Artwork Details
- Title
- During
- Artist
- Date
- 1982
- Location
- Dimensions
- 82 x 72 in. (208.3 x 182.9 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase made possible through Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- acrylic on canvas
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Figure — fragment — hand
- Figure — fragment — face
- Figure — fragment — foot
- Figure — fragment — chest
- Object Number
- 2023.26
Artwork Description
Paintings show the physical touch of their makers, usually using a brush or other tool. Here we see the literal imprint of the artist's body--where he pressed his chest, thighs, hands, and feet, wet with paint, against the canvas. The resulting imagery suggests a ritual or a dance.
Carlos Villa's face-print can also be seen, emerging from and disappearing into the background. Including his face was, for Villa, a way to affirm his identity as a Filipino American artist. As a student in the 1950s, Villa had been stung when a teacher told him, "Filipino art history doesn't exist." He went on to uncover--and create--this art himself.?Recognizing Filipino culture as a mix of Indigenous, Asian, and Western influences, Villa developed a personal aesthetic that drew form and iconography from a wide array of cultural sources.