Title: Bwisit (Irritant), Jai Alai Series
Signed & Dated: signed and dated 2000 (lower right)
Medium: oil on canvas
Measurements: 48” x 36” (122 cm x 91 cm)
Provenance: León Gallery, Kingly Treasures Auction, MakatiCity, 29 November 2014, lot 95Acquired from the above by the present owner
Certificate of Authenticity:
Literature:
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Write Up: Danilo Dalena mainly established his name during the earlyseventies with his brilliant and caustic political cartoons andillustrations for the Free Press Philippine Leader which gavea new life to editorial cartooning and brought out newpotentials to the field of Philippine graphic arts. His careerbecame more pronounced upon the creation of his famousJai Alai series which placed him high on the roster of AAPwinners and won for him the Mobil Art Grand Award forpainting in 1980.The Jai Alai series in oil on canvas was a culmination of thefigure drawings now rendered in paintings of epic perspectiveon the subject of swarming masses in search of luck ormiraculous relief. Done during the Martial law years, thecrowded betting halls in this series served as a metaphorfor the ensuing human condition, particularly the Philippinesociety crisis.The game, like an arbitrary throw of dice with its winningcombination of numbers and mesmerizes and provokes inthe crowds of the oppressed and unemployed a temporaryheightened existence compounded by hope and despair, byjubilation and drunken despondency. Eschewed of gaudystrokes of the desperate, echoing ghoulish shadows ofuncertainty, Dalena viewed Jai Alai frontons as cathedrals offaith and fate. He dwelt into the Filipino psyche by inducinggame metaphors of llamado and dejado. Instead of depicting triumphs, he condoled more withdefeat and despair of the human spirit. Done in earth tonesof brown, green and oranges, Dalena’s Bodies are lush andfleshy, less concerned with depictions of ideal physicality andenvironments, focusing more on immortalizing what he seesas he sees them.