Write an analysis of this painting by Papo de Asis called “The Rehabilitation of the

Marcoses” using the different planes of visual art. Further examine how these visual planes
link to the social and political meaning of the artwork.

The Rehabilitation of the Marcoses

By: Papo de Asis
 The late Papo de Asis was an Artist with brilliant painting ability, a deep and abiding
passion for his people of the Philippines and their suffering. He was a lifetime activist who
fought against injustice for the people of the Philippines.

Papo de Asis (1949-2005) was born in Dumangas, Iloilo. Even being born from a
poor family, Papo worked hard enough to get into college and earn his degree in
engineering as wished by his parents, but dropped out to pursue his dreams to become an
artist. His art has been graded as "socially conscious" since the 1970s and has developed
a much deeper political meaning during the Martial law in which soon, he became an
activist.

In 1975, he formed a "social realist group" named Kaisahan together with

fourteen other artists. They have painted murals depicting protest against dictatorship to
strengthen camaraderie amongst Filipinos. De Asis is known worldwide for he and his art
has received numerous awards and recognition locally and internationally.

While he was at the verge of dropping out in college, in the early 70s, he began to
understand the importance of using art to speak up for the people. Papo de Asis made this
artwork to depict how Martial Law enslaved people who has no power through
unimaginable non-deserving consequences, and a powerful force only people who are in
ruling, has limitless power over the poor.

To begin with, this is not the first time that militarily-backed centralized power has
been instituted in the Philippines. The Spanish colonial period was a despotic legacy of
military and religious dominance. After the revolution against Spain, the first thing that
Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed was a military dictatorship. The American colonizers that
took over the Philippines preached local government but firmly held on to centralized
control. The Commonwealth government set up in 1935 sought a strong president. The
puppet government under the Japanese during World War II was martial. And, as
President Marcos tirelessly points out, the old Constitution of the Philippines provided
for martial law under troubled times.

As I look at this picture, the first thing that captured my attention is the man being
trapped in a rock or wall that is well cemented while there was an eagle at the top of the
said cemented body. In my own opinion, I can say that the trapped human body
represents the Filipinos during Marcos’ regime, where people are being controlled and
cannot easily move, say, and fight against the government because doing so can cost them
their lives. It signifies how people in Marcos’ reign were unequally treated and restricted
in all things they do. While the Eagle at the top of the cemented body represents the
Philippine President during that time, He is the one that causes the burden and the reason
behind the cemented human body’s hardship. Aside from those, underneath the cemented
body, we can also see human bones that represent death. We cannot deny that a lot of
people sacrificed or lost their lives during the dictator’s regime and I can say that this is
what the painting wants us to understand and visualize as we look on to this artwork.
Behind the cemented body we can see that there is a man riding a horse (left side) while
is another person (right side) that looks like she wants to save herself from harm and
wants to do the escape quietly. Based on how I understood the image, the woman was the
significant other of the man, left with no choice as death took him away and locked him
into this sculpture. Just like what society does to every human being, being limited by
rules and powerless over the people who run the system. As I see it, the man riding the
white horse represents the soldiers, who can move freely around with their sword that for
me represents their power given by the dictator himself that can make the people follow
their orders, if not, these people will face the consequences of their actions that
eventually may lead to their own death. He was covered with a black coat that to us
Filipinos may represent “kamatayan” or the “Death”. “Kamatayan” is looking at the
person who is trying to escape quietly, for me it looks like he is trying to figure out what
this person will do, one wrong move and he/she will be dead in an instant. That person
can be the only hope of the human whose body was cemented (Filipinos) but decided to
just ignore it because it may cost him/her life. The grim reaper riding in a horse depicted
a death persona. Back then in history, wealthy people rode horses as their means of
transportation. From that being stated, we can derive to say that the grim reaper can be
seen as the ruler of the nation at that time. Those wealthy people look down and forget
the essence of humanity. The skulls may depict your future, if you do not abide by the
rules. The eagle above may symbolize freedom, which Filipinos were longing to

Most or almost all of the lines used are organic lines which helps in depicting
more realistic subjects. Also, a soft curved line was used for the shoreline which tends to
express continuous movements. The artist used a color scheme focused on double
complementary harmony, playing with red, oranges, blues, and greens. The splashes of
red on the heavy concrete seemed to tell us the need for survival, as what red sometimes
stands for but from my view, the red in the artwork signifies blood, or in other terms,
death. The blues used on the sky and seas, on the other hand, seemed to insinuate calm
healing, which contradicts with the subject at the center. As for the work’s texture, the
variation and application of the different elements of art compliments each other, that is
why the painting does not look flat and unattractive. The usage of oil as its medium
makes it look more attractive as oil remains moist even after a long time.

Looking at the painting in a different perspective, I can see different

interpretations. I believe the eagle and the grim reaper could stand for America. The
person trapped inside the concrete could be us, Filipinos. Even though American
colonization does not take too long in the Philippines, we cannot deny the impact of
American culture to us.

Bondage may also refer to us Filipinos, being enslaved by the American culture.
Our continuous patronization to foreign products and influences traps us, hinders us from
knowing whomever we really were. We will die having Filipino as our nationality, yet we
are captivated and die living according to their customs.

In conclusion, this painting represents the lives of the Filipinos and how cruel the
administration was to its people because of their greediness to power and fame during the
time of Martial Law.