A new sensibility trickled down a new generation of artists in the last century, what with the well established European style of cubism applied to traditional subject matter, as manifested in the artworks of Malang. Emmanuel Torres once wrote that: “Ang (Kiukok)’s angular forms, but without the expressionist angst, has in turn influenced cartoonist turned painter Mauro Malang Santos (better known as Malang) at some point in the latter’s development. Malang’s pictorialism is as baroque as Manansala’s, differing only in that it indulges in multi-sectional and highly mannered effects.” The transition from graphic artist to painter is not an easy one, but Malang has succeeded in a bold and individual manner. His art speaks not of a single Filipino artistic or cultural influence but of many. Malang’s art work is distinguished by a studied concern with pictorial structure, spatial illusion, and relationships of forms. Malang believed that abstract art was a way to get at the important reality — the ability to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may be seen