Once more. Leon Gallery has been privileged to be the venue for the art of Alfonso Ossorio, the best internationally known Fil-American artist to emerge mid-century. Although Ossorio grew up and was educated in England and the United States, his family was nonetheless well-ensconced in Philippine business circles. His father, Don Miguel Ossorio founded Victorias Milling Corporation 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, nineteen of Alfonso Ossorio’s works will be on exhibit, with representative works from 1942 to 1989. From his early drawings of impeccable draghtsmanship to his wildly colorful “congregations,” Ossorio’s work is a study of meticulously applied scholarship rendered in well-researched material.

Alfonso Ossorio:” Grazing Light” attempts to re-examine in exhibtition, 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, 2017. Gallery hours are from 11am to 6 pm. Curatorial guided tours by appointment only.