{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":15,"auction_id":1,"set_id":1,"lot_number":"150","artist":"Elmer Borlongan (b. 1967)","title":"a) Study of Guilty b) Guilty","starting_price":3000000,"signed_dated":"a.) signed and dated 2015 (lower left)\nb.) signed and dated 2015 (lower right)","medium":"a.) ink on paper\nb.) acrylic and modeling paste on canvas","size":"a.) 8” x 7” (20 cm x 18 cm)\nb.) 36” x 36” (91 cm x 91 cm)","property":null,"coa":"Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist\nconfirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"One year after his historic European debut through his landmark participation at Paris' Galerie Géraldine Banier in the exhibition When Time Stood Still, leading Filipino contemporary painter Elmer Borlongan continues to shatter the status quo through his thought-provoking works, which resoundingly speaks of the collective story and struggle of the Filipino everyman.
In this work titled Guilty, Borlongan appropriates the proverbial principle \"see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.\" The proverb, based on the Japanese pictorial maxim of the \"Three Wise Monkeys,\" originally meant not allowing evil to permeate one's thoughts, deeds, and, ultimately, one's being.
However, in the modern context, the proverb has become reinvented and translated as \"turning a blind eye.\" In this case, Borlongan's Guilty presents an image of a man stripped of his moral integrity and succumbing to the pitfalls of willful ignorance and the dangers of neutrality.
Guilty possesses even greater resonance when placed into its relevant context; Borlongan painted the work in the crucial year before the 2016 Philippine presidential elections. The piece serves as a resonating reminder that our social responsibility as citizens does not end with voting. It is a constant learning and a collective undertaking of always being critical of those in positions of power. We should not \"turn a blind eye\" to injustice, avoiding that inner guilt of partaking in the nation's collapse to further desolation and darkness. We should rely on our shared struggles and strengths in constantly lobbying for the future that we deserve.
Echoing the words of South African Anglican bishop and human rights activist Desmond Tutu, to be neutral in times of injustice is choosing the side of the oppressors.
Guilty also reminds us of the wide and greater range of the masses and their role as the “messiah” and the \"makers of history.\" Therefore, they possess a profound grasp of their socio-economic conditions. It is from them— and through them—that we learn of the real, concrete conditions of society. We rely on their readiness and level of social awareness and tirelessly teach and persuade them of their objective needs until they fully realize their collective strength in radically changing the oppressive and inhumane status quo.
The work at hand is accompanied by the original sketch on ink, providing a veritable window into Borlongan's creative process. (Adrian Maranan)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Elmer Borlongan (b. 1967) a) Study of Guilty signed and dated 2015 (lower left) ink on paper 8” x 7” (20 cm x 18 cm)
b) Guilty signed and dated 2015 (lower right) acrylic and modeling paste on canvas 36” x 36” (91 cm x 91 cm)