Rodel Tapaya

Private Asian Collection

The work is in good condition overall. Unframed, on a stretcher.
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Rodel Tapaya is highly respected for his body of works that critique Filipino society and politics through the vibrant framework of local folktales and magical realism. He is able to dissect and analyse modernization under the guise of cultural parables set within a contemporary paradigm. The artist’s paintings are in depth narratives that invoke spiritual deities together with colourful beings from his own imagination. The natural landscape is oftentimes the stage where these individuals gather and interact with one another. Absent of any representation that would comfort the audience with a familiar presence, Tapaya’s paintings are surreal landscapes that play with existing urban values and beliefs. By emphasizing the faults and foibles that make up a human life, the artist’s oeuvre can be seen as a vivid narrative that finds sanctuary within mythology and everyday relationships.

The work entitled Where the Sun Visited the Earthworld is a classic piece from his oeuvre. Inhabiting the composition is a host of creatures that tease the viewer’s imagination with their meaning to occupy the narrative. The sun in the painting is shown as a humanoid fiery ball of golden light hovering amidst the forest landscape, its purpose identified by the title of the artwork. Tapaya’s use of colours further highlights the mythological properties of the paintings, for the vivid hues and dynamic brushstrokes serve to convey the otherworldliness of the individuals that saunter in and out of the paintings.

The title of the present work is reminiscent of a folktale, for it alludes to age-old stories of the creation of the universe when mankind, wildlife, and celestial beings, all lived alongside one another equally and without judgement. While the title of the piece welcomes in conversation, it is the audience’s interaction with the painting that establishes their personal understanding of the title. That is the genius behind Tapaya’s paintings, for while the artist critiques modern society with a vocabulary rooted in parables, each viewer engages with his artworks on a different level that is inspired by their own personal histories and experiences.