Antipas Delotavo (b. 1954)
Babala sa Abala
signed and dated 2018 (lower right)
oil on canvas
48" x 36" (122 cm x 91 cm)


Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artistconfirming the authenticity of this lot

EXHIBITED:Altro Mondo Greenbelt 5, Marginals, Makati City,November 15 - December 31, 2018


As stressed by art critic Alice Guillermo, social realism in the Philippines "stresses the choice of contemporary subject matter drawn from the conditions and events of one's time" and "is essentially based on a keen awareness of conflict." Expanding on this definition, Antipas Delotavo focuses on the subject of art and contextualizes it within its current situation; the glitz and glamor of galleries, where the affluent revel in the presence of fine art; how art nowadays is detached from the interests of the ordinary Filipinos. Delotavo explores the contradiction between the interests of two opposing classes regarding art. The artist uses an ornate frame as the centerpiece, with pictures of ordinary Filipinos surrounding the object. Struggling to make ends meet in the throes of labor under an exploitative system, they continue with their daily lives, unmoved by all the enthusiasm surrounding the sale of fine art. Delotavo paints an image of a red signal light above the frame. It serves to remind how the masses, occupied with their paltry subsistence, often overlook how art can be a powerful tool, thus alienating them from a medium that can serve, represent, and amplify their immediate interests. However, we should not blame the masses for their disregard. As they struggle to cope in an unjust system, the prevailing idea is that art is only accessible to the wealthy. Art critic Cid Reyes writes in the exhibition notes of Marginals: "Indeed, Delotavo has observed from his interactions with people who often cross his path that they regard art objects as simply expensive material things, the objects of desire of the upper class." This notion also stems from reality—that art has been molded to suit the demands of a profit-oriented and profitdriven system. Guillermo argues in her book Social Realism in the Philippines: “As technologies are geared to serve the interests of the First World, so is art shaped as a commodity to serve the market of dealers, agents, collectors, and art investors by encouraging and rewarding marketable qualities.” Hence, Delotavo stresses the democratization of art in such a manner that it can register through the veins of our consciousness and induce an awakening. On this account, art and its production are and will always be bound to be political. (A.M.)