The Abstractions of Critique: Alice Guillermo and the Social Imperative of Art

The essay reflects on the practice of the Filipino art critic and art historian Alice Guillermo. Surfacing in her practice are such theoretical concerns as the social presence of art and the specificity of the artistic material in relation to its contexts. This revisit to her work since the 1970s contributes to the study of art criticism in Southeast Asia. It may be argued that this art criticism has significantly informed the writing of both art history and art theory. Furthermore, it sheds light on how an art critic in the region has been able to circulate her discourse through intersecting platforms within and outside her national location. A focus of this essay is the debate between Guillermo and the philosopher Domingo Castro De Guzman on the political implications of abstraction in art history and socialist politics.