Sum

1958

American, born Phillipines, 1916-1990

Inspired by the techniques of American painters such as Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, Ossorio worked in a calligraphic and abstract style. In fact, he was a patron of the Abstract Expressionists and, like them, concentrated his paintings and assemblages on “forms and shapes” that were “dictated by the ideas rather than by appearance.” His sensuous lines and serpentine shapes convey a sense of struggle, as if Ossorio grappled with reconciling his queerness and his Catholic faith on the surface of his works. His abstract technique provides no resolute answers, and this very ambiguity of form could be indicative of his complex and tangled identity.

Oil on Masonite

96 x 48 in. (243.8 x 121.9cm)

The Ossorio Foundation

2010.22.2

Provenance: Artist by descent to Ossorio Foundation

Photo: Nathaniel Willson

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Be/longing: Contemporary Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view beginning July 16, 2021].

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