Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

A pioneer of environmental surrealism in the country, Raul Lebajo is known for depicting dreamlike, seemingly hallucinogenic images of nature. One of the artists credited for popularizing surrealism in the country (along with Galo Ocampo and H.R. Ocampo), Lebajo influenced a new generation of surrealists and expressionists—one of which is Onib Olmedo. In the course of Philippine art history between the 1970s and 1980s, Lebajo was often noted alongside Vicente Manansala, Victorio Edades, and Cesar Legaspi. Ang Kiukok and Jerry Elizalde Navarro are also among his contemporaries. Lebajo’s artistic preoccupations include exploring the expressive qualities of shapes as well as strong colors like yellow and orange hues and other contrasting colors which he often preferred. His subjects range from minute details—cells, veins, and roots—to plants, fruits, and varieties of organic life found in the land and sea. This particular 1970 piece has intricate compositional elements that elevate its visual quality into an existential level; the eccentricities of detail further exhibits the surreal complexities of a living structure.