Provenance: Provenance:
Private Colection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Often considered as one of the most active and acclaimed artists in the Southeast Asian region, Filipino visual artist Rodel Tapaya continues to push the boundaries of his own art by reshaping age-old narratives with a contemporary flair. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas and then pursued further studies at the Parsons School of Design in New York and the University of Helsinki in Finland. As an artist, Tapaya is primarily concerned with the narrative potential of art, especially when it comes to contemporary social and cultural issues. His works often weave together different facets of everyday life into one cohesive tapestry. But, what separates Tapaya from the rest is his masterful use of local mythologies and legends as a way of exploring the often vague and unrelenting reality of contemporary life. He explores this through his multifaceted elements, and experiments on folk aesthetics and material to develop his own distinct visual language. In this particular piece titled The Wise Monkey and the Foolish Giant, Tapaya draws inspiration from a popular Southeast Asian myth of the same name. The folktale tells the story of how a small animal, the monkey, outsmarts a much bigger creature despite their differences in physical size and strength. The piece purports this very scene by showing how a group of monkeys have seemingly outwitted the much larger giant; effectively positing the moral that might does not always make right. When viewed within the context of Tapaya’s artistic practice, the scene evolves from a simple lesson about the virtues of the mind, to an engaging critique about power and oppression. The elements in the piece act as a stand-in for real world interactions, effectively communicating a nuanced message about democracy and the power of organized resistance. Tapaya has since created multiple renditions of The Wise Monkey and the Foolish Giant, the most notable one being a mixed media diorama that was featured at the Singapore Art Museum.