Alfonso Ossorio

Alfonso Ossorio, “T.R.Russell E/M 2nd Class”, 1943, Ink, Gouache and Watercolor on Paper Mounted to Paperboard, 22 3/8″ x 18 ¼”

Born in Manila to affluent Filipino parents from the province of Negros Occidental, Alfonso Ossorio received European and American education in the 1940s and 1950s, which placed him in the fortunate position of witnessing pivotal moments in Western modern art. From 1934 to 1936 he studied fine art at Harvard University and continued his studies at the Rhode island School of Design.

Ossorio’s early work was influenced by surrealism and later was influenced by his friend Jackson Pollock. In the early part of the 1950s he was pouring paint onto canvas in the style of the abstract expressionists. Ossorio had a lifelong engagement with Catholicism which entered into his work. After meeting Dubuffet, whose art brut movement interested Ossorio, he started creating assemblages which he called congregations, with the term’s obvious religious connotation.

Note: Other works by Alfonso Ossorio are available on this site. Search for “Alfonso Ossorio”.

Orley Ypon

Five Paintings by Orley Ypon, Oil on Canvas

Orley is a Filipino realist painter from Toledo, Cebu, Philippines. He discovered a love for art at a very early age, doing portraits of himself and of family and friends throughout his growing years.

The 39-year old artist has achieved much since his young years. A constant finalist in painting exhibitions in the Visayas and Metro Manila, Orley gained attention when he won the First Prize in the Art Association of the Philippines’ National On-The-Spot Painting Competition in 2001. In the same year, Orley made his mark at the Art Petron National Painting Competition, bagging the Grand Prize in 2001 for “Ober-Ober”.

He won the Grand Prize in the same competition for the second time in 2004 for “Pamaling”, earning him the honor of being the first Hall-of-Famer in the history of the Art Petron Painting Competitions. In 2008, Orley won the 2nd Prize in the GSIS Painting Competition for his piece, “Ahon”, considered by peers and critics to be a breakthrough creation for its adherence to traditional technique but showing depth and variety in the artists’ choice of subject and composition. It showed an evocative nature previously unseen in his earlier work.

His current creations manifest the artist developing his objectives into themes that convey social issues, the human condition, and further expanding into new dimensions of his art. His latest achievements are winning First Prize in the Figurative Category of the 2012 Art Renewal Center International Salon, the Grand Prize in International Artist Magazine’s International Painting Competition in the People and Figures Division for 2009, and the Grand Prize in the Amorsolo National Painting Competition in 2011. He was also recently given the Ani Ng Dangal award in 2011, an honor given by the National Commission of Culture and Arts of the Philippines.

Ang Kiukok

Paintings by Ang Kiukok

Born in March of 1931 in Davao City Philippine Islands, Ang Kiukok was a painter known for his expressive, Cubist works. He often chose dynamic or disturbing subject matters, which frequently depicting rabid dogs, crucifixions, and screaming figures in an abstracted geometric style. Ang’s work gained both critical and commercial success in the Philippines throughout the 1960s.

Ang’s initial training began at an early age, when he was taught by a local commercial artist the art of charcoal drawing. After his family’s move to Manila, he attended the University of Santo Tomas from 1952 to 1954, where he studied under Filipino cubist painter Vincente Manansala. Ang’s first formal recognition of his work occurred in 1953 when his “Calesa” achieved third prize at the Shell National Students Art Competition. With encouragement from Manansala, he had his first solo show at Manila’s Contemporary Arts Gallery in 1954. Subsequent shows earned Ang many awards from the Art Association of the Philippines.

Ang Kiukok gained national prominence in the 1960s with his distinctive style which fused aspects of cubism, surrealism, and expressionism. His work favored subjects as rabid dogs, fighting cocks, and figures either bound in chains or experiencing great rage. Although Ang did not have a reputation as a critic of the Ferdinand Marcos government, the most violent and gruesome images were painted during Marcos’s reign of martial law.

Ang Kiukok was given the honor of being a National Artist for Visual Arts in 2001, by vitue of Presidential Proclamation No. 32, which was signed on April 20 of 2001 by President Gloria Arroyo. By the end of his life, Ang was not only a critical success but also a commercially popular one. He died in Quezon City, Philippines, in May of 2001 at the age of seventy-four.

Top Insert Image: George Garçon, “Ang Kiukok”, Date Unknown, Gelatin Silver Print

Bottom Insert Image: Ang Kiukok, “Fisherman”, 1981, Oil on Canvas, 88 x 101 cm, Private Collection