Frame size: H125 x W95 x D5 cm
Born in Manila, the Philippines, Jose Legaspi (b. 1959) graduated from University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in 1986. His art often features disturbing content of explicit violence and images of pain and horror, unsettling viewers with its disquieting beauty. Legaspi has exhibited widely since 1980 in the Philippines and also at prestigious international platforms, such as the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2002) in Brisbane. Legaspi is best known for this installation that is created from more than 500 pieces of loose-leaf pastel drawings. Presented in a grid, there are no visible narratives in the arrangement of these drawings, except for the imagery of torment of the figures. Legaspi’s training as a scientist can be seen in the anatomically precise and delicately rendered figures. Repulsive and yet seductive in its own way, these drawings invite the viewer’s gaze to return to them again, even though the subject matter is appalling and distressing.
