Ang Kiukok

            



            Ang Kiukok was a Filipino painter known for his passionate, Cubist-inspired works. He typically picked dynamic or scary subject matter, frequently depicting rabid dogs, crucifixions, and screaming individuals in an abstracted geometric style. When asked why he frequently chose subjects full of such rage, Kiukok once replied, "Why not? Open your eyes. Look around you. So much anger, sorrow, ugliness. And also madness." Born on March 1, 1931 in Davao City, the Philippines, From 1942 to 1945, Kiukok went to Chinese High School in Davao but was forced to seek refuge on the mountains of Davao during the outbreak of World War II. In 1947, he moved to Cotabato to take on the job of making billboards for movie theaters. Kiukok achieved critical and commercial success in his home country throughout the 1960s. Some of his most gruesome paintings were created under the reign of Ferdinand Marcos, who imposed martial law in the Philippines throughout the 1970s. Kiukok was named National Artist by his own nation in 2001.Some of his most gruesome paintings were created under the reign of Ferdinand Marcos, who enforced martial law on the Philippines throughout the 1970s. Kiukok was named a National Artist by his own nation in 2001, and he continued to exhibit successfully until his death on May 9, 2005 in Quezon City, the Philippines


Works


Lovers 
Signed and dated 1975 
Ink on paper 
Works on Paper 13” x 9 1/2”
33 cm x 24 cm

Rosary Queen 
Signed and dated 1973 (lower right) 
oil on canvas 
24" x 14 1/2" (61 cm x 37 cm)
Mother and Child 
Signed and dated 1981 (lower right) 
tempera on paper 
8 3/4” x 11 3/4” (22 cm x 30 cm)


            Ang Kiukok is well known for his religious subjects, although he also experimented with portraiture, local scenery, and even abstraction. Ang Kiukok quietly cultivated his own visual vocabulary from year to year, decade to decade, working persistently and without fanfare to create stunning pictures of humanity laced with gravity and melancholy. While his themes are universal, Ang Kiukok was concerned with the challenges of his time, never losing sight of the artist's place in the global discussion.

            His artworks have the elements and principles of contemporary arts such as: (1) Perspective, because he was able to portray his surroundings to his artworks. Moreover, the elements of art are also visible in his works such as the visual components of color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value.


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