Arguably the most important Filipino artist, curator and teacher of the postwar generation, Roberto Chabet (1937-2013) laid the foundations of contemporary art in the Philippines with his conceptual works that critiqued the rigid conventions of Modernism. Using mostly readymades, found objects and other everyday materials, he asserted a practice that is based on “the ephemeral, the fugitive, and the contingent” in art.

This landmark book edited by Ringo Bunoan clues readers into the complicit threads of truth and fiction that runs through Chabet’s lifetime work. It includes a personal foreword by Benjamin Bautista and essays by Ronald Achacoso, Ringo Bunoan, Lena Cobangbang, Cocoy Lumbao, Jonathan Olazo, Carina Evangelista, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, and Ma. Victoria Herrera. Drawing from Chabet’s extensive archive, it contains hundreds of images of artworks, exhibitions, and gatherings of artists, many of which are published for the first time. Supplementary texts including a comprehensive timeline and bibliography also provide further contextual information.

Winner, 2016 National Book Award for Best Book Design; Finalist, Best Book on Art

Publisher:
King Kong Art Projects Unlimited, Philippines

Publication Date:
2015

Format:
Hardcover / 11.75 x 10.25 inches / 432 pages / Color

Language:
English

ISBN: 978-971-95036-1-7