Ang Kiukok, Lao Lianben, and Hau Chiok: Must-know Filipino-Chinese painters

Lao Lianben’s foray into the arts is quite similar. Born in Manila a few years after the Second World War, Lao came from a modest background and spent his childhood on Arlegui Street in Quiapo. His parents fled China to escape the Japanese occupation, only to find the situation in the Philippines equally, if not much worse. In one of his interviews, he also shared how “in complete disarray” their household was at the time, so he would find recluse on their roof. He studied fine arts, particularly painting, under Florencio Concepcion, among others, at the University of the East (UE). Concepcion further studied at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arte in Rome before becoming the dean of UE College of Fine Arts.

Lao admitted in one of his interviews that they were an atypical Chinese family where traditions were not given much importance. However, his distinctive works, informed by Zen Buddhism principles and later refined by his own take on the Sumi-e painting technique, paved the path to success for him. In 1968, Shell NSAC, his work Dead Birth, won first prize. In 1973, he held his inaugural solo exhibition at the Solidaridad Galleries, which was run by National Artist for Literature F Sionil Jose. This was followed by a series of exhibitions at the Luz Gallery, owned by National Artist Arturo Luz. He garnered an honourable mention at the Art Association of the Philippines’ annual contest in 1976, the Mobil Art Award in 1983, and received the Thirteen Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1976.

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Among the three painters who are the subject of this article, Hau Chiok is the most rooted in his Chinese heritage. Born in Jinjiang, Fujian, China, he has lived in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and currently, Canada. He first learned the art of painting under Zhao Shao Ang of Hong Kong and Chinese finger painting under Wu Zhai Yan of Singapore. Beyond his impeccable works, Hau’s impact on the art scene is most evident in the founding of the Philippine Chinese Art Center in 1975, a feat he succeeded with his wife and fellow artist Sy Chiu Hua Lin Yu Qi. In 2004, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave him the Jose Rizal Award for Culture and the Arts.

Hau’s paintings have been exhibited in China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and the USA. He was conferred the title of “Chinese Contemporary Master” by the World Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations in 2006. His art is included in Works of Famous Chinese Masters, published by the World Cultural Development Commission of China in 2006, and Leading Contemporary Masters, published by Zhong Guo Hua Bao Publication of China in 2007.

In 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila hosted his 60th-anniversary exhibition, showcasing Hau’s works on painting, calligraphy, and seal carving.

What’s fascinating about Ang’s oeuvre was that although some critics could distinguish which of his pieces were from his modernist, figurative style and which were from his cubist, expressionist style, they are woven together by one thing—his mastery in depicting “pain”. Using still life in his early years and later venturing into figurative and abstract depictions of human conditions, Ang conveyed “mortal agony, deliberately depicting the universe as imbued with eternal struggles and contradictions”, as described by the León Gallery in one of their auction catalogues.

If one looks at his works, one can see how he saw the world and how much he disagreed with many of life’s realities. This disposition made his works evocative, especially with his distinctive use of bright colours. Torment and pain could be easily read in the expressiveness of his subjects’ gestures, issuing immediate responses from the viewer before even making associations of meanings. As art critic Alfredo Roces once wrote, “The paintings draw their strength from a well-crafted, carefully-orchestrated arrangement of lines, colours, and patterns”.

Nevertheless, digging deep into an Ang masterpiece would reveal harmony beyond the dissonance. Perhaps this is one thing that attracts patrons to his works—that looking at them doesn’t make you feel horrified but merely aware of their toil and impressed by their resistance and resilience, evoking hope.

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Meanwhile, Lao’s representations of hope, warmth, passion, tranquillity, and other positive emotions and ambience are at the forefront of his works, masked with mystery. Despite not being a practising Buddhist, his works are informed by the balance of light, shadow, and texture. He mainly uses black and white in his works, but sometimes, one would find other hues, like yellow and blue, subtly accentuating them.

Some works of Lao also include varying textures, which he achieves by superimposing other materials that create an impression of actual found objects, like water or soot.

Some people associate Lao’s depiction of pitch-black darkness with melancholia, but something about the black colour offers an otherworldly, soothing caress.

Lastly, Hau’s work combines what Chinese art critics have described as “tradition, innovation, and fusion” to create a distinctive “Nanyang Style”, a Southeast Asian style of Chinese painting. Using traditional brush-and-ink painting, Hau unveils the vitality of chi in depicting the world of nature and how mankind positions itself in it. Informed by the Lingnan School of Chinese painting, a traditional style that transformed and developed at the turn of the 20th century, Hau exhibits works that showcase wide and powerful strokes, delicate lines for details of his subject matter, and gentle, almost faded ink washes for his more contemplative landscapes. In observing his work, one would see his references to Daoist concepts, not about aesthetics but more about the philosophy of quietude and restraint.

In addition to Chinese landscapes and nature, Hau’s oeuvre includes Philippine scenes and landmarks, such as Mangyan Brides (2001) and Binondo Church (2008). Overall, Hau’s works invite viewers to relish calmness and peace before returning to the hustle and bustle of life.

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