Louie Bretaña

{{Short description|Filipino painter and sculptor in New Zealand}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2023}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Louie Bretaña

| birth_name = Louis Joseph Rivera Bretaña

| birth_place = Philippines

| nationality = Philippines, New Zealand

| known_for = painting, sculpture, performance

| notable_works = Eat My Rice

| style = painting with glitter and glass crystals, figurative sculptures, and performance art

| alma_mater = University of Auckland and University of Philippines

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1967}}

}}

Louis Joseph Rivera Bretaña (born 1967) is a Filipino-born New Zealand painter and sculptor with roots in Manila and the Visayan province of Iloilo.{{Cite web |last=Weng |first=Amy |title=In Conversation with Louie Bretaña |url=https://www.hainamana.com/conversation-louie-bretana/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Hainamana|date=27 March 2018 }}{{Cite news |last=Hoyle |first=Craig |date=2017-09-17 |title=Awakening the sleeping dragon could determine the next Government |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96752601/awakening-the-sleeping-dragon-could-determine-the-next-government |access-date=2023-09-30 |work=Stuff}}

Bretaña graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, and moved to New Zealand in 2011. He subsequently earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with first-class honours (2018) and a Master of Fine Arts degree (2019) from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland.{{Cite web |title=Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery {{!}} Louie Bretana: Tumingala sa tinitingala na mga tala |url=https://www.teuru.org.nz/whats-on/calendar/louie-bretana-tumingala-sa-tinitingala-na-mga-tala/ |access-date=2023-09-30}}{{cite web |url=https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-academic-information/cs-graduation-information/cs-graduation-search-and-confirmation/cs-graduation-search-results.html |title=Graduation search results |publisher=University of Auckland |access-date=1 October 2023}}

Bretaña's work actively challenges Euro-western colonial histories and encouraging a respectful engagement with culture via conversation and interaction.{{Cite web |title=Syokes — Objectspace |url=https://www.objectspace.org.nz/exhibitions/syokes/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=www.objectspace.org.nz |language=en}}

Bretaña's notable performance piece Eat My Rice was held in multiple locations throughout New Zealand, such as New Lynn Community Centre,{{Cite web |title=World of Cultures 2023 |url=http://worldofcultures.co.nz/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=worldofcultures.co.nz |language=en}} Projectspace Gallery,{{Cite web |title=Eat My Rice |url=https://elamartists.ac.nz/projects/eat-my-rice |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=elamartists.ac.nz}} RM Gallery, and Play_Station.{{Cite web |title=Eat My Rice - Performance Art Week Aotearoa |url=https://www.performanceartweekaotearoa.com/events/eat-my-rice/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en-US}} Eat My Rice is a reimagining of the Filipino pre-colonial feast, where participants eat the rice with bare hands, food served on banana leaves, and letting go of standards and expectations of Euro-western society.

Pre-Christianity Filipino deities play a major role in Bretaña's paintings and sculptures; they act as a platform for pre-colonial Filipino narratives and mythologies,{{Cite web |last=Matthew |first=Ricky |title=Showcasing Artists' Perspectives on Belonging and Cultural Evolution |url=https://www.filipinonews.nz/featured/a-place-to-call-home-exhibition/ |access-date=2020-09-30 |website=Filipino News}} using glitter and glass crystals,{{Cite web |last=Paris |first=Blanchard |date=2023-07-18 |title=Finding Home |url=http://craccum.co.nz/arts/finding-home/ |access-date=2023-09-30}} but are merged with the local New Zealand context.{{Cite news |last=Matthew |first=Ricky |title=Showcasing artists' perspectives on belonging and cultural evolution |url=https://www.migrantnews.nz/2023/08/26/a-place-to-call-home-exhibition/ |access-date=2020-09-30 |work=Migrant News}} In a Radio New Zealand interview, he stated "My works look into stories, myths and legends that I heard in my youth and I then translate them into paintings."{{Cite web |last=Tom |first=Blessen |date=2023-12-12 |title=Auckland gallery spotlights Asian artists |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/indonz-featured/504526/auckland-gallery-spotlights-asian-artists |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}}

In 2024, Bretaña was awarded Artist of the Year, Filipino-Kiwi Hero Awards 2024 for his contribution to the New Zealand's visual arts.{{Cite web |title=Louie Bretaña awarded Artist of the Year |url=https://artnow.nz/news/louie-breta%C3%B1a-awarded-artist-of-the-year |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Artnow |language=en}}