Anton Del Castillo
Orley Ypon
Ram Mallari
ABOUT THE SHOW
Living Masters is a series of exhibitions at the UPPERGROUND that will bring together some of the highly acclaimed visual artists in the Philippines. This particular iteration, and rightfully done during the launch of this extension program, juxtaposes the canvasses and statuaries of the three leading artists whose works are laden with social and environmental commentary. Anton del Castillo, Ram Mallari, and Orley Ypon are masters in their own right; all of them at soaring heights of their careers filled with both local and international acclaim.
Del Castillo holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines. He has been a visual artist for over a decade and has exhibited in both local and international spaces as well as garnering various honors and grants for his work. His masked subjects are known to disclose socio-economic and religious intimations. While the subjects on his paintings are indicative of grandiosity as they are painted with a rich gold background, they also signal covert transgressions as their faces are concealed with masks.
Mallari studied architecture and was a draftsman in the Middle East until he pursued art-making and experimented with different materials. He is known for his innovative sculptures making use of different materials including scrap metals. These, he turns into reimagined pop icons, chess pieces, clocks, etc., which have become well known and loved by local and international collectors and enthusiasts. His artistic manifesto is aimed at presenting the “current state of how we use technology and ecology” as he explores the tensions between past and future he repurposes reclaimed materials in his metalworks.
Last, but not the least, Ypon is a master realist that has garnered a significant amount of local and international awards. He is a recipient of the top prizes winner for various national art competitions such as the GSIS National Art Competition and the Amorsolo National Art Competition, to name a few, as well as the recipient of the prestigious Dangal ng Ani Award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He is known to have a powerful command of color, playing with light and dark values in his realist works that also carry with them a reflection of the current conditions of Philippine society.
– Drew Rabadon