ASSESSING POTENTIALS: THE STATE OF CONTEMPORARY WRITING an‎d THEORIZING ON ANG KIUKOK WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE ART RESEARCH IN THE PHILIPPINES

This essay seeks to explore the state and nature of existing Philippine art writing on the late National Artist Ang Kiukok for the prospect of future theory building. An inquiry into ten representative works on Ang Kiukok is evaluated in order to determine the actual state and nature of the existing literature’s contribution to empirical knowledge and theory building. Following this assessment, discussions on various local Filipino theoretical works on art history and criticism will be forwarded. The results from this will serve both as a potential starting point and a trajectory towards a more comprehensive and critical/theoretical (re)presentation of the life and work of Ang Kiukok.