Santiago Bose

(1949-2002)

Contemplating Infinito Dios and Vermeer

Footnotes

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Provenance
Hiraya Gallery, Manila, The Philippines
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibited
San Francisco, USA, At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1998
Texas, USA, At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 1999
Manila, The Philippines, At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 1999

Literature
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists, San Francisco, 1998, p. 71, illustrated in colour

山提亞哥·波斯
默觀上帝與維梅爾
1997年作

簽名：Santiago Bose 1997（右下）馬尼拉大都會博物館標簽（畫背）
木 窗框 貓骨 迴紋針 蠟 環氧樹脂 金漆木板

來源
菲律賓馬尼拉Hiraya畫廊
現藏家得自上述畫廊

展覽
美國舊金山，「At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists」，舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，1998年
美國德克薩斯州，「At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists」，休斯頓藝術博物館，1999年
菲律賓馬尼拉，「At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists」，馬尼拉大都會博物館，1999年

出版
舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，《At Home & Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists》，舊金山，1998年，第71頁，彩圖

Mixed media artist Santiago Bose was a leading figure of contemporary art in the Philippines. He was born to working-class parents in Baguio City in 1949, a few years after the end of American colonial rule in his country. Between 1967 and 1972, Bose studied at the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. To broaden his creative horizons, he continued his studies abroad at the West 17th Print Workshop in New York. Bose returned to his hometown in 1986 and began to probe the intricacies of colonialism and imperialism through his art. He became the founding president of the Baguio Arts Guild, a cultural association raising awareness of the resilience of indigenous cultures in the northern Cordillera region.

The artist's visual artworks often reveal unique aesthetics and sensibilities. Contemplating Infinito Dios and Vermeer visualises the tension between colonialism and indigenous beliefs by juxtaposing a vanitas still life with the icon of Infinito Dios on which blood has been splattered. Infinito Dios is an indigenous god who represents unconditional sacrifice—people who invoke his name would never suffer in the afterlife. Therefore, he was regarded as a central figure in the Philippines' Millenarian Movement. The vanitas still life, On the other hand, brings to the table both feast and famine, indicating the transience of the material world and the ever-changing prospects of a hegemonic bloodletting. Bose fused these seemingly disparate elements by painting them with the colours of the national flag of the Philippines, so as to dissect the discourse on Filipino national identity.

Like his peers, Bose used his art as a powerful medium to challenge controversial issues in the Philippine postcolonial context and to demonstrate the role of the artist as a social critic. He exhibited his works in numerous major international events in Japan, Cuba, Australia, and the United States. In 2006, he was posthumously shortlisted for the National Artist award.