Leon Gallery wishes to thanks Gisella Olmedo-Araneta for confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

There is a sense of unease and familiarity that makes this particular piece by the renowned modernist Onib Olmedo so captivating and profound. Olmedo was a pioneer of the figurative expressionist movement that defined the Filipino visual arts landscape of the 60s and 70s. His style defied the conventions of the genre through his exaggerated forms, distorted dimensions, and amplified symmetry. His portraits captured the spirit of the age, reflecting not only his style’s core principles but also the burgeoning energy that defined the country’s socio-political and cultural atmosphere. Thus his works were not created in an attempt to beautify or romanticise the world around him, but rather to unearth the realities hidden within our collective experiences. But what makes this particular piece by Olmedo entitled Boy in an Urban Landscape so provocative is that it is relatively less distorted to what we’ve come to expect from Olmedo’s portraits. Yet it is this lack of exaggeration that makes this piece an interesting part of Olmedo’s artistic canon.