Jose Johann Bitancor is a visual artist and graphic designer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from Far Eastern University in the Philippines. He furthered his education in the United States, attending the Art Studio Course (Abstract) at Stanford University and receiving a Portfolio Merit Scholarship for the BFA program at the Memphis College of Art.
Bitancor’s works have been featured in numerous solo, juried, and group exhibitions across the United States and the Philippines. Notable venues include
San Francisco Art Fair (CA), Gray Loft Gallery (CA), Tipton Gallery (TN), Jen Tough Gallery (MN), AN/T Gallery (WA), as well as the UP Vargas Museum and the Bencab Museum in the Philippines.
His current body of work explores two-dimensional compositions characterized by linear, planar, and textural elements in a non-representational style. Bitancor’s art seeks to unify chaotic forms while embedding symbolic references to contemporary social realities.
Bitancor’s works have been featured in numerous solo, juried, and group exhibitions across the United States and the Philippines. Notable venues include
San Francisco Art Fair (CA), Gray Loft Gallery (CA), Tipton Gallery (TN), Jen Tough Gallery (MN), AN/T Gallery (WA), as well as the UP Vargas Museum and the Bencab Museum in the Philippines.
His current body of work explores two-dimensional compositions characterized by linear, planar, and textural elements in a non-representational style. Bitancor’s art seeks to unify chaotic forms while embedding symbolic references to contemporary social realities.
Art statement:
Early on, I have always been fascinated with the possibilities of transforming a given object or material from one state to another with the barest of means. I took pleasure as a child in hand-crafting my toys from scrap. This would later translate to wood carvings and two-dimensional mixed-media works.
I must admit owing allegiance to the concerns of Picasso and Braque in treating reality as a springboard towards abstraction. As can be gleaned from my present works, there are traces of the everyday from the use of materials and graphic devices that hint at what is real, be it an anecdote or a commentary. Yet, I am able to explore its intended spontaneity through manipulation of tactile qualities and juxtaposition of elements, and while acknowledging these formal characteristics, my main impetus is my latent sensibility - of being rooted and integrated, rustic and cosmopolitan and emotional and cerebral at the same time.
Early on, I have always been fascinated with the possibilities of transforming a given object or material from one state to another with the barest of means. I took pleasure as a child in hand-crafting my toys from scrap. This would later translate to wood carvings and two-dimensional mixed-media works.
I must admit owing allegiance to the concerns of Picasso and Braque in treating reality as a springboard towards abstraction. As can be gleaned from my present works, there are traces of the everyday from the use of materials and graphic devices that hint at what is real, be it an anecdote or a commentary. Yet, I am able to explore its intended spontaneity through manipulation of tactile qualities and juxtaposition of elements, and while acknowledging these formal characteristics, my main impetus is my latent sensibility - of being rooted and integrated, rustic and cosmopolitan and emotional and cerebral at the same time.
