Fifty Works for Ang Kiukok’s ‘Golden Years’

MANILA, Philippines – Opening tomorrow at the Ayala Museum (3/F Galleries), “Ang Kiukok: The Golden Years (1954–2004)” unfolds a new vista in our appreciation of the National Artist’s strong, empathic and mind-searing visual idiom that continues to enthrall and influence a decade after of his passing. On view are 50 never-before-seen works of the master across different media — from painting to ceramics. An accompanying hardbound catalog will be launched on the opening night.

Coinciding with the 85th birth anniversary of the artist, fondly called “Mr. Ang” by those who knew him, the exhibition is curated by his son Andrew Ang, who is putting the spotlight on works loaned from different collectors who have always been passionate supporters of the artist and his vision. The 50 works are representative of the best in Ang Kiukok’s oeuvre, including a self-portrait that the artist painted at the turn of the millennium, striking for its verisimilitude but still featuring his signature palette of metallic blues and yellows.

Another notable work of “The Golden Years” is his version of Pieta that he painted in 1964. The painting proves that even just into the second decade of his career, Ang Kiukok had already evolved his own cubist approach — characterized by a conglomeration of expressive geometric shapes — that, in the case of this work, conveys the drama and immediacy of the dead body of Christ held by the Virgin Mary. Composed of planar surfaces and a bold shade of red, the figure of Mary provides a stark background, a stable form against Christ who is front and center in the composition.

Notable for his religious themes, Ang Kiukok also delved extensively in other painting genres such as portraits, local scenery and even abstraction. From year to year, from decade and decade, Ang Kiukok quietly honed his own visual vocabulary, worked tirelessly and without fanfare and came up with startling portraits of humanity tinged with gravity and pathos. While his themes may be universal, Ang Kiukok engaged with the issues of his times, never losing sight of the artist’s place in the conversation of the world.

Ang Kiukok was born in 1931 to Ang Sy Pang and Lim Chen in Davao City. From 1942 to 1945, Kiukok went to Chinese High School in Davao but was forced to seek refuge on the mountains of Davao during the outbreak of World War II. In 1947, he moved to Cotabato to take on the job of making billboards for movie theaters.

In 1952, Kiukok transferred to Manila to take up Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas. A student of Vicente Manansala in watercolor and composition, Kiukok became his favorite. Other professors included Victorio Edades, Diosdado Lorenzo and Galo Ocampo. Two years later, he held his first one-man show at the Contemporary Arts Gallery, which was composed of 29 watercolor paintings and two oil paintings. It was in 1958 that Ang Kiukok made his transition to his lyrical cubism stage.

In 1962, Ang Kiukok married Maria de Jesus. Mesa. In the same year, his work, “Pietá,” won a bronze medal at the First International Art Exhibition in Saigon and is now part of the Collection of Paulino and Hetty Que.

After his life-altering visit to New York and Paris, Ang Kiukok shifted to his expressionist cubism stage in 1968. Soon, the awards came. He received the Araw ng Maynila Award in Painting in 1976 and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Santo Tomas in 1979.

Beginning in 1984, the artist collaborated with his close friends Cesar Legaspi, Malang, and Romulo Olazo for a yearly exhibit at Finale Art File that lasted until Legaspi’s death in 1994.

Sotheby’s in Singapore, in 1996, auctioned his 1979 painting “Seated Figure.” Henceforth, both Sotheby’s and Christie’s would include more of his works in their auctions.

In 2001, he received the National Artist Award for the Visual Arts.

After the successful launch of his exhibit, “Kiukok: Recent Works 2000-2004,” at the SM Megamall Art Center along with its monograph, Ang Kiukok — the artist who left behind an indelible and important body of work and whose startling vision and technique in tune with the suffering and joy of humanity still resonate till now — joined his Creator in 2005.

Ayala Museum is at Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa St., Makati City. “Ang Kiukok: The Golden Years (1954 – 2004)” runs until June 26.