New Christ

Pablo Baens Santos (1943) was born in the Philippines and is major figure in the Social Realist movement there. He was trained in the University of the Philippines, College of Fine Art. He was an illustrator with one of Philippines� leading newspaper, Manila Times, and also one of the founding members of the Kaisahan group, a social realist art group formed in 1976. His works highlight the plight of the rural and urban poor and his concerns about the Filipino social conditions with symbols, such as flags. Belonging to the first wave of social realist artists, Santos'� works advocate change and address a wide range of issues that plagued the urban workers then. In �'Bagong Kristo'� (translated as �New Christ�), Santos illustrates the plight of the working class through a familiar and powerful representation. Against the American flag, the common worker is reconfigured as Christ here. Bounded to the dollar sign, which symbolises the power of capitalism, he is sacrificed, in the name of capitalism.