For National Heritage Month, Cultural Cache Online’s third episode features the work of National Artist José Joya titled “Dimensions of Fear” created in 1965. Considered a national heritage and important cultural property, this oil on canvas painting was rendered in a swift and strong gestural manner, which characterizes the artist’s style as described by Nestor Olarte Vinluan, a visual artist and Joya’s mentee.
About the artist
National Artist José Joya (June 3, 1931-May 11, 1995) was a painter born in Manila. He finished his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at the University of the Philippines in 1953 and became the first magna cum laude of UP College of Fine Arts. His early works were mostly representational, but in the late 1950s, he gradually shifted to abstract painting and became one of the leading proponents of abstract expressionism. He became the president of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) from 1962 to 1965; and served as chairperson of the National Committee on Visual Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. In 1961, he received the Ten Outstanding Young Men Award for painting, the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, and the Gawad CCP para sa Sining in 1991. He was conferred National Artist for Visual Arts in 2003.
15 май 2023
