Manuel Ocampo (born 1965) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

artist. His work fuses sacred Baroque religious iconography with secular political narrative. His works draw upon a wide range of art historical references, contain cartoonish elements, and draw inspiration from punk subculture.Casin, Pam Brooke A
"Manuel Ocampo: iconoclasm personified."
''Manila Bulletin Publishing.'' 31 Jan 2010 (retrieved 16 Aug 2010)

Background

Manuel Ocampo was born in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He studied fine arts at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

, then moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the 1980s, where he studied at the

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

. Ocampo has since moved to back to Manila living with his wife and has four children. Namely, Juliao Ocampo, Yulla Ocampo, Xabine Ocampo, and Xantiago Ocampo . "Manuel Ocampo, God is my Copilot."
''City Projects.'' (retrieved 16 Aug 2010)

Art career

Ocampo frequently revisits and makes reference to the art historical canon of political allegorists including Leon Golub, Géricault,

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

, Daumier with allusions to contemporary figures including political satirist R. Crumb Modernist painter

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980), was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. Early in his five decade career, muralist David Siquieros described him as one of "the most promising ...

. Ocampo's dark, often disturbing Gothic paintings are attributed with transforming horror into exquisite beauty, history into art history, purgatory into salvation. One of his pieces featuring several swastikas was censored at the Dokumenta art show in

Kassel, Germany Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. ...

. Manuel Ocampo has exhibited extensively throughout the 1990s, with solo exhibitions at galleries and institutions through Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In 2005, his work was the subject of a large-scale survey at Casa Asia in Barcelona, and Lieu d’Art Contemporain, Sigean, France. Ocampo's work has been included in a number of international surveys, including the 2004 ''Seville Biennale'', 2001 ''

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

'', the 2001 ''

Berlin Biennale The Berlin Biennale (full name: Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art exhibition, which has been held at various locations in Berlin, Germany, every two to three years since 1998. T ...

'', the 2000 ''Biennale d’art Contemporain de Lyon'', the 1997 ''Kwangju Biennial'', the 1993

Corcoran Corcoran is an Irish surname, the original Irish language form being meaning 'descendant of Corcrán'. The name itself is derived from meaning 'purple'. History The name Corcoran is an anglicisation of the names of two Gaelic clans. The f ...

Biennial, and 1992's controversial ''Documenta IX.'' His work was featured in many group shows in the 1990s, including ''Helter Skelter: LA Art of the 1990s'', at

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ...

in 1992; ''Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art'' at the Asia Society, New York in 1994; ''American Stories: Amidst Displacement and Transformation'' at Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo in 1997; ''Pop Surrealism'' at the Aldrich Museum of Artin 1998; and ''Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000'' at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

in 2000. He has received a number of prestigious grants and awards, including the Giverny Residency (1998), the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

at the American Academy (1995–96),

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(1996),

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressio ...

(1995) and Art Matters Inc. (1991). It is important to note that Manuel Ocampo used to make art that criticized western colonialism through allegory and metaphor. Today, his work displays simple imagery; the artist has said of his 1990s work, "I was bored with that shit". Phillip Rodriguez directed a one-hour documentary of Ocampo's life and art career, ''Manuel Ocampo, God Is My Copilot''. Ocampo's 1992 painting "Why I Hate Europeans" was used as the cover art to the music album " Mythmaker" by Skinny Puppy. Ocampo's art was also used for the album artwork for "Red Hot + Latin" - from the Red Hot series of benefit albums.

Notes

External links

Manuel Ocampo

The Artist.org: Manuel Ocampo

Shark's Ink.com: Manuel Ocampo

Paule Anglim: Manuel Ocampo

Salander O'Reilly/Fred Hoffman: Manuel Ocampo

Art Contemporain: Manuel Ocampo

Sprueth Magers Projekte: Manuel Ocampo

49th Venice Biennale
Asian-American Film Database: Manuel Ocampo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocampo, Manuel Filipino artists 1965 births Living people