Leopoldo Aguinaldo, Jr. was born in New York City on September 5, 1933. He was among the first generation of abstractionists in the country and considered among the innovators of post-war Modernism in the Philippines. He developed several styles of painting: “Flick” painting, where he flicked paint from a palette knife on canvas; “galumphing,” which incorporated a few pop images; and “linear” painting. His gestural and linear compositions in oil and acrylic made him a towering figure in the local art scene from the 1950s to the 1970s, and was among the first, if not the principal exponent to adopt the ideas of Pop Art by incorporating objects and printed media as collage, frottage, or image transfers on painted surfaces. His appropriative strategies were wide-ranging—from using imagery from newspapers and magazines to employing other artists’ methods to making versions of other artists’ works to even appropriating himself and making “doubles” and variations of his pieces, constantly reinventing himself in new genres, mediums and techniques.
White City at the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) annual competition and exhibition, 2nd prize, 1961
Explosion in Gold AAP annual competition and exhibition, first prize, 1962
Explosion in Red City AAP annual competition and exhibition, honorable mention, 1963
Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila, 1975
