Solomon Saprid

Sculpture:Tikbalang

Colonizers have come and gone to our land and inputted different traditions in our
very rich culture. There's this one man who sought to preserve our culture through
his paintings and sculptures and he is none other than Solomon Saprid. He gave
the public pictures of Philippine folklore characters that made the Filipinos realized
that these imaginary beings are not just a mere myth, rather it is more of a reality.
He sculpted “Tikbalang”, a titanic creature with a horse-like head but has a human-
like body. He also sculpted “Amihan”, the wind goddess. After sometime, these
images had been so engraved in the public’s mind that the public began to think
that these creatures could be anywhere. He also sculpted the “Gomburza” along
Intramuros that made the public remember the things that the 3 priests have done
for our country. He didn’t just paint or sculpt art that only talked about the Filipino
myths, but he also made pictures that touched our culture. He painted “Mag-ina”
that exemplified the joys of parenthood. He was able to pull back the Filipinos to
their roots and made them understand their culture and beginnings. Indeed, he is
an artist who enriched the rich culture of a society.
 Ang Kiukok
Painting: The Crucifixion

When a painter paints, his emotions are shown through the painted canvas. It
shows the different realities about life that move its audience. One person was able
to do this through his paintings, and he is the legendary Ang Kiuko. His early
paintings were full of different emotions that influenced the viewers’ feelings. His
audience could easily understand the message of his paintings because he used
passion. He drew the Crucifixion of Christ that exhibited hopelessness and
depression. His favorite subjects for his paintings were angst and anger that are
shown in his paintings called “Payaso” and “Ina at Anak”. His paintings were full of
irony and questions. After some years, he tried to re-create his style in art by
painting gleeful pictures of Mother Nature instead of painting pictures of quarreling
crowds. He was able to input different perspectives of life in a small blank canvas.
Indeed, he made a very remarkable impact in our society. He re-created his art and
thus, he has been able to influence the public’s views about life.
 Napoleon V. Abueva
Sculpture: Allegorical Harpoon

The Philippines is very fortunate for having the multi awarded national artist,
Napoleon V. Abueva, as its father of modern Philippine sculpture. Abueva is the
pioneer in modern sculptures because he was the first artist who had creatively and
successfully moved out of the classic style to create his own abstract experimental
modern art pieces and paved the way for other young aspirants to follow his lead.
He was the only sculptor who is capable on working on all kinds of material in
several styles from representational to abstract. There is not one drop of
classical style in all if his masterpieces. Abueva has long been exposed in utilizing
almost all kinds of materials. These materials include wood, adobe, metal, stainless
steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral, brass, molave, acacia, langka
wood, ipil, kamagong, palm wood and bamboo. One of his most famous works is his
wooden sculpture entitled “Allegorical Harpoon” which is currently housed in the
Cultural Center of the Philippines. Also among his various works is the very familiar,
“Sunburst”, which is a twelve meter sculpture made up of twenty one rays of the
sun and thirty three spears in copper, bronze and stainless steel that decorates the
ceiling of the Manila Peninsula Manila. What sets him apart from other artists is that
he has the talent to unify different materials and experiment with them. He is a
very innovative artist who explores the unknown, but also probes the existing.
According to Abueva, an Abueva sculpture is known for its simplicity with the
maximum expression of art. As the leading artist in contemporary Philippine
sculpture, Abueva has set a new standard that other artists have failed to copy.