Jose Joya, National Artist, Visual Arts 2003

Jose T. Joya (1931-1995)

Abstractionist Jose T. Joya was posthumously proclaimed a National Artist by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on May 26, 2003.

Joya, named as a National Artist for Visual Arts, was cited because “his art constitutes an important landmark in the development of Philippine modern art. His legacy is a large body of work of consistent excellence which has won the admiration of artists both in the local and the international scene”.

Jose Tanig Joya was born in Manila on June 3, 1931, the son of Jose Joya Sr. and Asuncion.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts, earning the distinction of being the university's first magna cum laude.

In 1954 to 1955, the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica of the Spanish government awarded him a painting grant in Madrid. A year later he finished his master's degree in painting under a Fulbright Smith-Mundt grant. He also received a grant from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund and Ford Foundation to paint in New York, from 1967 to 1969.

Joya started sketching at the age of 11. He had initially wanted to become an architect, but the mathematics and science subjects discouraged him. At the UP, he was exposed to the paintings of Fernando Amorsolo who would eventually be recognized as a National Artist. Among Joya's other early influences were Vicente Manansala, yet another National Artist, and Anita Magsaysay-Ho.

Joya's first works were mostly representational. During the late 1950s, he gradually shifted to abstract painting and became one of the leading painters in this genre.

He designed and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, as well as sketches in pentel. He also did work in the graphic arts, particularly in printmaking.

Joya held many one-man shows here and abroad starting in 1954 at the Philippine Art Gallery. In 1981, a retrospective of his works was held at the Museum of Philippine Art. In 1987, the French government bestowed on him the "Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres."

Among the positions he held were: president of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), 1962-1965; dean of the UP College of Fine Arts 1970-1978; chairperson of two Philippine delegations to China, 1961 and 1972. He was also a holder of the Amorsolo Professorial Chair in UP in 1985. He served as chairperson of the National Committee on Visual Ants, of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.

He won several awards and distinctions, including: The Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award for Painting and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, both in 1961; the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila, 1971; finalist for An Abstraction of Strength and Refinement in the Mobil Foundation competition, 1980; first prize for Gossips in the 1952 Shell National Students Art Competition, 1952; the ASEAN Cultural Award, 1970; and the Gawad CCP para sa Sining, 1991.

His awards from the Art Association of the Philippines include: first prize, Cathedral, 1958; second prize, Space Transfiguration, 1959; third prize, City Entering the Edge of Sundown, 1951; third prize, House of Life, 1960; purchase award, Church Silver, 1960; second prize, Cathedral, 1962; and honorable mention, Yellow Harvest, 1962.

Joya died in 1995.

A painter and multimedia artist, Jose T. Joya was named National Artist in Visual Arts in 2003. Having early traditionalist training, he eventually steered to a direction of his own. Known as an Abstract Expressionist, he adopted the values of kinetic energy and spontaneity in painting, mastering the art of gestured paintings, where paint is applied spontaneously using broad brush strokes. Aside from painting, he also designed ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, and worked with graphic arts like printmaking.

Son of Jose Joya, Jr. and Asuncion Tanig, Joya was born in Manila on June 3, 1931. He became interested in sketching as early as the age 11, and wanted at first to take up architecture, but decided not to pursue it because of the math and science subjects. Under a scholarship, he entered the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in 1950, where he had traditionalist mentors like Guillermo Tolentino, Ireneo Miranda, Dominador Castañeda and Virginia Agbayani. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in 1953, the university’s first magna cum laude. After that, he studied in Madrid from 1954 to 1955 under a grant from the Spanish government’s Instituto de Cultura Hispanica. He got his Master’s Degree in Painting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan where he studied under Zoltan Zepeshy from 1956 to 1957 under a Fulbright-Smith-Mundt grant. He then received another grant, this time from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund and Ford Foundation, to study at the Pratt Graphic Art Center in New York from 1967 to 1969.

He participated in the first Exhibition of Non-Objective Art in Tagala at the Philippine Art Gallery in 1953, and then held his first one-man show there in 1954. He was later sent to represent the country at the Venice Biennial in 1964. In 1981, he held a retrospective of his works at the Museum of Philippine Art.

Joya was president of the Art Association of the Philippines from 1962 to 1965 and dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts from 1970 to 1978. In addition, he was chairperson of two delegations to China, in 1961 and 1972, and Amorsolo Professorial Chair at the U.P. in 1985. He also served as Head of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Committee on Visual Arts (NCCA-CVA) from 1987 until his death in 1995.

His major works include:

• 1948 – Barter of Panay
• 1954 – Christ Stripped of His Clothes
• 1958 – Granadean Arabesque, his landmark painting
• 1965 – Dimensions of Fear
• 1981 – Vista Beyond Vision
• 1985 – Torogan
• 1998 – Playground of the Mind

Achievements:

• 1951 – 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for City entering the Edge of Sundown
• 1952 – 1st Prize, Shell National Students Art Competition, for Gossips
• 1958 – 1st Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Cathedral
• 1959 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Space Transfiguration
• 1960 – 3rd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for House of Life
• 1960 – Purchase Award, Art Association of the Philippines, for Church Silver
• 1961 – Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Painting
• 1961 – Republic Cultural Heritage Award
• 1962 – 2nd Prize, Art Association of the Philippines, for Cathedral
• 1962 – Honorable Mention, Art Association of the Philippines, for Yellow Harvest
• 1970 – ASEAN Cultural Award
• 1971 – Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award, from the City of Manila
• 1980 – Finalist, Mobil Competition, for An Abstraction of Strength and Refinement
• 1987 – Order of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, from the French government
• 1991 – Gawad CCP para sa Sining, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goal of the gallery is to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)

Available works:

Jose Joya, Male, Pastel on Paper, 48x33 cm.

Joya, "Male Nude 2", Pastel on Paper, 48 x 33 cms., 1991

Jose Joya, "Male Nude", Pastel on Paper, 49 x 32 cms., 1986

Jose Joya, "Male Nude 3", Pastel on Paper, 31x49cm, 1989

Jose Joya, "Male Nude 4", Pastel on Paper, 31x49 cm., 1898

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