Transcript:
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Page 5
Hubon Madyaas Group at SM City Iloilo,
World Sculpture News. Asian Art News: Hongkong.
Volume 6 Number 2 Spring Issue 2000
pp. 82-83.
Page 5
Defensor, for a long time now the leading spirit of Hubon Madyaas, shows the most varied and expiremental approaches to terra-cotta sculpture. Also a painter and printmaker, his works echo his earlier themes, such as Dancing for the Moon, and the struggle between the monster Bakunawa and the Diwata in Iloilo folk mythology. He presents a group sculpture in which a microcosm of the universe is at the center of competing forces, mainly the dragon Bakunawa and the nature diwata, while other figures make gestures of supplication and alarm at the universal struggle.The center of the universe is occupied by gorgeous plants in color, a pristine Eden, while bordering this zone are fallen trees, showing the ecological destruction. Supplementary works have the forms of broad vases painted on with human dynamic figures amid lush tropical nature with a continually shifting perspective, most in colorful fluorescent hues. The series of dancing figures, however, is left in the natural earth-brown of terra cotta, but these more directly show the artist's verve and creative energyin their dynamic shapes in contrapposto, straining, whirling, or in erotic interaction.
Clearly, the artist's strength lies in his sense of the interactivity of forms and their strong dynamic impulses individually or in a group. Terra cotta in its supple nature is also able to bring out these merits to the fore.This successful terra-cotta show charts directions for the medium, its range of possibilities and the enthusiasm for experimentation that it elicits. Opportunities should be created for a wider viewing of these works beyond Iloilo to Manila and the other regions. @ @ @
Fred Orig, Panapton nga Lunang I & II
(Clay Shirts), 2000, painted terracotta,
60 x 40 16 cm.
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