who do you see?

Last August 23, with a free day to spare in Manila, I headed to Altro Mondo Creative Space in Makati for the launch of Felix Mago Miguel’s latest solo exhibit, 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮: 𝘓𝘶𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨—the newest installment in his ongoing art sets as album series.

I first met Felix, his wife Amel, and one of their five children, Ulap (currently based in Dumaguete), last February in Bohol. They’ve since become very dear to my art-famished heart.

The exhibit presents anthropomorphic portraits of animals lifted from our local idioms, expressions, and cultural distractions—Hayop ka! Baboy! Buwaya. Tuta. Sabong. Regal in bearing, their poses either hint at secrecy or knowingness. Each painting is ornately framed, complete with gilded title plaques as if they belonged in the halls of government.

Art is always political, and works that try to distance themselves from it are, in their own way, even more political. What this exhibit conveys, at least to me, is that the critique does not fall in easy binaries. In fact, standing before each canvas, the questions arise—Is this me? Am I one of them? Do I support these people?

Felix’s art reflects not only the Philippines but the world at large. And with crises worsening on all fronts, from politics to the environment, maybe the only way forward is to confront them head-on, as if there were no other choice.

It was a hard and bitter pill to swallow that night, softened only by the sudden joy of familiar faces and chance encounters—artists Nicole Asares and Sam Penaso, writer Susan Claire Agbayani, photographer Wig Tysmans, bookshop owner Celestino Palma III, and several others. I went home with a heart full and a mind buzzing with questions. The exhibit is open to the public until October 4. 

[ More photos here ]