Lot description
Lao Lianben (b.1948) Secrets signed and dated 1985 (bottom) concrete rope and acrylic on burlap and wood 72” x 72” (183 cm x 183 cm) Provenance: Private collection, Manila Lao Lianben’s minimalist yet evocative paintings are a wellspring of Oriental inspiration. His monochromatic compositions display a meditational feel and a refined aesthetic inspired by the brushwork of expressionist calligraphy. His creations elegantly capture the essential in a clutter-free canvas. Creating textured monochrome paintings for over 40 years, Lao Lianben is an acknowledged master of Philippine non-representative art. The daily wonders of the world ignite him: the creases of the web and the cracks of the pottery. His minimalist works are evocative translations of these deceptively mundane inspirations. In Secrets, Lao’s minimalism is seen at its most basic form. In it, Lao manages to create a series of rudimentary shapes composed mostly of squares through a variety of media such as concrete rope and acrylic paint. His use of familiar items reveals to us the poetics of mundane objects in the hands of true artistic genius. Thus, Secrets presents Lao as an intermediary between the actuality of an object to the potentiality of its essence.
