Anthony Palomo is a celebrated Filipino postwar and contemporary painter. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Painting at the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 1992 and started exhibiting his works in public that same year.
He won several national art competitions, including the grand prize at the 24th Shell National Students Art Competition 1991 (watercolor category), the grand prize at the 11th Metrobank National Painting Competition 1994 (watercolor category), and a citation as a finalist at the Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards 1999.
In Quaderno: Yakap by Anthony Palomo, the artist capitalizes on his affinity for composition to create dreamscapes derived from literal narratives, personal observations, and abstract interpretations of the word yakap. Looking for Juan talks with the artist to learn more about his collection.
What inspires/motivates you to create?
Deadline, as they say, is the best source of inspiration.
What does your art represent?
Art is simply representation of our lives.
Counting Sheeps (acrylic on canvas, 2022)
What does yakap mean to you?
I focused on yakap as a physical connection. For me, this physical form of expression extends more than what it can convey emotionally.
What was the idea behind your yakap artworks? How did you come up with them?
Being mostly figurative in my artmaking, I would always go to what I relate as with common human experiences.
Alaga (acrylic on canvas, 2022)
Could you walk as through your yakap artworks?
Ilaw ng Tahanan is pure and simple, somewhat says it all, and is partly allegorical and partly literal. In Alaga, I depicted the loving relationship between a pet and its carer. Though I am not a cat person, I am at rest with the thought that these individuals truly care for them and likewise sila marahil ang alaga.
Prodigy (acrylic on canvas, 2022)
Counting Sheeps shows the act of sleeping, which is most likely a third of our daily life—and what else do we embrace when in a state of slumber but our dreams and the things we aspire in our minds and thoughts. Lastly, Prodigy explores our gifts as human beings and how it truly extends beyond us. For example, our relationships with our pets and how we are gifted the ability to communicate with them.
How can art be a source of yakap to others?
I leave it to the artwork to relay and communicate to the observer.
Ilaw ng Tahanan (acrylic on canvas, 2022)
Inspired by Anthony Palomo’s art? Embrace Philippine art with Quaderno: Yakap by Anthony Palomo, a set of four limited-edition notebooks featuring original artworks by Palomo, created for the creative you.
A part of the proceeds from Palomo’s Quaderno: Yakap collection will go to book donations to children in disadvantaged communities in the Philippines in support of CANVAS' One Million Books for One Million Filipino Children Campaign.