Ossorio’s Grazing Light at Leon Gallery

Once more, the Leon Gallery has been privileged to be the venue for the art of Alfonso Ossorio, the best internationally known Fil-Am artist to emerge mid-century.

Although Ossorio grew up and studied in England and the US, his family was nonetheless wellen-sconced in Philippine business circles. His father, Don Miguel Ossorio, founded Victorias Milling Corp. which, at that time, was the most modern sugar refinery in the Philippines. His mother, Ma. Paz Yangco, hailed from the family whose successful shipping company was known as the King of the Pasig. One of his close relatives, Teodoro Yangco, set up Yangco Market in Divisoria.

Ossorio himself was among the first artists from the school of abstract expressionism, a modern art movement that started in New York, and is said to have unseated Paris as the capital of modern art then. His colleagues included Jackson Pollock (the most famous), Clifford Stills, Mark Rothko, Willhelm de Kooning, among others.

Surprisingly, little was known of Ossorio here in the Philippines until recently, despite the fact that his biggest work is permanently displayed as the sanctuary centerpiece at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Victorias, Negros Occidental, right in the middle of the sugar mill compound.

From April 21 to May 12, 19 of Ossorio’s works will be on exhibit, with representative works from 1942 to 1989. From his early drawings of impeccable draftsmanship to his wildly colorful “congregations,” Ossorio’s work is a study of meticulously applied scholarship rendered in well-researched material.

Ossorio’s Grazing Light attempts to re-examine in exhibition, his process in his art and life in this exciting and intriguing collection from the Frederic Ossorio Family Collection. Alfonso Ossorio: Grazing Light will run at Leon Gallery, ground floor Corinthian Plaza, Paseo de Roxas cor. Gamboa St. Salcedo Village, Makati from April 21 to May 12. Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Curatorial guided tours by appointment only.