The Year 2010 - Alfredo Esquillo
Alfredo Esquillo Jr is an award-winning Filipino artist who is known for his prodigious talent in painting human figures, as is demonstrated in the intense realism of his works. He has a strong passion for history, politics of power, salvation, and redemption.
In his iconic artwork "Pasyonista 2" - an ironic play on faith and religion, depicts a devotee carrying a heavy stone costume of a boy saint, connoting the burden of his passion as well as his desire to take on a sacred role. In the autobiographical work "Lifesaver", a man engulfed neck deep in raging waters finds hope and salvation from above. A feminine figure in Womb sits on a placid river, a hopeful supplicant blessed by the divine.
Alfredo Esquillo was born in 1972 and finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila in 1993. As a young artist, Esquillo initially gained recognition from major painting competitions where he garnered top awards. He won grand prizes from the Metrobank Foundation Painting Competition (Manila 1993) and Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards (Jakarta 1995).
He has since had 12 solo exhibitions in the Philippines and has had shows in Hongkong, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2000 he was selected as one of the 13 Artist Awardees by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
He continues to strive for excellence in his work by developing art that couples remarkable craftsmanship with social relevance. He is also an active member of art groups such as Anting-Anting and recently formed the Kalye Collective (Street Collective), a group of Las Pinas-based artists.