Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Known for his portraits of friends in the international jet set, Oscar Zalameda is also acknowledged as one of the most consistent exponents of abstract art in the Philippines. This untitled work, with its vivid colors, reveals a personal abstract style that has not completely given up on imagery. In this nude, it was as if Zalameda subdued the erotic impulses of imagery by a process of sublimation, converting flesh into an abstract arrangement of colour planes. The nude is still somewhat representational, if barely there, but visual accuracy is not the artist’s primary concern.