Provenance:
The Crucible Gallery, Mandaluyong City

ABOUT THE WORK

From 1985 to 1987, Arturo Luz would relinquish each of his posts at the Design Center Philippines, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, and the Museum of Philippine Art. With his newfound freedom from his laborious responsibilities, an unconstrained progression of subject matter would begin to unfold, marking a new era in Luz's iconic trademark of abstraction. In 1988, Luz embarked on an extensive Asian vacation, visiting countries in the southern and southeastern countries of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. While on these travels, Luz stood in awe of all the architectural marvels and relics of ancient Asian civilizations he witnessed: the sacred Borobudur Temple of Indonesia, Thailand's ancient capital of Sukhothai, and Cambodia's national symbol, the Angkor Wat. As with any other tourist, he always brought a camera to capture photographs of the places he visited. Specifically, Luz expressed how enraptured he was with the allure of the Indian subcontinent. He said: "The profusion of interesting forts, palaces, battlements, mosques, temples! Enormous and huge! I cannot tell you how impressive it was. The history, the architecture, the colors, the costumes—and the faces of the most beautiful people on earth." Luz visited the historical Rajasthan, a northwestern Indian state known for its ancient hill forts and palaces. As one of India's major tourist destinations, it is home to the ruins of the Indus Valley civilization at Kalibangan and Balathal, the Dilwara temples, and the forts and palaces of Jaipur. Rajasthan embodies the marvel of Indian architecture, giving it the designation as the most historical in all of India. When he returned to his native land, Luz became imbued with nostalgic longing for his Asian travels. Thus began his Cities of the Past series. Luz envisioned utopian cities as panoramic landscapes rendered in his geometric abstract-minimalist style. He stated: "These architectural paintings—which I call Cities of the Past— are imaginary landscapes, recollections of my Asian pilgrimages. They have one common element: they are not literal but rather composite images from memory. They are imagined, transformed, invented." In Abandoned Palace, Rajasthan, Luz submits to his creative impulses. Although he employs spontaneity in his brushstrokes, Luz's mathematical instincts resulted in a refined precision of linear forms. While the actual palaces and forts in Rajasthan are lavishly constructed and embellished with ornate sculptures, Luz completely withdraws these elements in favor of his minimalist language of abstraction. Surmounted by domes and cupolas, the sweeping white contours mounted on top of each other to form a towering structure are reminiscent of the ziggurat, albeit in a much grander scale. Luz paints a quadrilateral moon instead of a circular one, expanding on his distinct geometric reinterpretation of natural elements. Completing the composition is Luz's signature use of red and black, which serve as the colors of the sky and the ground, respectively.