Exhibited: Exhibited: Ark Galerie, Looking Back, Jl. Senopati Raya 92, Jakarta, March 2010

Literature: Literature: Manilaartblogger.com, Snippets from the Manila Art Scene, 14 March 2010

ABOUT THE WORK

Acclaimed contemporary artist Rodel Tapaya’s paintings display recurring narratives embedded in Filipino cultural history that offer sharp and often piercing commentary on contemporary life and issues. Through his adept manipulation of folk aesthetic and material, Tapaya provides his mythical characters with allegorical significances that transcend common perception, offering fresh insights about their origins and relevance. The paintings become a tableau of the painter’s articulations and traces of the stories that inspired them. Sometimes, his characters appear in archetypes culled from pre-colonial historical research and recorded folktales from recent scholarship. These qualities have led him to receive positive reception from art collectors worldwide. In the present, Tapaya is one of Southeast Asia’s most successful contemporary artists at auctions; the far-reaching appreciation of his works has been part of the wave that gained more attention for Southeast Asian contemporary art in recent years. Tapaya remains a favorite among Southeast Asian auction houses where his works are highly regarded. He is widely exhibited in cities in the Southeast Asian region as well as in Beijing, Berlin, New York, and Tokyo. Rodel Tapaya established himself as the foremost articulator of Filipino myths and legends into visual language. Just like his other forays into the Filipino collective imagination, this particular work is characterized by a wildly colorful palette, an assembly of figures that enacts a narrative, and a slew of highly symbolic imagery adding alluring texture to the story. The particular story alluded to by the painting may be the legend of the jackfruit—of how, from being once a smooth fruit, it gained its spiky skin.