Best known for his richly layered and complex portraiture works, Winner Jumalon’s Pomegranates II is a highly visceral and compelling archetype of the artist’s ongoing exploration of the inextricable linkage between personal, cultural, and artistic identities. Often multilayered, his works are populated by figures that hover between realism and the imagined. First unveiled during Jumalon’s summer residency in 2016, this will be the first time Pomegranates II is offered at auction.
An unidentified male figure takes centre stage of the composition – glorified with a beam of light whilst looming out of the enclosed darkness. Charged with suspense, the present work notably brings forth the symbolism of pomegranates in mythological paintings, injecting a lighter and more ethereal quality to the artist’s opus. Pomegranates II vividly blurs memory and historical references to express Jumalon’s inner curiosity of the human psyche and condition.
Based in Manila, Jumalon is regarded as one of the most widely acclaimed Filipino artists of his generation. His works have been exhibited extensively throughout Southeast Asia, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Italy and the US. In 2009, the artist was honoured with the Thirteen Artists Award, conferred by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines.