| 1946 | Born July 24 in Ambalayat, a barrio of the town of Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, the youngest of five children of Eugenio Lamarrosa, a rice miller, and Eladia Leal. Nicknamed “Amor” from his second given name, Villamor. |
| 1953 | Became interested in art, truant in school. Frequents the banks of the river Chico and Amburayan that flanked the village. |
| 1956 | Moved to Makati with newly widowed mother. Entered St. Vincent Elementary School; transferred later to Makati Elementary School. |
| 1959 | Entered Pio del Pilar High School in Novaliches after his mother sold the house in Makati and built another in Baesa, Novaliches. |
| 1963 | Enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas where he got a scolding from Prof. Diosdado Lorenzo for his rendition of a nude in blue. |
| 1965 | Won third prize for a still life in a university-wide art competition.
Won third prize with his entry, Girl with a Butterfly, in the 15th Shell Annual.
Won second and third prizes in the Atelier Camera Club competition. |
| 1966 | Won third prize in the UST Annual and second prize in the 16th Shell Annual. |
| 1967 | Transferred to Philippine Women’s University (PWU); participated in a group exhibition mounted by Dean Mariano Madarang at the Silverio Building in Makati. |
| 1968 | Garnered third place in an on-the-spot competition sponsored by the Philippine Medical Association (PMA).
Joined Raul Isidro and Raul Lebajo in a three-man exhibition entitled “Dimensions III” under the auspices of PMA. The exhibit later on moved to the Hidalgo Gallery.
Received the “Most Outstanding Art Student” award from PWU. |
| 1969 | Represented the Philippines in the Tokyo Biennial under the sponsorship of F. Sionil Jose’s Solidaridad Galleries. |
| 1970 | Bagged the grand prize in the ITT’s First Worldwide Corporate Advertising Campaign in New York.
Joined seven other artists who called themselves “Contours Eight” in an art exhibition at the Manila Hilton Art Center on September 4. |
| 1971 | Presented his first one-man exhibition of metal and polymer paintings at the Solidaridad Galleries (corner Remedios and M.H. del Pilar, Malate, Manila) from January 20 – February 5. |
| 1972 | Featured in the book, Contemporary Philippine Art, by Manuel D. Duldulao with his plate, The Neon Hour. |
| 1973 | Held his second solo show at Solidaridad, featuring a collection of elaborate frames that contained nothing but empty space, a Dadaist commentary on collectors who place more value on the amenities that surround art than the work itself.
Won Second prize in the Mobil-AAP Annual with Manila 70’s, stirring a war of words between critics, particularly in Alfredo R. Roces’s column, “Light and Shadow” |
| 1974 | Mounted his third one-man show at the Solidaridad Galleries.
Held his fourth solo exhibition on the subject of “Population Explosion”, organized by Manuel D. Duldulao for the Quad Gallery. Guest of honor: Alfredo R. Roces.
Joined Restituto Embuscado in a two-man exhibition at the Miladay Art Center.
Won second prize at the AAP Annual. Included in the ITT International Exhibition held at the Miami Art Center in Florida. |
| 1975 | August 12 – 26: Lamarroza exhibited the “Amburayan Series” at the Solidaridad. In November, the series was shown at the Metro Gallery under the sponsorship of Odette Alcantara. The sixth one-man exhibition showed Lamarroza broadening the scope of his canvas and venturing into different colors and symbolic figures in a distinctive style he called “Multiple Images”. |
| 1977 | February 14 – 28: Unveiled the Amburayan Queen at six in the evening of Monday at the Metro Gallery, Lor Calma Building, Paseo de Roxas, Legaspi Village, Makati.Angel G. de Jesus, writing for Business day, found it “difficult, after seeing the twenty-five paintings, to forget the woman of Lamarroza. Their hypnotic and enigmatic eyes keep haunting you. They are indeed… eternal woman forever asserting herself. They challenge the assumed superiority of man, but like Cleopatra, they also ensnare him. They are the eternal Eve who caused the fall of Adam.”
Leonidas V. Benesa, writing for the Philippine Daily Express, called Lamarroza’s women “portraits of the great matriarchs – the Gabriela Silangs and the Princesa Urdujas – of his race, and, mutatis mutandis of the Filipino people.” |
| 1978 | Recieved the “Sadiri ti Tagudin” award along with singer Evelyn Mandac.
Included in a major group exhibition, “Insights into Contemporary Philippines Art,” held in Manila and New York. |
| 1979 | May 1 – 19: Exhibited his ecological landscapes at the Heritage Art Center (300 P. Guevarra St., San Juan Metro Manila). Amadis Ma. Guerrero, reviewing the show for The Times Journal, was aghast at how “the divinities have forsaken the Amburayan River… Lamarroza unveils a dismal but wondrous sight: wastelands; arid plains, dried rivers; leafless, gnarled and twisted trees; and rotting trunks.” Malacañang donated 300 seedlings of the giant ipil and narra trees to be distributed among guests on the opening day, in connection with the government’s campaign for the “Greening of the Countryside”. |
