1970• Decides that printmaking, a relatively new art medium in the Philippines, is the vehicle to break into Philippine art. Pursues interest in printmaking and experimental media, particularly collography. Competes in the third annual competition of the Philippine Association of Printmakers and wins purchase awards from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with two collographs, Breaking Ground and Make Love Not War, and an etching, Cave-In.
1971• Exhibits black-and-white collograph prints for the first time, in a two-man show with Rodolfo Samonte, Hidalgo Gallery in May. About 20 pieces exhibited, but eight prints were lost when fire broke out in the gallery. (This series ended in 1974 with the last print, B&W #LXIX).
• Competes in the fourth annual competition of the Philippine Association of Printmakers and wins in the mixed media category: first prize, Sepia II, 2nd Ed., a collograph and third prize, Shame, a collograph. • Prints shown at Pratt Institute, New York and II Triennial, India. Shown in India, Glowworm and Happiness is a Moon Car, both 1970 etchings. 1972• Receives the Thirteen Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Other CCP awardees: Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, Danny Dalena, Alfredo Liongoren, Mario Parial, Ibarra de la Rosa, Johnny Manahan. (Olazo’s son, Jonathan, receives the same award in 1994, 22 years later.)
• Wins the second and the third prizes in the mixed media category, fifth annual competition, Philippine Association of Printmakers. Winning entries are collographs, Face II — 2nd prize and Face III — 3rd prize. • Joins the Saturday Group of Artists (also known as the Taza de Oro Group), headed by H.R. Ocampo. Professional contact with Cesar Legaspi, Jose Joya, Alfredo Roces, Rod Paras-Perez, Justin Nuyda, Onib Olmedo, among others. 1973• Represents the Philippines in the XII Biennial de Sao Paolo, Brazil with Rodolfo Samonte and Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi. Entries are all collographs: The Couple, Diaphanous, Untitled, and Yellow I.
• Exhibits two paintings at Miladay Art Center, 10 Ad Artists, giving an intimation of the Diaphanous paintings. Some participating advertising agency artists are Jerry Elizalde Navarro, Larry Tronco, and Conrado Mercado. • Sets up T-Frames, a frame shop to serve the needs of Olazo, his artist friends, galleries, and art collectors. |
1974• Olazo’s first one-man show, Small Gallery, Cultural Center of the Philippines — The Silkscreen Process and its Possibilities. Features a 24-foot serigraph and silkscreen monotypes.
• First two diaphanous paintings, Takip Silim and Bukang Liwayway, acrylic on canvas, in a group show — Land of the Beautiful, Quad Gallery, June.
• Olazo’s 2nd one-man show at Luz Gallery — Diaphanous Series-Paintings and Prints, October. On exhibit, 22 diaphanous paintings, acrylic on canvas, and 20 black-and-white collograph prints, including the last of the series, B&W #LXIX. (In May 1976, Olazo shifted from acrylic to oil on canvas for his diaphanous paintings.) • Resigns as executive art director of Philippine Advertising Counselors, Inc.
1975• Meets Vicente Manansala that led to the paisaje watercolor and nude drawing sessions with other artists — Edgar Doctor, Ephraim Samson, and occasionally, Lino Severino. Known as the Thursday Group, they go to Mang Enteng’s studio in Binangonan, Rizal every Thursday, rain or shine, for field or studio sessions.
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1976• Wins the Special Mention Award, Philippine National Bank 60th Anniversary Art Competition with Diaphanous No. 52, July.
• Participates in the First Annual for Visual Arts, Cultural Center of the Philippines, August-September; exhibits Diaphanous No. 58, acrylic on canvas. Participates yearly up to the 10th CCP Annual, 1985. • Receives a Design Center of the Philippines commission to conduct research and experimentation on handmade paper as an art medium using local materials (abaca, cogon grass, ipil-ipil, sugar bagasse, recycled art paper, etc). Experiments on various processes and materials to make a mold (wood, rubber, latex) for cast paper art works. 1977• Exhibits initial results of handmade paper studies, DIA-CAST Nos. 1-5, Cultural Center of the Philippines —Roots, Basics, Beginnings; Cast Copy No.s 1-10 at the Print Collections, in a group show with Ray Albano and Manny Soriano, July. The same works in a two-man show with Rodolfo Samonte entitled, Paper as Art, Ayala Museum, October. A four-man show entitled, Paperworks (Oshima, Samonte, and Semler), Cultural Center of the Philippines, November. Exhibits Papermake #I-X.
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1978• Two large scale black-and-white paintings, Diaphanous B-I and Diaphanous B-II (84 x 96 in), Cultural Center of the Philippines exhibition—Philippine Abstract Art, February 16-April 10. Introduces Papestry I-VI, pressed handmade and dyed paper pulp; black and white and gray.
• Joins the First Friday Group, —An Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures, Museum of Philippine Art, May 11 - June 18. Exhibits black-and-white paintings, Diaphanous B-III, IV, V, VI, (60 x 60 in) and Diaphanous Nos. 135, 136, 137, 140 (40 x 30 in). Other artists include Manansala, H.R. Ocampo, Legaspi, Kiukok, Doctor, and Malang. • Olazo’s 3rd one-man show— Olazo Nudes, Galerie Dominique, September 4-28. Features a life-size nude, crayon-sanguine and charcoal. • Receives an award of Distinction in Arts (Painting) given by the Balayan Quadricentennial Foundation, Inc., Balayan, Batangas. |
1979• Olazo’s 4th one-man show — Recent Paintings-Diaphanous, Luz Gallery, February. A continuation of large-scale paintings started in 1978 with 17 black-and-white paintings, oil on canvas. Sizes range from 4 x 5 ft to 7 x 8 ft. Two paintings, Diaphanous B-XXII and Diaphanous B-XXIII were part of CCP Large Scale Painting exhibit, 1981. Diaphanous B-XXII is now in the CCP collection.
• Wins an Honorable Mention Award, 11th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints, Tokyo. Some 99 artists from different countries with 262 works participated. Olazo’s entries: Permutation No. 1- A Book, Permutation No. 2 - A Book, and Permutation No. 3. Permutation No. 2- A Book (50 acetate pages with images that change every time a page is turned) wins the award for Olazo. First exhibited at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, June 29-August 6; then, Osaka and Sapporo, until October. • Honored with the Araw ng Maynila Patnubay Ng Kalinangan Award sa Larangan ng Pintura. Annual award in celebration of Manila’s Foundation Day. • Various significant group exhibits, Cultural Center of the Philippines entitled: Word Works; Recent Achievements in Printmaking; and A Decade of Developmental Art; at the Museum of Philippine Art — An Exhibition of Philippine Art and Museum Artists 1979. |