Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by Salvador F. Bernal (National Artist for Theater and Design, 2003) Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature: Ramon N. Villegas & Lisa Guerrero Nakpil, TWO NAVELS: LEON CURATED AUCTION, Leon Gallery, Makati City, 2016, p. 64-69 (illustrated)

ABOUT THE WORK

This unique and powerful work immediately stuns the viewer with a totally-stripped Christ with his shoulder blades nailed to the cross, hanging like a slab of meat for sale. The distinctive Ang Kiukok trademarks are here — the sharp as barbed-wire crown of thorns, the broken, bloodied body slumped in anguished suffering. Today, this atrocious view immediately brings to mind the abandoned bodies of suspected drug addicts and drug pushers gunned down for “resisting arrest” by law enforcers and vigilantes. Truly, the art of Kiukok, who intensely immersed himself in the frustrations, pains, and trials of our “kababayan sa mga laylayan” remains alive as an urgent wake-up call for us to respond to their plight. 85