PROPERTY FROM THE ZITA FELICIANO COLLECTION

ABOUT THE WORK

An icon in abstract expressionism, Hernando R. Ocampo’s artistic approach was purely subjective, inspirational, and emotional at times. He also often underwent a process of cerebral contemplation in the act of creation. An idea, often occurring out of the blue, was drawn more in detail as it developed and those that have grown out of the idea were erased. Then, on blank sheets of paper, the artist played the motifs against each other, tracing the best arrangement on a new paper sheet later. Afterwards, he would transfer the arrangement onto canvas and map every area of color on it. Although his paintings are chromatic rather than tonal, as soon as he painted an area, the original colors and additional colors come in a tonal connection with each other. Ocampo, who created oeuvres that were original and truly Filipino, was indeed special, for he was a self-taught local artist who had never studied abroad and whose exposure to art was only through reading materials. In the words of H.R. Ocampo: The Artist as Filipino author, Angel de Jesus, “The life of H. R. Ocampo has been as colorful as his paintings. It has been a full life, richly lived… The only original talent that the Philippines has produced, he epitomizes in every sense the artist as Filipino.” (P.I.R.)