ABOUT THE WORK

As a way of pursuing artistic expression to the fullest extent, Ocampo dropped his original artistic orientation in favor of the freeing absolution brought about by abstraction. In the process, he created his own imagery and symbolism through the alchemy of paint. The artist’s new figuration earned him the distinction of being acclaimed as “the most expressively Filipino” among local painters. Lush tropical orange and yellow hues light up these works, carefully balanced by dark forms. In the process of creating a new reality through painting, Ocampo developed a style that may be considered uniquely Filipino. These were created in 1976, two years before the artist’s demise, which was when he held his second one-man show at the ABC Galleries to mark his 65th birthday, exhibiting 65 watercolor paintings. It was also the same year when he received the Diwa ng Lahi, the highest cultural award given by the City of Manila during the yearly week-long celebration of its founding.