Art Words

Expression following norms institutionalized by art schools. In Manila, rooted in early 20th-century portraiture centered on UP Fine Arts.

Painting in transparent water-soluble pigment, of French origin; it relies on delicate gradation and the white of the paper.

A postwar American painting movement that records the act itself — flinging, dripping, full-body gesture — directly onto the canvas.

Water-based paint using synthetic resin. Valued for fast drying in the tropical climate of the Philippines.

A technique of combining found objects into three-dimensional works; it expanded the boundaries of sculpture in the mid-20th century.

Politically charged propaganda art. In the Philippines, it took shape as protest art during the 1970s Marcos era.

A French-origin word for an artistic studio. Used when implying an educational master-apprentice system.

Tagalog for 'to weave.' Used in contexts of treating textiles as painting.

Painting concerned with relationships of form, color, and line rather than depicting specific objects. Fernando Zóbel is the leading figure in postwar Philippines.

A mode in which abstract concepts are encoded in concrete imagery; common in Spanish-colonial religious painting.

Vanguard practice that pushes beyond established art frameworks. In the Philippines, postwar circles such as the Saturday Group and Shop 6 are key reference points.

An organized record of source material, or the artistic practice that takes that record itself as its subject.

Art that takes the earth itself as material and site, working in sand, soil, and stone outside the gallery.

In limited edition prints, impressions the artist keeps. Marked 'A.P.' separately from the numbered edition.

A manual craftsperson. Used where the boundary between 'artist' and 'craftsperson' is blurred.

A decorative style that flourished in the 1920s–30s. Traces remain in the architectural ornament along Escolta Street, Manila.

A late-19th to early-20th-century decorative style based on organic forms and curves; it strongly shaped prints and posters.

Raw art created by self-taught artists outside the formal art world. In the Philippines, discussed in relation to street painters and drawing movements in prisons.