ABOUT THE WORK

Sabel came to form as an artistic statement on not only the dispossessed individual’s predicament but also speak to the broader question of contemporary alienation. If many of the scenes he recorded with his camera and in sketches told of human deprivation, it was because they were all too evident to him. BenCab uses his artist tools as media for artistic evolution as he weaves satire and social commentary. This particular piece entitled Homage to Turing, showcases BenCab’s later style and technique. The National artist’s earlier paintings, especially those of Sabel herself, utilized a much more varied technicolor palette. They also possessed much more recognizable facial and bodily features, emphasizing BenCab’s knack for figurative work. This work however comes much later, and is hence tinged with a much more abstract style with an attribution to the geometric forms of Arturo Luz, whom BenCab fondly calls “Turing”. Fittingly, this important piece was created the same year BenCab was proclaimed National Artist for the Visual Arts. The colorful and varied palette is replaced with a predominantly monochromatic tone mixed with a minimal use of stark color with red and white square accents. In Homage to Turing one can feel that a continuous thread runs through all his figures from the very beginning even if each Sabel figure is compartmentalized. The emotions embodied ever since the original Variations of Sabel still runs throughout this relatively newer piece. The coherent narrative and theme that BenCab has sustained throughout his fifty-year career is a testament to his skill and talent as one of the Philippine’s greatest artists.