Philippine Contemporary Arts

Answer the following guideline.

1. Form and Style
a. What do you see in painting?
- I see man walking. Passing by a devastatingly large billboard advertising the Coca-
Cola product.
b. Describe the person in painting. How is he betrayed?
- He is walking and he looks so exhausted, an anxious and disturbed face, and lastly, a
passive slouching back.
c. Describe the background
- For me I describe the painting by how it looks. The background is about the man who
wants to buy Coca-Cola but he doesn’t have money.
d. How will you describe the painting in to someone who has not seen it?
- I describe the physical appearance of the man and I think he is so tired and what the
Coca-Cola logo represent in the image.
2. Content
a. What is theme of painting?
- The theme of “Itak sa Puso ni Mang Juan” for me is the negative response or wrong
treatment of another person to the man, I think.
b. Who is being represented?
- The man who does not afford or chance to purchase a drink.
c. What does this painting remind you of?
- It retells me of the past when the Marcos regime rules of the Philippines.
d. What is the message of the artist?
- The message of the artist is negative effects of Coca-Cola has brought about to a third
world country the Philippines. And applied on his artwork the concept, where history
kept on repeating itself captured through preservation by art.
e. How is the painting related to our society?
- We associate painting the way we feel and what we want to express or convey to
everyone.

3. Elements and Principles

a. How are the elements of art used in the painting?
- Base in his work, it may be seen that he originated the colors if existing entities to
instill on the viewers. All I can say is that he put it together to make a great painting.
b. What Principles of design are more dominant in the painting?
- Asymmetrical balance is used in the painting with regular rhythm and emphasis on
the logo of the Coca-Cola and Mang Juan’s body to draw attention to a certain part
and easily attracts the attention of the viewer.

4. Context
a. In what type of society has the work been produced?
 - The painting Itak sa Puso ni Mang Juan was painted by Antipas Delotavo in 1978. It
was painted on a paper using watercolor during the Marcos Regime
b. Is the message relevant in the present time?
- Yes. Mang Juan appears to me as if he is being held back by himself or an
imperceptible presence. This may be read as a symbolism of us Filipinos not being
able to move forward because of our own faults.
c. Does the title contribute to the message of the painting? In what way?
- Yes, “Itak sa Puso ni Mang Juan” which symbolizes by the bladelike tail of the
Coca-Cola sign seems to stab the old man’s heart, drained of blood and symbolically
depicts the harsh reality of transnational corporations.

5. Personal Opinion
a. What other title can you give this painting?
- The man behind the Coca-Cola Company
b. Pretend that you were inside this painting? How you have felt? Why would you feel
that way?
- I would have felt the agony and pain of Mang Juan, too. The fact that transnational
corporations are ruling in the Philippines shows that we are not yet free from the
hands of our foreign oppressors.
c. Why do you suppose the artist made this painting?
- He does paint because for him it incarnated the ubiquity of the US in the Third
World; its internecine interventions in Southeast Asia; and its support for the
Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines
d. What do you think is extraordinary about his painting?
- I think belonging to a financially unstable family, the big picture suggested here is
that Coca-Cola’s presence in the country grants it the power to manipulate the
economy, and eventually, the people’s lives