To honor the late Filipino sculptor Eduardo Castrillo’s artistic legacy, as well as the friendships he developed through the years, Ayala Museum opens the exhibit “Eduardo Castrillo: A Prism of Art and Friendships”
Guest curator Jeannie Javelosa has curated the third of series, which features pieces lent by the artist’s friends.
‘Home’ (2012)
The objects on display embody facets of the prism that was the sculptor’s life and were chosen to give a representation of the various styles and forms he created in his lifetime.
“In this special exhibition…the colossal and the personal are brought closer to the appreciative gaze of the museum visitor through the filter of [Castrillo’s] friendships with artists, collectors, and patrons who shaped and made possible the body of work that we celebrate tonight,” Mariles Gustilo, senior director, arts and culture division of Ayala Foundation, Inc., said during the exhibition opening reception on April 26 in Ayala Museum.
At the same event, Javelosa mentioned in her curator’s speech that Prism is the “bookend” of a series of exhibitions commemorating what would have been Castrillo’s 50th year anniversary as an artist.
The first was the Yuchengco Museum presentation “Eduardo Castrillo @ 50: Moving the Legacy Forward” which focused on his public works, followed by “The Legacy Begins: Eduardo Castrillo @ 50” show exhibited at the Provenance Art Gallery, which showcased the artist’s family’s private collection.
Eduardo Castrillo: A Prism of Art and Friendships “is not to be considered as a retrospective exhibition,” Javelosa said, but as a “warm gathering of friends and a show of appreciation for those who loved and supported Castrillo.”
“Despite his colorful life and unhappy childhood, it was through their support and trust that he became the artist we remember today,” Javelosa added.
‘Calmness in Organic Form’ (2009)
The name Eduardo Castrillo is synonymous with metal sculpture. He is one of the leading Filipino artists in the field of sculpture who first burst into the Philippine contemporary art scene in 1966 with religious tableaux such as “The Virgin at La Loma Cemetery” and “Pieta at the Loyola Memorial Park” in Parañaque.
Other monumental works followed that not only defined the urban landscape of Metro Manila but also celebrated Phililppine heroes and history—the Spirit of Pinaglabanan in San Juan, Rajah Sulayman in Malate; the Bonifacio Shrine near Manila City Hall.
The historic People Power Revolution had two monumental iterations by Castrillo—People Power Monument along EDSA and the Spirit of EDSA at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.
His works are also seen in other countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam in Southeast Asia; Switzerland, the Vatican, and Poland in Europe; Guam, North America, and Australia.
Eduardo Castrillo: Prism of Art and Friendships is on view until June 4 at the Ground Floor Gallery of Ayala Museum, Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City.
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