Lot 42: KIKO ESCORA (b. The Philippines 1970)

KIKO ESCORA (b. The Philippines 1970)
Untitled
acrylic on canvas
84 x 49¼ in. (213 x 125 cm.)

With the present lot, Untitled, Kiko Escora continues to add to his acclaimed oeuvre of half-body portraiture paintings of urbane Manila's young and hip. The artist's painterly interest lies not in the challenge of rendering particular physical features well as much as immortalising an expression, a vibe or a pose that speak quinessentially of the personage of the portrait sitter. With a restrained palette and an emphasis on linearity, Untitled brings to life on canvas a hipster waif, defiant and anonymous, her eyes shielded from the world, a long and thin arm thrush across diagonally across the picture surface that establishes a sense of distance and forbiddance between the portrait sitter herself and the painter and audience.