Ang Magbabayo (Pounding Rice) 1979

Vicente Manansala made ‘Ang Magbabayo’ with oil on canvas using a cubist style. The figures are arranged in such a way that it looks like the painting is constantly shifting, like a fragmented memory or a dream. I love the golden light in this painting. It feels like the artist tried something different. Maybe he started by blocking out the basic shapes and colors, then stepped back to see what felt right. The colors are muted, but there’s still a vibrancy, like the heat of the sun beating down on the workers. The way he's rendered the male figure with those powerful arms lifting that heavy pestle, you can almost feel the weight and the rhythm of the pounding. Manansala was clearly inspired by cubism, but he brought his own sensibilities to it, didn't he? It makes me think about how we're all in conversation with each other. We experiment, borrowing and building on what others have done before, and that's how art evolves.