Lot 039
JUANITO TORRES
b. The Philippines, 1977
Mass Production, 2008
Signed and dated 'JTORRES 2008’ (lower right)
Oil on canvas
122cm x 122cm
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Singapore.
ESTIMATE RM 7,000 - 10,000
PRICE REALISED RM 13,440 |
Known for his colossal paintings of human figures in the context of Filipino history, Juanito Torres is a contemporary social realist painter who works in realism. Mass Production illustrates a claustrophobic scene of a group of men, clad in the uniformity of white T-shirt - perhaps a social commentary representing the lives of factory workers who live to feed the needs of the consumerism world – painted in limited palette of white and brown. The figures in Juanito’s work express discontentment and anxiety, a silent protest in progress. Entering the local shores for the first time, the artist’s densely composed figurative painting invites the viewer to gain crosscultural understanding by viewing the world through his lens.
Juanito Torres attended Philippine High School for the Arts in Los Banos, Laguna, where he was awarded for Outstanding Visual Arts in 1994 and was later enrolled as a Fine Art student at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He was a finalist at the Metrobank Foundation National Painting Competition in 2005. He was also selected as a Fellow and is the designated artist for CANVAS Romeo Forbes Children’s Literature Initiative from 2009 to 2010. His critically acclaimed solo show titled Eksena (Scenes) was exhibited at Galerie Joaquin Main, Manila, the Philippines.
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