King of Komiks - a tribute to Francisco V. Coching's centennial year

Along with the celebration of National Arts Month, Sm Aura Premier in coordination with the National Center for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) pays tribute to one of the country's greatest artists of all times, Francisco V. Coching. 

The exhibit which is open from February 18 to 24, 2019 at the Upper Ground Floor Atrium of SM Aura features original artworks, Unang Labas komiks spreads, and life-size reproductions of his most popular characters and works. 

Here are some exciting facts about Francisco V. Coching :

► Francisco V. Coching, a master storyteller in images and print was born on January 29, 1919. He was the son of noted Tagalog Novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching. 

► Known as the "Dean of Filipino Illustrators," Francisco's illustrations and novels were products of that happy combination of fertile imagination, a love of storytelling, and fine craftsmanship. He synthesized images and stories informing Philippine folk and popular imagination of the culture.

► Coching mesmerized the comics-reading public as well as his fellow artists, cartoonists, and writers. Filmmakers like National Artists Lamberto Javellana and Gerardo de Leon translated his novels into films.


► Coching caught the imagination of the Pinoy, enough to be able to translate many of his comics into silverscreen; the artist eventually served as a consultant in the filming of his novels, resulting in movies that are now like a time capsule for a bygone era.

► He was recognized as Philippine National Artist for Visual Arts in June 2014 for giving form, in words and artwork, to the complex mix of mythology, romance, human drama, legends and heroes that somehow developed the visual consciousness of the ordinary Filipinos.

► FV Coching's career spanned four decades, starting 1934 until his retirement in 1973.

The exhibit is free and open to public.