the Philippines. Large in
scale and grandiose in effect, the significance of both
paintings lies not only in the prestige these gained but
also in the relay of meanings these continue to generate.
Luna’s depiction of a lifeless body of a gladiator being
pulled across the coliseum and Hidalgo’s emphasis on a
woman held captive have been interpreted as searing
reminders of the Philippines’ oppression under Spanish
rule. Luna’s alignment with the ilustrados’ Propaganda
Movement is evident in the painting Esapaña y
Filipinas, 1886 featuring two women ascending a flight
of stairs. Personified by a woman in a flowing red gown,
Mother Spain patronizingly leads her charge, a petite
brown-skinned woman representing Filipinas, the duo
presumably making their way toward the part of
enlightenment. These important works have been
repatriated to Philippine museums. The Spoliarium may
be viewed at the National Art Gallery of the Philippines
and Esapaña y Filipinas at the Lopez Museum.
Virgenes, currently on long-term loan to the National
Art Gallery in Singapore, is a part of the Metropolitan
Museum or MET Collection.
IV. American Colonial Period (1898-1940) to the
Postwar Republic (1946-1969)
Major Art Movements
The independence that the Philippines gained after the
revolution of 1896 was cut short with the establishment
of the American colonial government in the Philippines.
Bound by the Treaty of Paris in 1898, Spain
"surrendered" the Philippines to the United States. From
1899 to 1913, the bloody Philippine-American war
occurred, claiming the lives of many Filipinos.
Beginning with the institution of government and
education systems, the new colonial government took
charge of initiating the natives into the American way of
life, creating a lasting influence on Filipino culture.
WHERE WERE THE CHANGES BROUGHT BY
AMERICAN COLONIZATION? HOW ARE THEY
DIFFERENT FROM THE RELIGIOUS FORMS OF
THE SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD?
With the coming of the Americans, Filipino playwrights
who had just undergone the Philippine Revolution of
1898 against Spain now found themselves confronted by
censorship with the issuance of the Sedition Law which
banned the writing, printing, and publication of materials
advocating Philippine independence, and engaging in
activities which championed this cause. Plays such as
Juan Abad's Tanikalang Guinto or "Golden Chain,"
1902 Juan Matapang Cruz's Hindi ako Patay or "I Am
Not Dead," 1903 and Aurelio Tolentino's Kahapon,
Ngayon, at Bukas or "Yesterday, Today, and
Tomorrow," 1903 echoed not only the nationalist
sentiments of their playwrights but also served as
medium for political protest, openly attacking the
Americans. Known as drama simbolico, these one-act
plays came to represent a deep and profound yearning
for freedom.
Because the lingua franca of this period was English,
poems and stories from books were dramatized in
classroom, to facilitate the teaching of the English
language. Unlike the Spanish, the Americans zealously
taught their language through an efficient public school
system. In less than a decade, Filipino playwrights began
to write plays in English. In 1915, Lino Castillejo and
Jesus Araullo authored A Modern Filipina, the first
Filipino play written in English. To this day, English
plays from the classics to Broadway and West End
musicals are still staged in the Philippines and are
generally lucrative ventures.
Vaudeville, which originated from France, was another
form of theater which the Americans introduced that
became popular in the Philippines during the 1920s. This
motley collection of slapstick, songs, dances, acrobatics,
comedy skits, chorus girls, magic acts, and stand-up
comic acts would be known locally as bodabil. During
the Japanese occupation, players would poke fun at the
Japanese soldiers or send messages of hope disguised as
innuendos that only the local people could understand.
Some performances also conveyed hidden messages for
guerillas, a clever vehicle for information dissemination
through live entertainment. After the war, bodabil
performances deteriorated into vulgar shows and soon
died away, to be replaced by the popularity of film and
later, television.
In the beginning of the 20th century, a new urban pattern
that responded to the secular goals of education, health,
and governance was imposed. The architect and urban
planner Daniel Burnham was commissioned by the
American government to design Manila and Baguio,
while Architect William Parsons implemented the
Burnham Plan. Inspired by the City Beautiful
Movement introduced in 1893 at the Chicago World
Fair, the new urban design employed Neoclassic
architecture for its government edifices and integrated
parks and lawns to make the city attractive by making its
buildings impressive and places more inviting for leisure
amid urban blight. Buildings in Manila that exemplify
Neoclassic architecture include the Post Office and the
Legislative Building (now the National Art Gallery).
These are both monumental in scale and are iconically
distinguished by thick columns. Neoclassic architecture
may incorporate decorative sculptural elements housed
in a pediment, as exemplified by the National Art
Gallery. Tomas Mapua, Juan Arellano, Andres Luna de
San Pedro, and Antonio Toledo were among the Filipino
architects who designed buildings during the period.
They received training in the US or in Europe.
The new patrons of the arts included the Americans who
engaged in governance and education, business, or
tourism. The demand for artists who could do
illustrations in textbooks or graphic design for product
labels thus emerged. The inclination toward genre, still
life, and portrait paintings persisted. Landscapes on the
other hand, became cherished as travel souvenirs,
especially those that captured the exotic qualities of
Philippine terrain. In 1909, a year after the establishment
of the University of the Philippines, its School of Fine
Arts was opened. It also offered a course on commercial
design to fulfill the aforementioned demand. Fabian de
la Rosa succeeded the peninsulares Rafael Enriquez as
director. Peninsulares is a term used particularly during
the colonial period to refer to Spanish-born residents of
the Philippines. De la Rosa was known for his naturalist
paintings characterized by restraint and formality in
brushwork, choice of somber colors, and subject matter,
as seen in the works Planting Rice, 1921 and El
Kundiman, 1930. National Artist Fernando Amorsolo
on the other hand, was known for his romantic paintings
that captured the warm glow of the Philippine sunlight.
A prolific artist, Amorsolo had produced numerous
portraits of prominent individuals; genre scenes
highlighting the beauty of the dalagang Filipina, idyllic
landscapes; and historical paintings. He was also a
graphic artist who rendered drawings for the textbook
series The Philippine Readers as well as illustrations
for the newspaper The Independent. Amorsolo's logo
design for Ginebra San Miguel, depicting the saint
trampling on a devil, won for him a grant that enabled
him to study Fine Arts in Spain.
During Amorsolo's term as professor at the UP School of
Fine Arts, he gained a following among his peers.
Among those influenced by the "Amorsolo School" were
Irineo Miranda, Toribio Herrera, Cesar Buenaventura,
and Dominador Castañeda. Amorsolo was posthumously
declared National Artist in 1972. Guillermo Tolentino
was Amorsolo's counterpart in sculpture. He studied
Fine Arts in Rome and was influenced by its classical
tradition. He is credited for the iconic Oblation (1935,
original/1958, bronze cast found at the UP Oblation
plaza) of the University of the Philippines and the
Bonifacio Monument, 1933 in Caloocan. A sculpture in
the round, the latter consists of life-sized figures in
dynamic poses, exemplifying restraint, formality, and
elegance in an historical tableau. Tolentino was
proclaimed National Artist in 1973.
For some time, the academic (a term referring to the kind
of art that was influenced by European academies)
tradition of painting and sculpture in the manner of
Amorsolo and Tolentino prevailed in the art scene. This
would be challenged by the return of National Artist
Victorio Edades from his art studies in the United States,
where its modern art movement profoundly influenced
him. His homecoming exhibition in 1928 at the
Philippine Columbian Club unveiled paintings which
departed from the conservative style of Amorsolo.
Unlike the latter's pastoral images, Edades's The
Builders, 1928 showed distorted figures of toiling
workers using dull colors; a shift in the treatment of
form and subject matter. This sparked a debate between
artists espousing the conservative idiom, the camp
headed by Tolentino and that of Edades. In sculpture, a
later proponent of Modern Art was Tolentino's student
National Artist Napoleon Abueva, a sculptor who has
worked with a wide variety of mediums, from hardwood
to precious alabaster.
Modern Art and Its Challenge to Academic Art
WHAT IS MODERN ART?
In Lesson 1, we learned that Modern Art is different
from Contemporary Art, especially in terms of history
and styles. As earlier discussed, the most well-known
proponent of Modern Art in painting was Victorio
Edades, whose works were initially rejected and
misunderstood. Later, Edades's modernist sensibility was
shared by several artists, among them, National Artist
Carlos "Botong" V. Francisco and Galo Ocampo.
"Botong" Francisco is known for his magisterial murals,
particularly, Filipino Struggles Through History 1964,
one of the largest and most ambitious in scope, which he
did for the Manila City Hall. Ocampo, on the other hand,
is recognized for indigenizing western icons, as seen in
his Brown Madonna 1938 which sets the mother and
child in a native, tropical environment. Edades,
Francisco, and Ocampo have been regarded as the
"triumvirate" of modern art after having worked on
several murals together. A collaborative work that
survives to this day is Nature's Bounty, (ca. 1935)
which portrays a group of women harvesting fruits in a
field. At the center of the painting is a papaya tree and
heavenly beings hovering from above. In this painting,
we can discern how the artists integrated folk subject
matter with a style that draws on Modern Art. The
linearity of the figures, the sensuous curves, and the
flatness of the composition closely link it with the spirit
of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, popular styles at that time
which also found expression in architecture. An example
of Art Deco architecture is Juan Arellano's
Metropolitan Theater in Manila (1935).
Right before the war, Edades publicized a roster of
artists who, in his view, had modernist leanings. He
called them the Thirteen Moderns, which included
himself, Arsenio Capili, Bonifacio Cristobal, Demetrio
Diego, National Artist Carlos Francisco, National Artist
Cesar Legaspi, Diosdado Lorenzo, Anita Magsaysay-Ho,
Galo Ocampo, National Artist Hernando R. Ocampo,
Jose Pardo, and Ricarte Purugganan. These artists
explored various mediums, techniques, and themes that
were at that time considered "new" and even "shocking"
to those. who were more used to images that are closer
to how they looked like in reality. These audiences
found it difficult to understand the Thirteen Moderns'
tendency toward distortion, exaggeration, abstraction,
and their personal use of color, shapes, textures and
other expressive elements to be discussed in Unit 2.
Japanese Occupation (1941-1945)
However, under the Japanese Occupation of Manila the
Modern Art project would slow down in pace. Early
moderns and conservatives alike continued to produce
art and even participated in KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa
Paglilingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas) sponsored art
competitions. In 1943 and 1944, Purugganan and
Francisco won KALIBAPI awards, respectively.
Nevertheless, art production once again tilted to fulfill
the agenda and demands of the new colonial order. The
Japanese forces led the formation of the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a propaganda movement that
sought to create a Pan-Asian identity that rejected
Western traditions. Slogans such as "Asia for Asians"
made its way to the public through posters, ephemera,
comics, and Japanese sponsored publications such as
Shin-Seiki, and in newspapers and magazines such as
Liwayway and Tribune. The production of images,
texts, and music underwent scrutiny. Expressions
deemed subversive or anti-Japanese led to torturous
consequences, even death. Regulating the information
campaign was the Japanese Information Bureau or
Hodobu, which employed local artists and cultural
workers. In music, the composer National Artist Felipe
P. de Leon was said to have been "commanded at the
point of the gun" to write Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong
Pilipinas. Declared as the anthem specifically for the
period, it conveyed allegiance to the nation reared in
East Asia, where Japan was actively asserting its
political power.
If art was strictly policed during the Second World War,
it brings us little surprise that Amorsolo's paintings,
many of which showed little or no indication of war's
atrocities, continued to be favored. Examples include
Harvest Scene, 1942 and Rice Planting, 1942. These
are paintings that evoked a semblance of peace, idealized
work in the countryside, and promoted values of docile
industriousness. Such a mood is echoed by Sylvia La
Torre's hit song Sa Kabukiran, written in Tagalog in the
1940s by the acclaimed composer Levi Celerio (National
Artist for Music and Literature, awarded 1997). La
Torre's operatic singing along with an energetic tempo
offered an escape from the troubles of the war.
Commissioned portraits of high officials such as His
Excellency, Jorge B. Vargas, Chairman of the
Philippine Executive Commission, 1943 and
"Independence this Year," said His Excellency,
Premier Tojo, 1943 were also produced at this time.
Genre paintings were the most widely produced,
particularly those that presented a neutral relationship
between the Filipinos and the Japanese through works
that showed the normality of daily living. The colonizers
also preferred works that showed indigenous and precolonial traditions. Portraits representing different
ethnolinguistic groups were produced, and this is
exemplified by Crispin Lopez's Study of an Aeta, 1943.
Although scenes from the war were also made, the
imagery remained neutral, focusing rather on the
aesthetic qualities of ruin and disaster. Take Amorsolo's
Bombing of the Intendencia, 1942 and Ruins of the
Manila Cathedral, 1945 as examples, they draw
attention to the elegant handling of value in the billows
of smoke or the pile of ruins rather than the urgency of
the disaster itself. Works which depicted the horrors of
war such as Diosdado Lorenzo's Atrocities in Paco and
Dominador Castañeda's Doomed Family were painted
after 1945.
Neo-Realism, Abstraction and Other Modern Art
Styles
Alice Guillermo recounts how artists and writers
reflected about national identity as Filipinos were rising
from the ashes of war. This search entailed explorations
in subject matter, content, and form, as well as debates
between art for art's sake and art that exposed the "true
social conditions" of the period. Nevertheless, the period
looked promising for the development of modern art. A
group of artists who exemplified a new kind of
modernism emerged, and this was observed by the artistwriter E. Aguilar Cruz who named the movement NeoRealism. Using modernist figuration, many of these
artists explored folk themes and also crafted
commentaries on the urban condition and the effects of
the war. Manansala, Legaspi, and HR Ocampo were
among the National Artists associated with NeoRealism.
Manansala's The Beggars, 1952 consists of the image of
two women with emaciated bodies, their forlorn faces
set against a dark background capturing the dreariness of
poverty. Many of Manansala's paintings are
characterized by transparent cubism, a style marked by
the soft fragmentation of figures using transparent planes
instead of hard-edged ones, as exemplified in the
painting Tuba Drinkers, 1954, Legaspi's Gadgets II,
1949 depicts half-naked men almost engulfed in the
presence of machines. Their elongated limbs and
exaggerated muscles indicate the hardship of their labor;
their expressionless faces and repetitive actions rob them
of their humanity as they function like machines. Most
of Legaspi's figures in this period are distorted by his
elongating or making rotund forms in a well-ordered
composition, as seen in the painting Bar Girls, 1947.
HR Ocampo's The Contrast, 1940, discussed Lesson 1
is a distinct figurative work which exposes dire human
conditions amid the backdrop of modernity. Ocampo is
more recognized however, for his paintings that combine
geometric and biomorphic shapes with vibrant colors.
His painting Genesis, 1968, which puts together warmcolored shapes, became the basis of the stunning tapestry
hanging at the Main Theater or Bulwagang Nicanor
Abelardo of the CCP. Other artists identified with NeoRealism are Ramon Estella, Victor Oteyza, and Romeo
Tabuena.
Support institutions like the Art Association of the
Philippines (AAP) were established in 1948 under the
leadership of artist Purita Kalaw-Ledesma; while the
Philippine Art Gallery (PAG), which provided a venue
and laid out early programs for modern art, was put up in
1951 through the efforts of the artist-writer Lydia
Arguilla, and others. Also around this time, when there
was little support for the graphic arts, the printmaking
workshop of Manuel Rodriguez, Sr. was opened. Part of
AAP's initiative is to sponsor contests to encourage art
production. Its awardees include the Cebu-based
Martino Abellana for his work Job Was Also Man, and
Fernando Zobel's iconic painting Carroza. Both were
awarded by the AAP in 1953. Two years later, the rift
between the "conservatives" or those who subscribe to
the Amorsolo and Tolentino style of painting and the
"Moderns" led by Edades would resurface in the AAP
art competition as most of its winners had modernist
inclinations. Feeling that the judges' decisions were
biased, the artists who continued to practice in the
conservative tradition walked out as a form of protest
and exhibited their works on the streets. These artists
were eventually more popularly associated with their
studios lining the street of Mabini, Manila. Today, they
are also referred to as Mabini painters.
The 1950s also saw the construction of modern
architectural structures, particularly churches that
modified or veered away from traditional cruciform
designs. Within the UP Diliman campus, examples
include the Church of Holy Sacrifice, 1955 (to be
discussed in detail in Lesson 5) and the Church of the
Risen Lord, which both employed concrete as primary
material and experimented with rounded or parabolic
forms. Another remarkable example is the Chapel of St.
Joseph the Worker in Victorias, Negros, built by the
Czech-American architect Antonin Raymond. It features
a striking mural of Christ by the Filipino-American artist
Alfonso Ossorio. Referred to as the Angry Christ, the
mural delivers pictorial overload, filling up the walls and
ceiling of the altar space. Distinct from most Christfigures, the expressive use of color, the jagged angularity
of the rendering, and the use of flame-like motifs bring
to mind the visual ectacle of Bacolod's Masskara
festival. The church is a curious combination of modern
architecture with a minimalist character and modern
painting expressive of folk sensibilities.
Another strand of Modern Art that emerged more
definitively during the period was abstraction. This
generally consists of simplified forms, which avoided
mimetic (exact copy) representation. It is sometimes
referred to as non-representational or non-objective art
as it emphasized the relationships of line, color, and
space or the flatness of the canvas rather than an illusion
of three-dimensionality. Most of the early practitioners
inclined toward abstraction received training abroad or
were influenced by the growth of the said movement in
international circles. Solid geometric shapes and color
fields are seen in the works of Constancio Bernardo and
particular phases of Lee Aguinaldo's practice. The
abstract expressionist style that plays up the aspect of
spontaneity in the process of making is exemplified in
the works of National Artist Jose Joya with his thick and
often vigorous application of paint. Fernando Zobel's
paintings using used syringes to apply paint. This
allowed him to produce works that balanced produced
works that balanced the element of chance and restraint.
On the other hand, what was typical of Arturo Luz's
works is the use of stark linear elements, as seen in
Street Musicians, 1952 which pared down the figures
into lines and basic shapes. Nena Saguil who took her art
studies at the UP, in the United States, and in Spain, is
known for her canvases filled with circles and cell-like
forms. Earlier in her career, she did figurative works
with rotund features, such as in the painting
Cargadores, 1951.
V. 70s to Contemporary
HOW DID CONTEMPPORARY ARTISTS
INTERPRET THE INFLUENCES OF THE
“MODERNS” IN THE ‘70S?
Under the helm of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos
beginning in 1965, many cultural projects ensued amid
the backdrop of poverty and volatile social conditions.
Amidst claims of national chaos of emergency
proportions, Martial Law was declared on September 21,
1972. Under Martial Law, Marcos envisioned a New
Society or Bagong Lipunan, which worked toward the
rebirth of a long lost civilization, on one hand, and
aspiration to modernization and development, on the
other. This vision was propagated and implemented
through an art and culture program that combined the
fine arts, architecture, interior design, tourism,
convention city building (hotels, theaters, coliseums),
engineering, urban planning, health, among many others.
The discourse of rebirth can also be discerned in the
anthem or songs the regime sponsored and circulated
through the media and public education channels. The
optimism toward a new beginning was articulated for
example, in Levi Celerio and Felipe Padilla de Leon's
composition for the New Society titled Bagong
Pagsilang.
As index of progress, refinement, radical experiment,
national identity and love for country, art was circulated
through an intricate network of institutions that braided
the threads of the pre-modern, and vernacular, the
modern, and international. National pride was instilled
by invoking the pre-modern through murals, folk
festivals, and museums devoted to collecting and
displaying ethnographic artifacts and natural specimens,
among these key sites was the National Museum, which
was revitalized through Constitutional amendments.
The CCP as Shrine for the Arts
At the center of this arts and culture program was the
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the premier
bureaucratic entity through which art acquisition,
exhibition making, workshops, grants, and awards were
implemented. It was created on 25 June 1966 through
Executive Order 30 and inaugurated in 1969, the year
Marcos was elected to his second term as Philippine
President. Leandro Locsin, chief architect of Imelda
Marcos, designed the modernist cantilevered building
described as a cross between the vernacular bahay kubo
and art brut minimalist structures It stands like a shrine
to High Art on land reclaimed from historic Manila Bay.
Like the Marcos Monument, this structure presides over
and stands guard at the entrance of the CCP complex,
which consists of satellite structures with varying
functions: the Folk Arts Theater which became the
venue of the first Ms. Universe Pageant in the
Philippines in 1974; the state-of-the-art Philippine
International Convention Center (PICC) which housed
the 1976 IMF- World Bank Conference; the Tahanang
Filipino or Coconut Palace which was built in
anticipation of a papal visit; and the Manila Film Center
which was built to host the Manila International Film
Festival to ambitiously rival Cannes. Most of the
buildings employed concrete block-like forms indicative
of the Modern style while some buildings integrated
vernacular elements in conformity with the state's thrust
of reviving Filipino traditions. For example, the National
Arts Center in Mt. Makiling, designed by National Artist
Architect Leandro Locsin appropriated the style of
vernacular houses like the Ifugao fale; while the Coconut
Palace, designed by Architect Francisco Mañosa,
utilized indigenous building materials and fashioned the
roof to look like a salakot, a pointed hat used by farmers
in the field.
With the staunch support of Imelda Marcos, CCP
supported artists by providing venues and grants and
served as a validating entity that institutionalized major
awards like the National Artist Award. Moreover, the
CCP was propped up as the authority on modern art and
the enabler of the avant-garde. The large-scale project of
the composer and ethnomusicologist National Artist Jose
Maceda was staged through the CCP, involving
hundreds of transistor radios and radio stations
nationwide in order to create "sound atmospheres" from
the strategic overlapping of indigenous and found
sounds. The visual arts unit also shared a similar
trajectory. It opened and managed a museum which the
artist-professor Roberto Chabet was tasked to be the first
director of. Chabet's works at that time were avowedly
conceptual, emphasizing the idea behind his art rather
than technique and form. Eventually calling himself a
Flux artist, he did collages, drawings, sculptures, and
installations using found objects. While he was
instrumental to CCP's early development, and
increasingly became an establishment figure, his art
never lost its critical bite. For the group exhibition
Objects, held at CCP in 1973, Chabet tore up a copy of
a coffee-table book on Philippine contemporary art and
placed it in a trash bin. The work, entitled Tearing into
Pieces, was seen as a scandalous critique of the
conventions of the art world; in her book The Struggle
for Philippine Art, artist, collector, critic and founder of
the Art Association of the Philippines Purita Kalaw-
Ledesma described the work as "anti-museum art." After
his brief stint as CCP Director and Curator, Chabet
taught at the University of the Philippines College of
Fine Arts (1971 to 2002), where he mentored a new
generation of innovative Filipino artists who have
become established multimedia artists.
Under Chabet and later Raymundo Albano, CCP
Museum opened its exhibition programming to works
influenced by the western avant-garde and conceptual
tenets, pop art, happenings, environmental assemblages,
new realism, performance art, and sound works.
Experiments in art challenged the commoditization of art
within the consumerist system of the art world and its
markets at the very heart of the Marcos regime. On the
other hand, the Chabet-Albano axis also went beyond
the CCP white cube as they opened up non-white cube
sites for art exhibitions and performance spaces furnaces, offices, warehouses, clocktowers, shop
windows, kitchens, public halls, hotels among others.
Alternatives to museums were seen, for example in
Gallery 7, Sanctuary, Gallery Indigo and the short-lived
Shop 6 in Cubao, and later in one of the stalls of the
Kamalig arcade in Manila. This shifting to alternative
venues was also accompanied by the development of
emergent art writing platforms, including the Philippine
Art Supplement (PAS) and the Review Cultural
Forum.
The curatorial stance of Albano, Chabet's successor, was
more populist than his predecessor. He initiated projects
under the rubrics he termed as "developmental art"
aimed at exposing art to a learning public. He
characterized the period 1971- 1975 as the "exposure
phase" in which advanced art - experimental in nature were displayed in the galleries. The use of sand, junk,
iron, non-art materials such as law lumber, rocks...were
common materials used for the artists' development
strategies. People were shocked, scared, delighted, and
satisfied even though their preconceived notions of art
did not agree with what they encountered. "Exhibitions,"
he wrote, "should be alive, not church-like, quite high in
festive ambience." They should also be thematic, dealing
with current visual interests, and should be "stimulating,
controversial but not scandalous." If Chabet heralded the
modern, Albano ushered in the contemporary by
investing the modern with the urgency of the now. To be
contemporary, he wrote is to deal with "virtually
untested, unknown realms of evidences that would lead
to further understanding of ourselves."
Under Albano's directorship, CCP also reached out to
regions outside Manila (Baguio, Los Baños, Cebu) and
beyond (Fukuoka, Paris, ASEAN), initiated art
workshops and outreach programs through community
involvement, and published reviews and other essays on
art through PAS. Albano argued that although some
experimental forms seemed wholly foreign, he invoked
the practice of adorning ephemeral and familiar objects
as in fiestas, which shared processes and features with
installation art. An early example of installation art is
Junyee's Wood Things, 1981, made of kapok or cotton
pods, installed on the walls and floor of the CCP's white
cube spaces to make these look like crawlers
encroaching on the museum space.
Social Realism (SR)
A significant strand that emerged during the intense
political ferment of the 70s and the 80s was Social
Realism or SR, for short. Using various mediums,
techniques, and styles, SR, is a form of protest art that
exposed the sociopolitical issues and struggles of the
times. It differs from other realist approaches in that it is
conscious with its regard for the oppressed and
underrepresented masses. SR would tackle for example,
the plight of the marginalized, inequality, and forms of
repression. In addition, SRS also worked collectively,
and in collaboration, not only in terms of producing
murals and other art forms, but also in making aesthetic
decisons grounded on a common mass-based, scientific
and nationalist framework.
The format of protest art is not just confined to painting
on canvas but also extends to other more accessible and
popular forms like posters and illustrations; or street art
as in collaborative murals in public spaces. Several years
after the declaration of Martial Law, an artist collective
committed to the development of the said art movement
was formed. Kaisahan was composed of Antipas
Delotavo, Neil Doloricon, Renato Habulan, Edgar
Talusan Hernandez, Al Manrique, Jose Tence Ruiz, and
Pablo Baen Santos. Aside from aesthetic debates, the
group constantly discussed their social and political
orientation which strengthened the foundation of their
art practice.
Kaisahan's influence as a collective reached
organizations like the group of UP Fine Arts Students
who eventually became known in the 80s as the
Salingpusa. The group made collaborative murals where
the strain of Social Realism could still be felt. Among its
founding members were Elmer Borlongan, Karen
Ocampo Flores, Emmanuel Garibay, Mark Justiniani,
Lito Mondejar, and Federico Sievert. Beyond Manila,
the strain of political art could also be observed in
Bacolod, where artist groups such as Pamilya Pintura
were formed with Nunelucio Alvarado, Charlie Co, and
Norberto Roldan were members. Most of these artists
are now established as indvidual artists, who continue to
pursue projects and perform multiple functions. Roldan,
for example is now based in Manila, and heads and runs
the long running Green Papaya Art Projects. Co runs
Orange Gallery in Bacolod; Ocampo-Flores curates,
teaches and organizes, and is known for spearheading,
with other artists, the loose collective Tutok. At present,
younger artists have also organized themselves as loose
collectives in order to share common interests or to
create a platform where they can exchange, support each
other, and spearhead collaborative programs. An
example is Project Space Pilipinas, based in Lucban,
Quezon and founded by the artist Leslie de Chavez in
2007. Aside from being an exhibiting artist, he and
fellow artists in the collective organize activities that
also reach out to young artists and the communities in
Lucban in an effort to broaden participation in art
projects. You will encounter examples of such projects
in the succeeding chapters.
Varied forms of expression can be observed from the
period which spilled over from the previous decades.
Among these are expressionist works that conveyed
emotional qualities or states, as in the dogfight paintings
of National Artist Ang Kiukok, hinting of conflict and
aggression; or the paintings of Onib Olmedo which
feature men with ovoid faces often donning a mysterious
expression bordering on ennui. In sculpture, Eduardo
Castrillo's gigantic metal work Pieta, 1969, evoked a
strong feeling of anguish and loss through the expressive
poses of Mary the mother and the oversized body of
Christ which she supports. On the other hand, the
influence of paintings of folk scenes in the manner of
Francisco persists, and is evidenced in the works of the
Blanco family and their descendants in Angono, Rizal.
Ethnicity, identity, and alternative historical narratives
are explored in the intermedia works of Santiago Bose,
who drew insight from his native Baguio which was
once an American colonial outpost. Roberto Feleo's
installations re-tell creation stories drawn from
indigenous myths and combine them with foreign
interventions such as vitrines or altar niches normally
used to house saints. Brenda Fajardo on the other hand
would foreground the histories of ethnic communities
through her tarot card series.
In other words, the native or the folk, the self, the
environment, the nation, the past, and the various
variations of the Modern continue to be revisited by
artists as sources of inspiration in contemporary art. As
artists explore processes and approaches aside from
mediums and techniques beyond the so-called Fine Arts,
artistic language becomes more robust. Looking into the
possibility of working beyond the comfort and isolation
of the studio and into working in alternative spaces,
artistic communities are becoming engaged and
networks formed. One of the ways this is realized is
through the festival, which aside from holding
exhibitions tends to mobilize organizations, spaces, and
people who do not normally engage in the "art world." In
the 90s, when support from the state was practically nonexistent, artists were empowered to initiate projects like
regional festivals. Meanwhile, as galleries began to
spring up inside mall spaces, equally intriguing were the
budding of alternative and artist-run spaces that
supported experiments and D-I-Y (Do It Yourself)
projects of young artists. Aside from the aforementioned
currents, also important to consider as we run through
the history of Philippine art are the expatriates or artists
who make waves in the international art scene by way of
their participation in exhibitions. They too broaden our
knowledge and inspire us to seek what and how
Philippine contemporary art might continue to mean
something to us today.
This varied range of practices demonstrate that making
art in the artist's studio is inseparable from cultural and
research work. The studio extends to various sitesclassrooms, the streets, even cyberspace, among others.
Art is not just a "tool" or handmaiden to a certain
ideology, advocacy or purpose, but a methodology in
itself, with specific and independent modes of seeing,
doing and feeling, from where new knowledge springs.
The artworks that artists produce transcend their status
as objects or collectors' items; they are inseparable
from the artists' process and practice as cultural workers,
a phrase that also implicates their roles as organizers,
collaborators, educators, administrators, writers,
theorists, quasi-ethnographers, healers, curators and in
some cases, as owners of galleries and other spaces.