Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

Along with her husband, Angelito Antonio, Norma Belleza is considered one of the living champions of the urban folk genre painting. Although Belleza's palette has always resulted in brightly depicted and exuberant themes and subjects, the physique and facial expressions of the figures that people her canvases say otherwise. They narrate the often-overlooked stories of the Filipino masses. Belleza's maximalist approach to painting shows the multifaceted struggles of the ordinary people—mothers juggling between taking care of their children and making ends meet; small vendors selling all kinds of goods while lacking a suitable environment due to rampant commercialization; farmers whose covered faces hide the decades-long neglect and exploitation they have been suffering from. Nonetheless, the vibrancy of Belleza's canvases sheds light on these people's innate strength; through their collective actions, they possess the power to engender radical social change. (A.M.)