Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

In this work titled Payong, Emmanuel Garibay harkens back to the iconic 1972 Larawan Series of Benedicto Cabrera, in which images inspired by colonial photographs take the centerpiece. Interestingly, Garibay admits to having been influenced by Bencab, especially in the style and essence of this particular piece. Garibay depicts a woman clothed in the traditional baro’t saya with a bandana wrapped around her head. She is seen holding an umbrella, with her facial expression showing vigilance. Garibay says that the umbrella represents “the idea of protection.” He expounds that the composition does not evoke a situation of defenselessness but an image of inner character and innate strength. Drawing influence from the nature of Bencab’s Larawan Series, Garibay revamps the image of the Filipino woman, who, for the longest time, has been traditionally encapsulated by Jose Rizal’s tragic heroine, the meek Maria Clara. The woman in the painting exudes defiance, dignity, and confidence in her capability of defending and safeguarding herself from repressive forces; she is undeterred by the oppressive elements women are subjected to in a patriarchal society and successive regimes that ostracize the legitimate concerns of the marginalized. The work is an affirmation of Garibay’s continued fostering of the Filipina disposition: dauntless and independent. Vladimir Lenin once wrote: “Women may be bound twice in a nation struggling for freedom, but women in the struggle are women unbound.” (A.M.)