Philippine Abstract Painting

From the foreword:

The landscape of Philippine art has grown a variety of fast-changing modes of expression, materials, movement, techniques, textures, aesthetic concerns, and personalities. As we complete this century and anticipate the year 2000, it becomes crucial to sit by the path and look back. Most often in hindsight or an overview of the output of past decades that the myriad of patterns and processes, evident in art making and aesthetic philosophies, become clear and connected.

This monograph documents the 1991 year-end exhibition Emmanuel Torres curated for the Cultural Center of the Philippines entitled Fifty Years of Philippine Abstract Painting (1949-1991). In the following essay as in that exhibition, he revisits the roots of non-objective art in the Philippines to assess and examine its development and direction.

We may perceive that modern and contemporary Philippine art has come full circle. From the pioneering Neo-Realists who fled away from idyllic sunlit fields to our current crop of young artists who are rushing back to fiend research in rural communities, the search goes on to create images and idioms that express who we are.

We have gone beyond feeding off and enriching the mainstreams of Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Minimalism. We have created vigorous currents within lush artistic landscape and they define us as Filipinos and ASEAN. — Ditas R. Samson, Director, Coordinating Center for Visual Arts, CCP

Published in 1994 by Rapid Lithographic and Publishing House