ROMULO OLAZO (1934-2015)
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Romulo Olazo was born in 1934 and raised in Balayan, Batangas of the Philippines, primarily by his mother as his father passed away when the boy was only four. He moved in 1951 to Manila to find work. By 1959, he was able to enroll himself in the University of Santo Tomas’ department of Fine Arts. As luck would have it, this school was a sort of hub for the modernist movement as it hit its stride, and Olazo had the opportunity to be instructed here by talents such as Victorio Edades and Diosdado Lorenzo. The university was naturally attracting many emerging Filipino artists at this time, so Olazo was also sharing syllabi with the likes of Ang Kiukok, Elizabeth Cheng, and Ong Bungian, to name a few.
Just out of college, the aspiring young artist found work in advertising, but continued painting and printing full-time as well. He was soon taking part in art shows with the Art Association of the Philippines and other small galleries. During the day, he illustrated for the Oriental Komiks and Tagalog Klasiks, and eventually took the position of art director for the Philippine Advertising Counselors. At night, he was painting and printmaking.
It was while he served as art director for the Counselors that Olazo met Patricia Tria, whom he would wed in 1966. Over the years to come, he often attributed his success to the support and encouragement of his wife. Together they would raised three children: Noelle, Jill and Jonathan. In the seventies, Olazo’s artistic pursuits would turn exclusively to printmaking, taking home several prizes in art competitions and in 1972 receiving a prestigious award of Thirteen Artists from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He constructed his own printmaking studio in his family’s home, which he called “101 Workshop”. He opened the doors to his studio to fellow artists like Chabet and Fernando Modesto. In 1973, Olazo was invited to participate in the XII Biennial in Sao Paolo, Brazil; exhibiting his series Diaphanous. This collection of abstract paintings presented a transparency of overlapping objects in colors so sheer and light that it evoked a terrific response in the art world. He also took honorable mention at the 11th Biennial of Prints in Tokyo in 1979 with a series titled Permutation that created the visual sense of an x-ray, continuing in lightness and transparency with monochromatic palettes.
Olazo’s signature abstract and nonobjective paintings and prints found their way to the forefront of the second generation of the modernist movement, which allowed him to hold shows repeatedly at such reputable spaces as Luz Gallery and Finale Art File. In 1981, his name was selected as one of the Philippines’ “Five Outstanding Living Artists” by highly esteemed judges Leo Benesa, Rod. Paras-Perez and Emmanuel Torres, which gave him ranking alongside Napoleon Abueva, Arturo Luz, Cesar Legaspi and old school mate Ang Kiukok. By 1983, Olazo was one of four artists exhibiting in “Four Masters: Four Worlds” at the Sunvar Plaza in Makati City. The other artists in this show were Ang Kiukok, Cesar Legaspi, and Malang Santos; and the event was so successful it would become an annual show for the next ten years, until Legaspi passed away.
Despite living with a pacemaker in his later years, and sometimes being restricted to a wheelchair, Olazo never stepped back from the canvas; creating in the 2000’s his largest ever artworks of the Diaphanous series, masterfully combining silkscreen and paint. The Ayala Museum and Paseo Gallery both presented a retrospective in 2009 that spanned Olazo’s 40-year career in the Philippines. Bluewater Gallery in Mactan, Cebu, hosted the one-man show that marked Olazo’s 40th solo exhibition, titled “Diaphanous by the Sea”, in 2012. This show was clearly influenced by the color blue and the movement of the ocean, perhaps in fond memory of his childhood spent on the shores of Balayon. In addition to his ongoing successful and prolific career in art, Olazo also found great pride in watching his son, Jonathan, follow in his footsteps. Jonathan would become curator of the annual ManilArt fair and even receive the same honor of the Thirteen Artists award twenty years after his father.
On August 18, 2015, Romulo Olazo passed away suddenly at age 81, survived by the wife and children he adored and the sizeable body of work that will remain important and appreciated for decades to come. Those who knew Olazo best express that the fuel behind his creativity was always a highly vivid imagination combined with seemingly endless physical energy which allowed him to pour so much time and passion into his every piece of work, and to break new boundaries in printmaking techniques.
Affiliated Schools, Galleries and Organizations:
University of Santo Tomas
Philippine Advertising Counselors
Luz Gallery
Bluewater Gallery, Cebu
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Finale Art File
Ayala Museum
Paseo Gallery
A Partial List of Awards and Honors:
1972 - Awarded as one of "The Thirteen Artists" by the Cultural Center of the Philippines
1979 - Honorable Mention at the 11th Biennial of Prints in Tokyo
1981 - Selected as one of the Philippines’ “Five Outstanding Living Artists”
1983 - One of four artists exhibiting in “Four Masters: Four Worlds” at the Sunvar Plaza in Makati City
Some Known Works:
Diaphanous, 1979
Diaphanous B-LXXV, 1982
Landscape, 1992
Diaphanous 230, 1980
Woman with Flowers, 2007
Permutation Series No. 86, 1994
Untitled (Nude), 1975
Diaphanous, 1975
Just out of college, the aspiring young artist found work in advertising, but continued painting and printing full-time as well. He was soon taking part in art shows with the Art Association of the Philippines and other small galleries. During the day, he illustrated for the Oriental Komiks and Tagalog Klasiks, and eventually took the position of art director for the Philippine Advertising Counselors. At night, he was painting and printmaking.
It was while he served as art director for the Counselors that Olazo met Patricia Tria, whom he would wed in 1966. Over the years to come, he often attributed his success to the support and encouragement of his wife. Together they would raised three children: Noelle, Jill and Jonathan. In the seventies, Olazo’s artistic pursuits would turn exclusively to printmaking, taking home several prizes in art competitions and in 1972 receiving a prestigious award of Thirteen Artists from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He constructed his own printmaking studio in his family’s home, which he called “101 Workshop”. He opened the doors to his studio to fellow artists like Chabet and Fernando Modesto. In 1973, Olazo was invited to participate in the XII Biennial in Sao Paolo, Brazil; exhibiting his series Diaphanous. This collection of abstract paintings presented a transparency of overlapping objects in colors so sheer and light that it evoked a terrific response in the art world. He also took honorable mention at the 11th Biennial of Prints in Tokyo in 1979 with a series titled Permutation that created the visual sense of an x-ray, continuing in lightness and transparency with monochromatic palettes.
Olazo’s signature abstract and nonobjective paintings and prints found their way to the forefront of the second generation of the modernist movement, which allowed him to hold shows repeatedly at such reputable spaces as Luz Gallery and Finale Art File. In 1981, his name was selected as one of the Philippines’ “Five Outstanding Living Artists” by highly esteemed judges Leo Benesa, Rod. Paras-Perez and Emmanuel Torres, which gave him ranking alongside Napoleon Abueva, Arturo Luz, Cesar Legaspi and old school mate Ang Kiukok. By 1983, Olazo was one of four artists exhibiting in “Four Masters: Four Worlds” at the Sunvar Plaza in Makati City. The other artists in this show were Ang Kiukok, Cesar Legaspi, and Malang Santos; and the event was so successful it would become an annual show for the next ten years, until Legaspi passed away.
Despite living with a pacemaker in his later years, and sometimes being restricted to a wheelchair, Olazo never stepped back from the canvas; creating in the 2000’s his largest ever artworks of the Diaphanous series, masterfully combining silkscreen and paint. The Ayala Museum and Paseo Gallery both presented a retrospective in 2009 that spanned Olazo’s 40-year career in the Philippines. Bluewater Gallery in Mactan, Cebu, hosted the one-man show that marked Olazo’s 40th solo exhibition, titled “Diaphanous by the Sea”, in 2012. This show was clearly influenced by the color blue and the movement of the ocean, perhaps in fond memory of his childhood spent on the shores of Balayon. In addition to his ongoing successful and prolific career in art, Olazo also found great pride in watching his son, Jonathan, follow in his footsteps. Jonathan would become curator of the annual ManilArt fair and even receive the same honor of the Thirteen Artists award twenty years after his father.
On August 18, 2015, Romulo Olazo passed away suddenly at age 81, survived by the wife and children he adored and the sizeable body of work that will remain important and appreciated for decades to come. Those who knew Olazo best express that the fuel behind his creativity was always a highly vivid imagination combined with seemingly endless physical energy which allowed him to pour so much time and passion into his every piece of work, and to break new boundaries in printmaking techniques.
Affiliated Schools, Galleries and Organizations:
University of Santo Tomas
Philippine Advertising Counselors
Luz Gallery
Bluewater Gallery, Cebu
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Finale Art File
Ayala Museum
Paseo Gallery
A Partial List of Awards and Honors:
1972 - Awarded as one of "The Thirteen Artists" by the Cultural Center of the Philippines
1979 - Honorable Mention at the 11th Biennial of Prints in Tokyo
1981 - Selected as one of the Philippines’ “Five Outstanding Living Artists”
1983 - One of four artists exhibiting in “Four Masters: Four Worlds” at the Sunvar Plaza in Makati City
Some Known Works:
Diaphanous, 1979
Diaphanous B-LXXV, 1982
Landscape, 1992
Diaphanous 230, 1980
Woman with Flowers, 2007
Permutation Series No. 86, 1994
Untitled (Nude), 1975
Diaphanous, 1975