Felix Mago Miguel started his career in the arts as a scholar of Philippine High School for the Arts’ Visual Arts program. He won in national painting and art competitions while studying at the University of the Philippines, where he graduated cum laude in 1992.

Miguel’s first love was fine arts, but he went into illustration and graphic design when opportunities opened after college. In 1999, he married Amelia Zubiri, a writer and an editor.

Their partnership gave birth to five equally creative children—Ulan, Ulap, Angin, Araw and Langit—and Miguel took on the task of providing for the family. They have been living in Bohol since 2005.

Also a children’s book illustrator, Miguel is now finishing a significant tome on book design, where he shares more than 25 years of his experience in the publishing industry.

After a long hiatus, Miguel launched himself as a visual artist in his 50th year with his first solo show in August 2021, titled “Album: Filipinas.” This show was inspired by Antonio de Morga’s “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine Islands),” which was first published in Mexico in 1609.

“Album: Filipinas” aligned with the 500th year of Philippine colonization and tackled much of what constitutes the disembodied identity of the “Filipino” from the eyes of the colonizer, as internalized by the colonized.

This second solo show is a continuation of the first, as Miguel extends and further unpacks through visual imagery, his inquiry into our own selfhood and nationhood.

Inspired by the 1887 Madrid Exposition, “Eksposisyon: Filipinas” serves as another chapter of his commentary on Philippine history and an illustration of the current “Filipino-ness” exemplified in our current socio-political situation especially after the May 2022 national elections.

Self-reflection

In this exhibit, Miguel creates one big piece called “Palasyong Kristal: Espana y Filipinas” as a central main piece for the show. He borrows from the name of the venue where the Madrid Exposition was held.

The artwork uses the Pedro Murillo Velarde map as background, which was the first map of the Philippines published in Manila in 1734 and the first colonizer rendition of our geographic identity. In this way, the artist invites the audience to “map out” himself/herself as he/she figuratively reflects on the work and as the work literally reflects back portions of the observer via the mirrors installed in it.

Surrounding the big piece are 20 smaller pieces that are actually puzzles that make up the portraits from “Album: Filipinas” as background. Central to the smaller pieces are images from the book “Flora de Filipinas” by Fr. Manuel Blanco, with bits of mirrors and smaller portraits of “Indios” and “Filipinos,” like the bigger central piece.

The smaller pieces feature snippets of quotations from two of the most celebrated national heroes of our country, Andres Bonifacio and José Rizal. Here, the juxtaposition of words (written from different timelines and contexts of the authors) seems to instigate another dialogue that re-creates a totally varied meaning from the original text.

The identity politics and social commentary of Miguel mostly pulls from the historical sources and landmarks of the Spanish colonial period. However, as he highlights the wounds brought about by the violent past, he also simultaneously underscores the inherent strength of the Filipino spirit to always come back and regenerate into wholeness.

This exhibit serves as a reminder to the Filipino people that despite the seeming fragmented character of our being, reverberating until now through the historical impacts following the Spanish colonial period—the American colonial period, World War II, Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law, Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, and the most recent reelection of another Marcos as president—there is still a venue, a space, a chance for a total redemption of who we truly are via deep reflection, inner transformation and social participation. —CONTRIBUTED

“Exposisyon: Filipinas” will run until Aug. 9 at the Eskinita Art Farm, Tanauan, Batangas; tel. 0917-5988985.