Larry Alcala at 100: The Cartoonist Who Drew Filipino Life
Filipino cartoonist Lauro “Larry” Alcala is being remembered on the centenary of his birth with a year-long program of exhibitions, publications and special projects. Born on August 18, 1926, Alcala became known for cartoons that turned everyday Filipino life into scenes packed with humor and detail.
The Larry Alcala 100 program, initiated by the Alcala Estate, revisits his work and his place in Philippine visual culture.
Born in Daraga, Albay, Alcala created more than 500 characters and 20 comic strips over the course of his career. His works included Kalabog en Bosyo and Siopawman, but one of his best-known creations was Slice of Life.
Published in the Daily Express’s Weekend Magazine from 1980 to 1986, Slice of Life captured streets, markets, public transportation, family gatherings and crowded urban scenes. Alcala filled the drawings with small observations of daily life.
He also gave readers something to look for.
Alcala regularly hid a small caricature of himself somewhere in these crowded scenes, turning each drawing into a visual game. Readers searched through the details trying to find him, and the device became closely associated with Slice of Life.
That idea returned in July with Larry Alcala 100 Years × 100 Komikeros, presented during the Philippine International Comics Festival. The project brought together 100 Filipino comics artists, illustrators and cartoonists, each offering their own version of Alcala’s familiar self-caricature.
Another exhibition, Slices of a Komikero’s Life, presented works from different periods of Alcala’s career. Both exhibitions ran from July 3 to 12, 2026, at Ayala Malls The 30th.
In Manila, the centenary events continue with Return to the Popular: Drawing the Filipino Imagination at the Metropolitan Theater. The exhibition looks at Alcala’s work through its relationship with Philippine popular culture and everyday life.
Curated by cartoonist and academic Jose Santos “Chong” P. Ardivilla, the exhibition has been arranged less as a conventional retrospective than as a sequence of interconnected comic panels.
Initial announcements listed the exhibition at the Metropolitan Theater’s Met Gallery from August 19 to September 19, 2026. The opening reception, originally scheduled for August 18, was postponed because of severe weather and rescheduled for August 27 at 4 p.m.
The Larry Alcala 100 program carries the theme “Creativity Is for Everyone.” Participating institutions and organizations include the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Metropolitan Theater, the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts and Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas.
The University of the Philippines was also an important part of Alcala’s career. According to the National Museum of the Philippines, he taught at the UP College of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1981 and served as chair of its Visual Communication department.
Alcala died on June 24, 2002, at the age of 75 and was posthumously named National Artist for Visual Arts in 2018. A century after his birth, the exhibitions return to a familiar feature of his work: the small self-caricature hidden among the crowds of Slice of Life, waiting for readers to find him.
Sources
National Museum of the Philippines — 96th Birth Anniversary of National Artist Larry Alcala
https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/2022/08/18/ika-96-na-anibersaryo-ng-kapanganakan-ni-pambasang-alagad-ng-sining-august-18-1926-june-24-2002/
The Philippine Star — Art Beat: 100 Years of Larry Alcala; Hallyu Fest; Vietnamese Water Puppetry
https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2026/08/17/2549918/art-beat-100-years-larry-alcala-hallyu-fest-vietnamese-water-puppetry
Daily Tribune — Finding Larry Alcala in the Crowd: Exhibits Celebrate the Cartoonist and National Artist’s Birth Centenary
https://tribune.net.ph/2026/07/13/finding-larry-alcala-in-the-crowd-exhibits-celebrate-the-cartoonist-and-national-artists-birth-centenary
Malaya Business Insight — Larry Alcala 100 Opens with a Bold Declaration: Creativity Is for Everyone
https://malaya.com.ph/lifestyle/living/larry-alcala-100-opens-with-a-bold-declaration-creativity-is-for-everyone/
