He died last April 29, 2021 at age 79
The art and culture industry mourns the death Filipino postwar painter, sculptor, and theater production designer Allan Cosio who passed away on April 29, 2021 at the age 79.
Born on June 20, 1941, Allan made waves in the art scene in the '70s as a self-taught artist. It was on the theater stage where he met his wife and fellow artist Ivi Avellana-Cosio, who helped him hone his skills as a visual artist, starting out as a thespian and eventually becoming a set designer.
"Cosio was also one of the members of the Saturday Group of Artists," Fundacion Sanso museum posted. "Allan Cosio was a good friend of Juvenal Sansó and collaborated with him in a 1982 photo-play based on Jean Paul Sartre’s play 'In Camera.'"
From the late '70s to the early '80s, he was the president of the Arts Association of the Philippines. With his talent in painting, he was honored with international grants from the British Council and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation of New York.
Through the years, Allan achieved many recognitions for his visual masterpieces, including a City of Manila Award for Painting and Sculpture and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. In 1986, his "Art for Peace" trilogy bested 1,200 entries at the International Competition in Baghdad by taking home the major prize.
"We would like to acknowledge Allan for the decades of tireless pursuit for artistic partnership as we collaborated a total of five exhibitions that featured not only his large scale paintings and sculptures, but his creative soul," Alliance Française de Manille posted. "The notable ones were his retrospective art exhibition in 2016, and his latest January 2020 exhibition which was part of AFM's 100th year anniversary celebration... His contributions in the development of France-Philippines cultural relations are immeasurable and for that, we are forever grateful."
Rest in power, Allan Cosio!