ABOUT THE WORK

Jose Tence Ruiz, one of the featured artists of the Philippine Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale, has always been adept in coming up with searing examinations of the current socio-political conditions. In “Hanggang sa Huling Patak ng Aking MMDA Art”, Ruiz reflects upon the process of the murals he did along EDSA, but this time through a more sinister lens. Garbed in what appears to be a futuristic suit, a hooded figure hangs menacingly in the center of the canvas, surveying the city filled with geometries and forms of color that usually characterize “MMDA art”. Is this the self-portrait of the artist reckoning with the marks he left on the urban fabric, or is it a spectator from the future casting his judgment? Essentially, the work foregrounds the relationship of the citizen to the made environment, how they are inextricably linked by the common language of signs.