Painter Romulo Olazo; 81

Romulo Olazo, one of the most dominant abstractionists of the second generation of Filipino modern visual artists, died Tuesday. He was 81.

Patricia Tria Olazo, the artist’s wife, confirmed the death to the Inquirer. She did not reveal details, but it has been known the artist had been fitted with a heart pacemaker for several years now.

Olazo embarked in the 2000s on the monumental “Diaphanous” series of murals–large-scale abstract works that combined painting and print of irregular but still highly geometric forms overlapping one another. The series was a hit among collectors and art lovers.

Olazo was born on July 21, 1934, in Batangas. He moved to Manila where he became a working student in 1959 at the University of Santo Tomas.

His teachers included National Artist Victorio Edades and Diosdado Lorenzo. His classmates included National Artist Ang Kiukok.

In 1972, Olazo was among the first batch of Thirteen Artists Awards of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

He was the Philippine representative to the XII Biennial in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in 1973 and to the 11th Biennial of Prints in Tokyo, where he won honorable mention for his Permutation series.

Olazo married Patricia in 1966. They had three children, one of whom, Jonathan Olazo, is today one of the more exciting contemporary artists and who curates the annual ManilArt, the oldest and biggest art fair in the Philippines.–Lito B. Zulueta, PDI