13 Artists.
A new book launched to the list of "13" in Philippine art by coming up with 13 Painters for the 21st Century, also the book's title. With all the talented and successful artists in the country today, to come up with only 13 is a daunting task. Ana Labrador, editor of Sikat Books Publishing Inc., publisher of the book, thought so, too. "Using thirteen as a motif to feature a more mature group of artists became a challenge for me," she says in the book's introduction. To narrow down the list, she set criteria: the artists must be living, must be renowned for their body of works, awards and community service, must still be exhibiting and have critical reviews to their name. And so the 13 painters were chosen: Federico Alcuaz, Ang Kiukok, Norma Belleza, Bencab, Antonio Austria, Danny Dalena, Prudencio Lamorroza, Lao Lianben, Arturo Luz, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Malang, Romulo Olazo and Juvenal Sanso.
Seven minutes is Federico Aguilar Alcuaz's record for finishing a landscape or portrait. That seven minutes, though, according to the writer Anthony John R. Balisi, "means seven minutes and a lifetime of practice." Born in Manila in 1932, Alcuaz studied law at the Ateneo de Manila and fine arts at the University of the Philippines. He then went to Madrid on a one-year scholarship to the Real Academia de Bellas de San Fernando, the same school attended by Juan Luna, Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo, Fabian de la Rosa and Fernando Amorsolo. But he only stayed for two weeks: his professors could not teach him anything new. He was "way ahead of his peers." From Madrid he went to Barcelona and pursued painting, coming home eight years later after meeting a vehicular accident. Alcuaz made a name for himself not only in Manila, but also in Europe, and exhibited in Singapore and Chicago as well. His art "reflects his experience of foreign culture" even in his Tres Marias series or landscapes showing the Pasig River. 
Named national Artist for the Visual Arts, Ang Kiukok no doubt belongs to this list. Known for his expressionist paintings of the crucified Christ and tortured and pained people and animals, Kiukok started by drawing the Lone Ranger and still lifes of goldfishes. Born in 1931, Kiukok honed his artistic talent by studying under the masters Victorio Edades, Diosdado Lorenzo, and Vicente Manansala at the University of Santo Tomas, assisting Manansala in doing the mural of the 14 stations of the Cross for the Church of the Holy Sacrifice at UP. After a while he received a study and travel grant with Manansala to Los Angeles, and from there visited the museums in New York and Paris. "His art was never the same again," wrote Melanie Uy. 
Norma Belleza grew up in a house across the marketplace in San Fernando, La Union. Those market scenes from her early childhood provided her with a rich wellspring of images for her paintings. Farmers, fish vendors, fruits, vegetables and flowers-she painted them in bright happy colors. Belleza studied fine arts at the UST and later married her classmate Angelito Antonio, himself a respected artist. One of the "best-selling" artists of time, Benedicto Cabrera or Bencab for short, majored in fine arts advertising at the UP. He became an illustrator for the Sunday Times Magazine, painting on the side.
At 27 he moved to London and there "began to explore new themes and modes of expression as an artist in exile," wrote Delfin L. Tolentino, Jr. Bencab based his works on old photographs, "to serve as commentaries on the influence of Spanish and American colonization." When he exhibited in Manila in 1972, his acrylic works were "heralded as harbingers of change in contemporary Philippine art."Antonio Austria is known for painting Filipino everyday scenes. He'd paint jeepneys, sari-sari stores, billiard halls, blind musicians, and the Cenaculo. He was born in Shanghai to Filipino parents but moved to Manila at the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war. He studied painting at the UST and later taught there for 27 years. For him, composition is very important to the extent that he reworks his canvases until he is satisfied with the suitable arrangement for his images. "The shy Austria wants to be remembered as an artist who featured motifs that are Filipino in theme, style and color. In his own words, that is his small contribution to Philippine art," wrote Regina C. Cruz.
Danilo Dalena was in Pakil, Laguna, and grew up in a house across the town plaza and facing the church. As such, Dalena had a front-row seat to every procession, festival, Holy Week rituals, weddings, and such other activities and used those images in his oil paintings. Dalena was also an illustrator and political cartoonist, but pursued painting when he lost his job during martial law. He has done a number of critically acclaimed series, from Jai Alai, Alibangbang (a nightclub in Cubao) to Pakil and Quiapo scenes. He studied advertising art at the UST and taught for some time at the Far Eastern University.
As a young boy, Prudencio Lamarroza spent many days fishing and gathering mussels in the Chico and Am-burayan rivers in the Ilocos region. Years later, he did his Amburayan series based on those childhood memories. The Amburayan Queen, the river goddess, became a constant figure in his paintings. The environment was also a major theme recurring in his works. "He was among the earliest visual artists to comment on the environment and the imbalance in nature," wrote Anthony John R. Balisi. Lamorroza studied fine arts at the UST and the Philippine Women's University.It took awhile for Lao Lianben to try abstraction, but when he saw the work of MuChi, a Chinese painter and monk, he "became convinced of the many possibilities of the abstract mode." From then on, 
Lao made minimalist meditative works using a limited palette of black, white and gray, which creates "spareness in his statements," according to the late art critic Leo Benesa. "Color for Lao merely disturbs the visual experience and is therefore disposable," wrote Maria Victoria T. Herrera. Lao studied fine arts at the University of the East and taught there for five years.
Arturo Luz had his first painting lessons from Pablo Amorsolo. When his father was assigned to a diplomatic post in the US, Luz took the opportunity to study further in the arts, first at the California College of Arts and Crafts on a scholarship, then at Brooklyn Museum Art School and at the Academic de la Grande Chaumier in Paris. Luz started out doing figurative works but settled on abstraction. He became known for his series of street musicians, vendors, cyclists and carnival performers, as well as for his linear paintings. Luz also did sculpture using wood, concrete and metal. He was named National Artist for the Visual Arts in 1997.
Anita Magsaysay-Ho is the list's link to the "13 Moderns," a shortlist of artists drawn up by the National Artist Victorio Edades before World War II. Born in Manila, she studied art at the UP, the Art Students' League and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Called "the female Amorsolo," Magsaysay-Ho painted genre and women subjects. Her works have won international recognition, fetching high prices in auctions and usually done in her preferred medium, egg tempera.Malang continues to enjoy a stellar status in Philippine art. His bright happy paintings of women vendors have endeared him to many people, young and old. A self-taught painter, Malang often says he went to the "Chronicle school," referring to the Manila Chronicle, where he learned painting from his boss, H.R. Ocampo. After 20 years in the Chronicle, and after giving life to cartoons like Kosme the Cop, Retired, Chain-Gang Charlie and Beelzebub, Malang pursued painting full-time. In 1994 he won the Gawad Para sa Sining Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Abstractionist Romulo Olazo first became known for his printmaking. He went to workshops conducted by Manuel Rodriguez Sr. To Olazo the collagraph (or collage intaglio) and serigraph (silkscreen painting) are "simple and 'natural, just like breathing.'" He experimented a lot using these methods and won competitions left and right for printmaking. When he moved to painting, he became known for his Diaphonous series, the result of applying "the basic priniciples and techniques of serigraphy to painting." Writes Maria Victoria Herrera, "For almost thirty years as a professional artist, Olazo has been recognized as one of the most versatile in the contemporary art world."
Junvenal Sanso was born in Catluna, Spain, grew up in the Philippines and now shuttles between Paris and Manila. He studied at the UP and regards Fernando Amorsolo as the artist-teacher who inspired him the most. He went for further studies in Europe. Labrador writes, "He remains fascinated with rustic scenes in the Philippines, such as native houses and fishing traps he has seen while growing up. Sanso's choice and method of color are the only indication that he has been living in Europe for some time." Prolific even at 72, he "doesn't see himself retiring, because a lot remains to be done."The Art Manila Newspaper
Volume II, Series No. 9 2001
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