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Philippines • 1992

Biography

Filipino artist Jerico Cabrera Carandang, based in Rome, Italy, is known for his expressionist paintings and murals. His works are unique and distinctive, primarily depicting human faces with different expressions. Jerico was born in Rosario, Philippines, in 1992. At the age of ten, he moved to Rome with his parents, which then became his adopted city. He discovered street culture at the age of 13, creating graffiti in hidden and abandoned places and calling himself "Dekoner." In high school, Jerico developed a strong interest in art history and studied several artists, such as Van Gogh , Lucian Freud , and Francis Bacon , from whom he drew inspiration. His early paintings were primarily portraits, both self-portraits and otherwise.

The most significant project involving Jerico and 19 other artists was the one organized by 999Contemporary in collaboration with ATER – Azienda Territoriale per l'Edilizia Residenziale et Comune di Roma in 2015. The project involved working on the side of a 14-meter-high building, housing over 500 people in the TorMarancia district, one of the outskirts of Rome. In this event, finding himself painting not only for himself but for a collective group of people, Jerico's artistic research further evolves. His murals depict the new divine creation in which a branch of Japanese flower lies between the touching fingers of Michelangelo . There is no sign of agitation, but serenity is diffused through the use of the color cyan. Thus, the background lets the surroundings appear.

His works feature fragmented faces, battered expressions, frightened eyes, and screaming existences begging for help while inexorably dissolving. The viewer can do nothing; there is no possibility of redemption. Souls form on the canvas, and the viewer is drawn into them, sensing within themselves the darkness and mystery of the meanderings of the human soul.

In 2019, the artist traveled to Naples, where, in collaboration with the Centro La Tenda social welfare department, he created a fresco. Jerico expressed the themes of brotherhood and solidarity through two figures entwined in an embrace. That same year, at the invitation of the Casal de' Pazzi Museum, he created a large-scale mural entitled On the External Wall. The museum, which houses numerous fossil finds, now features a stunning depiction of the ancient river that once flowed where the institution now stands.

In December 2014, he exhibited several of his works for the first time in a group exhibition organized at the Popping Club in the Monti district, a place famous for its art galleries and enoteca (wine bars), located just east of the Colosseum. Jerico's first solo exhibition, entitled , opened on March 12, 2016, at the White Noise Gallery in Rome.

Nationality

Filipino artists