Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist and issued by Archivo, 1984 confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance: Provenance: Acquired directly from the Tom Patchett collection

Exhibited: Exhibited: Guggenheim gallery, “Same Difference”, Chapman University, March, 1998 57th Venice Biennale Philippine Pavillion at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), “Spectre of Comparison”, May 23, 2019 - July 2019

Literature: Literature: Giant robot: Sheer Art Attack, By Martin Wong Issue 39, p. 67 Heridas De La Lengua by Pilar Perez and Kevin Power (1997), p. 13 Double Trouble: The Tom Patchett Collection, 1998, by Elizabeth Armstrong (Author), Ralph Rugoff (Author), Auditorio De Galicia (Corporate Author). San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art (Corporate Author), Pilar Perez (Editor), pp. 189

ABOUT THE WORK

In a recent conversation Manuel Ocampo points out, “the scene depicted in the painting is that of a group of freaks and monsters prancing around in jubilation of an unspecified party or event.“ He elucidates that the painting can be clearly seen within the context of a game changing international art exhibition—Magiciens de la Terre, 1989 (curated by Jean Hubert Martin), a groundbreaking exhibition of international artists mainly from non-western countries. It was seen as a paradigm shift in the way how art from countries like Africa, South America, Asia and the eastern bloc countries are becoming visible and are gaining art market reputation and dominating the art discourse. Painted in the 90s when he was hailed as the hottest young Filipino artist in America, he was invited to exhibit in Documenta in Kassel, Germany in 1992. He submitted four paintings, but three were excluded because they featured swastikas. Why I Hate Europeans is a reaction to the excised work. But he also shares that he is recalling his intentions and is aware that people read paintings in a certain way. His early work references political art maybe because he doesn‘t like politics especially political art. “I wanted to mash it up, reconfigure it and expose it ‘s ridiculousness. Now everything is politicized and political art is prevalent and is the dominant language in the visual arts so maybe my attitude is to just deal with it and see how one can work with it.” The painting is left ambiguous or maybe not—the intention of the artist is never known. Ocampo ‘s concern too is to evoke a look—maybe one of an old painting that brings up memories of a different time and place. Why I Hate Europeans was part of the 1998 landmark exhibition titled “Same Difference“ held at Chapman University‘s Guggenheim Gallery. Curator Maggi Owens assembled work about minority cultures featuring artists William Anastasi, Judy Baca, Tom of Finland, Michael Ray Charles, David Levinthal, Manuel Ocampo, Alfred Quitoz, Bruce and Norman Yonemoto. (Jerome Gomez)