- Papo
de Asis was born in 1949, in the small town of Dumangas, Philippines.
He studied, apprenticed, and struggled as an artist for most of his
youth. In 1972, when Martial Law was declared in The Philippines under
the Marcos dictatorship, his art took on a much deeper, political
meaning and the artist became an artist/activist. In 1975, Papo together
with fourteen other artists formed a social realist group called "Kaisahan"
(Unity). Until the day Marcos fled the country ten years later the
group painted murals protesting the dictatorship and did all they
could to strengthen the alliance with workers and peasants using creative
efforts. All this transformed Papo to paint new subject matter, vividly
portraying the ongoing injustices such as military atrocities, salvaging,
and rampant human rights violations. The artist, now in exile by choice
in Los Angeles, brings his paintings to La Luz De Jesus to confront
viewer's norms and values in our pseudo-civilized society.
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