{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":3556,"auction_id":6,"set_id":8,"lot_number":"153","artist":"Jojo Legaspi (b. 1959)","title":"Untitled","starting_price":200000,"signed_dated":"signed (lower right)","medium":"charcoal on paper","size":"45\" x 45\" (114 cm x 114 cm)","property":null,"coa":"Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot","provenance":null,"exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, \nand the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” <br /><br />\n \n —H.P. LOVECRAFT<br /><br /> The idea that art is an avenue of expression, especially raw and often unfiltered emotions, is not an uncommon way to look at art. Yet, the concept is often skewed in favor of feelings of love, passion, beauty, and curiosity. Rarely do we lump together these emotions with sentiments of anxiety, dread, and fear. But is there a need to do so? Shouldn't an aversion to fear be natural to us given that self-preservation is often an innate part of our character? Though it may seem second-nature for us to avoid things that incite fear let alone create things that produce or remind us of fear, history has proven otherwise. Fear, together with the other passions we often hold up to high esteem, has been central to a number of works of art, literature, and even music. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey introduces us to supernatural forces that not only inhabit the edges of the known world, but heavenly firmament as well. Ovid’s Metamorphoses introduces us to a sort of cosmological horror beyond our understanding.<br /><br /> While the spread of Christianity located fear within the devil and his temptations through the lessons of the Church and works such as Dante’s Divine Comedy and even Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings. Though one can easily reach the conclusion that the common thread between these eras are a fear of others, one can argue that a deeper look provides us with the idea that the fear that animates these things is not a fear of other beings, but a fear of both knowing the possibility that these creatures are at their very core human as well, and the fear that the breadth of their capabilities are in fact unknown to us. The gods of Homer are often seen as having the same flaws as us, yet possessing strength far beyond our capabilities. While the Judeo-Christian turn taught us to fear actions that go against the creator not only because of its roots in evil, but also because we are very much capable of it ourselves. To fear is to know that human beings are very much capable of inhuman things.<br /><br /> Though the modern period has relatively downscaled our imagination from myths and gods to men and machines, fear and our mysterious interest in it has not lost its conceptual touch nor its profound hold on us. Artists and writers alike, such as Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft, and Francis Bacon have shown us that despite the things we fear have changed, fear itself still remains innate and even divine. <br /><br />In Filipino art, no one has looked at fear directly in the face more than Jojo Legaspi. His practice has seemingly left no stone unturned. From religious trauma to violence and oppression, Legaspi has explored the horrors that reside within the recesses of our mind. But it is arguably this untitled piece that tackles fear in a way his other works do not; for it reveals the artist’s own fear as well. This particular work is the only work of his that features a cat, given that he has a phobia of them. His fear of cats is reportedly rooted in the fact that an eyeless cat would frequent his doorstep. The hollow and sunken visage of the cat incited a deep and lasting fear of the animal. It is unclear as to whether or not Legaspi’s fear is born out of him seeing the cat as an omen or whether he was traumatized by the cat’s gruesome constitution. Despite this, one thing is clear. Legaspi’s fear is rooted not only in our aforementioned conceptual definition of fear, but also in an acceptance that the inhuman things that drive fear are unknown as well.<br /><br /> The work itself can be seen as an act of translating the artist’s personal fear into a language audiences can understand. The sunken eye holes of the cat seemingly peering into the viewer. Its stance is both afraid, yet ready to pounce. While the background of the piece features a street corner rendered in such a way that gives off an eerie and foreboding vibe. The unknown implications of the piece; the palpable sense of unease further solidifies the fear of the unknown. But in confronting his fear, Legaspi answers the question as to what value can fear give us. In this work we see the indomitable human spirit despite the possibilities of the unknown. Jojo Legaspi presents us with the reality that beauty is not the only thing that lies within the eye of the beholder. (J.D.)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":0,"bp":0.168,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":0,"userBid":5930,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"UNSOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":0,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":3826,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/6/8/lot/153.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":3830,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/6/8/lot/153a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[220000,240000,260000,280000,300000,320000,340000,360000,380000,400000,450000,500000,550000,600000,650000,700000,750000,800000,900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":152,"next":154,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}