Provenance: Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

The works of Mario Parial were pioneering in their depictions of folk imagery, rural themes, and other local scenes. The artist celebrated the nuances of local and rural life by exploring the decorative and emblematic elements of talismanic anting-anting and the religious icons of folk Catholicism and his endless depictions of naïve looking women. His fascination with traditional forms of life led him to develop a uniquely Filipino style that arguably diversified our own local and traditional forms of expression. A painter, printmaker, and photographer, Parial studied under numerous Modernist masters such as Manuel Rodriguez, Sr., Vincente Manansala, and Carlos V. Francisco. In 1969 he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas. His works deal with folk genre, mother and child, and mythical figures, often integrated with plants and other organic forms.