Provenance:
Private Collection, Singapore

Exhibited:
Janco Dada Museum, Ein Hod, Israel, 2005

ABOUT THE WORK

The artistry of Emmanuel Garibay is inextricably bonded to the masses. Contrary to other artists, Garibay genuinely portrays the ordinary people—their ways of living and everyday struggles, brushing off their often-romanticized depiction. Garibay humanizes these individuals and depicts them as capable of instigating radical change—an active polity crucial to achieving genuine national progress. The mother and child theme has always been an enduring theme in Philippine art due to our natural matriarchal tendency, transcending cultural norms and barriers. Beyond his affinity for such a theme, Garibay reveals his activism and empathy for the underprivileged and the marginalized. In this piece, the artist paints a picture of a mother in the act of nursing her infant. It can be deduced that the father may have orphaned his wife and child, as made evident by a framed photograph of a man. Their dwelling place unambiguously presents their poverty-stricken circumstance. Skyscrapers and infrastructure conspicuously loom out from the background, towering above a dreary skyline. Painted in a compelling manner, Garibay juxtaposes the image of a shanty town with depictions of purported growth and development, evoking the concept of the “edifice complex.” Architectural critic and art historian Gerard Lico defines it as an affliction that “plagues a nation with an obsession and compulsion to build edifices as a hallmark of greatness or as a signifier of national prosperity.” Amid an impression of well-being lies the actual condition of the people—oppressed, whitewashed, and exploited. Through this piece, an awakening of our spirit of collective struggle can induce us to mobilize against a systemic problem shrouded underneath a circus of hollow promises and illusory progress. (A.M.)