ABDULMARI ASIA IMAO :

the gentle tausug and noble modernist

 born on 14 January 1936 in Siasi, Sulu.
 died on 16 December 2014 at the age of 78 at his home in Marikina.
 Imao was suspected of dying due to heart attack but his family later released a statement through Imao's
daughter-in-law, Cielo Imao, that he died in his sleep
 a Filipino painter and sculptor
 Aside from being a sculptor and painter, Imao is also a photographer, ceramist, cultural researcher,
documentary film maker, writer, and a patron of Philippine Muslim art and culture.
 Imao was married to Grace Bondoc de Leon,
 an art dealer from Santo Tomas, Pampanga. They had four sons

STLYE AND TECHNIQUE

 Imao is known for using the okir, sarimanok, isda and the naga as motifs in his artworks 
o Okir - sinuous relief woodcarving in houses and boats
o Sarimanok - mythical bird with fish figure
o Naga - sea serpent
 He pursued arts through creating vivid works that yearn for local color and the dream of a unified nation
 Imao draws inspiration from Tausūg and Maranao art.
o Imao's Islamic faith is also a source of inspiration in his art as evidenced in his sculptures composed
of elements of Allah's name through Arabic calligraphy.

EDUCATION

 He studied at the College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines,

 where he was mentored by fellow National Artists Guillermo Tolentino and Napoleon Abueva.
 Graduate with bachelor of fine art in scuplture
 He received a Schmidt and Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies at the Kansas University in the
USA.
 He also received two year-long fellowships at the Rhode Island School of Design and Columbia
University in New York.
 He was the first Asian recipient of a Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) fellowship grant to study in Europe.

AWARDS

 For his contribution to Philippine culture and the arts, he was inducted into the Order of National Artists
in 2006 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2005
 the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1990
 the Gawad Patnubay ng Sining by the City of Manila in 1985
 the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) in 1968.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 At the age of nine, Imao began to show interest for the arts
 His family came from a generation of tokang or boat makers dating back to the precolonial era. 
 Mari is the First Muslim Recipient of Philippine National Artist Award for Visual Arts (2006).
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