Provenance:
Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Zalameda’s juxtaposition of bold colors and strokes transforms his subject matters into virtual abstract patterns. While a handful of mid-century Filipino artists demonstrated a precise understanding of the tenets and implications of traditional European cubism and American rooted abstraction, other painters like Zalameda were more gingerly, borrowing the surface aspects of cubism yet never departing from the naturalistic basis of their art. Zalameda teaches the viewers that abstraction need not be hard to read and need not be willfully ambiguous. Zalameda’s abstraction reveals a style that has not entirely given up imagery. The lines and forms that characterize his landscapes are still evident in his later works. This influence would be traced to a fruitful stay in Mexico during the late 1950s. “I’m basically an intense person, a lover of life and people,” the artist declared in 1978. Zalameda is best known for the style that would be his signature: the looser cubist forms accompanied by the bold and assured colors. Strategic areas of warmer colors accent the serenely dynamic visual experience.