Portrait of Juan

Rubbercut on Pelon Fabric

36 x 30 inches,  image size

48 x 36 inches, paper size

Angelo Magno

2014

Before the  advent  of technology and instant  selfies,  portraiture has always been associated with power and wealth.  Only  the  affluent patrons  can afford  to  commission their portraits to  be painted by   artists or draftsmen.Portraits , if displayed in the proper  setting,  usually are used to validate ones state of  wealth or  political power.

Relief  print  method  (rubbercut) was the medium of choice of the artist. In printmaking, one  has the    advantage to create  multiple originals  rather than  just  one   masterpiece thus,  democratizing art. Print has always been coined as the  art for the masses.

Portrait of Juan  is a  representation  of the common folk, the common Filipino. An anonymous character who is  unassuming.   A character  that  has not been given an equal opportunity to be depicted in an illustrious manner. 

The name Juan connotes   the common Filipino folk .

An idiomatic expression that  can  mean  - anybody

Anyone can be  aJuan and any Juan can be any  Filipino. 

Itim na Poon

rubbercut on pelon textile, 36 inches x 18 inches, 2015

Depction of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, one of the most iconic religous images in the Filipino Catholic tradition. Because of its location, its feast is one of the most attended religous events in Manila. The icon is interesting because of its dark color which somehow breaks the notion that saints are usually as racially white.

The black Nazarene is also a saint associated with the masses because of its  phenomenal number of devotees.

Rubbercut, considered as a democratic medium because.of its advantage to create multiple originals seems to be an appropriate choice for this work. 

Scriptorium is an exhibition of drawing and chine-collé that reflects Magno’s past and current contemplation of human’s ethereal relation with the physical and the divine. His strong religious grounding (gained from his great-grandfather and grandfather who were both priests of the Aglipayan Church) exposed himto different religious practices whose elements he has expressed in visual forms.

By presenting texts and estampitas (scapulars) that portray abstract representations of people (rendering them anonymous) based on their confessions, Magno creates a space that conveys different narratives to the viewer. These drawings are part of an installation to signify the creation of a site in an ambiguous spatial context. Like the Scriptorium (the place where scribes wrote biblical narratives or illuminated manuscripts during the medieval times), the museum becomes a medium for the creation of narratives based on familiar and newfound experiences from viewing the exhibit. The exhibit runs until June 27, 2015 at the UP Vargas Museum.

Angelo Magno (b. 1979) received his bachelor’s degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 2000 and is currently finishing his masters on Fine Arts in the same university. He is a member of the Printmakers Association of the Philippines (PAP), and a teacher at the Asia Pacific Collége (APC), School of Multimedia Arts. He has exhibited his works in the Philippines, Malaysia, USA and Indonesia.