ARTIST PROFILE

While he is best known for bas-relief replicas of Philippine churches in his early career, Anton Quisumbing’s (b. 1970 in Cebu, Philippines) recent works highlight experimentation beyond the formation of images. Navigating between sculpture and painting, he merges formalist approaches with playful, spontaneous candour as he excavates from memory and experience. Primarily a sculptor, his practice is anchored in testing the malleability and strength of a single material and reintroducing the swift and undazzled manner in which a line can vigorously depict an image. Quisumbing surveys space by means of scale rather than defining it through colour and structure. Every angle represents a different facet tied to an idea while subconsciously directing the artist’s decisions in his process and studio production– where one jolts with energy, the other stands in confidence, and so forth. In this way, every physical presence makes room for contemplation and treads on the multitude of ways one can be perceived and understood.

Quisumbing studied Fine Arts (Sculpture) at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and has decades of experience in the fabrication and furniture industry. His works have been featured in exhibitions at the Ayala Museum, Alliance française de Manille, and other art stages, such as the Visayas Art Fair (Cebu) and MoCAF (Manila). His works were presented abroad in Malaysia, Spain, and the United States. He lives and works between Cebu, Manila, and the Netherlands.