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Andres Barrioquinto (born April 6, 1975 in Philippines) is a Filipino painter and has been labeled as the "Dark Man of Philippine Art."

Early Life
Barrioquinto was born on April 6, 1975 in Philippines, is the eldest child of Socorro Jarillas Santos and Manila Times business deskman and Manila Standard Today’s editor Cesar Barrioquinto. In his early years, Barrioquinto enjoyed expressing himself through painting. But due to the nature of his father’s job, his family had to move to Hong Kong, two years after Corazon Aquino’s win through "People Power Revolution". He had to cope with growing up in what was then described as one of the world's rudest cities.

Life in Hong Kong
Barrioquinto lived in Hong Kong for three years, alone and without friends. He spent his time at the video arcades, where the violence programmed into the gaming often enough seep into real space and time. Battle with a Chinese gang or chasing everyday at the malls, he felt the heaviness of being isolated. Barrioquinto's encounter with the teen gangs who lorded it over the arcades and showed no tolerance to him, who often beat them at their electronic turf, was another mother lode of emotion that fueled his next few years of art making.

Return to the Philippines
Barrioquinto's father opted to return to Manila in the mid-90s, partly encouraged by a better economy in the Ramos years, and partly deeply concerned that the violence Andres was getting exposed to might have irreversible effects.

Career
Barrioquinto took up Fine Arts Major in Painting at the University of Santo Tomas in 1995. Using school time to produce a thick body of paintings and drawings, his visual work opened a valve to an inner purge. Barrioquinto settled himself into this, yet produced reams of distorted portraiture that effectively displaced him from the training. Only his consistency convinced his instructors that he was capable of moving forward or not he absorbed the modes prevalent in school. And move forward he did, finding approbation in winning major art competitions, i.e. the Art Association of the Philippines, the Metrobank, the Nokia Art Awards and even gaining a slot at the Taipei Biennial for Drawing in 1999.

Over the past few years, Andres won numerous awards for excellent renditions, making his name as one of the polished artist of his time. Considering him as a fledgling artist struck by luck, art critics and connoisseurs often consider Barrioquinto's art as harsh, complex, and mostly a disheveled opus with an eerie character. One said that his oil on canvas that placed third in the Art Association of the Philippines contest in 1997 "couldn't give heed to its pastel tones for the sake of compositional sincerity, contradicting its vie noire statement with affectatious put-ons!" Another purveying critic phrased Andres cousin's art teacher, "that his oil didn't deserve the top prize" in the first Urban Bank competition in 1998. He was dubbed as a mere novice, which can be insulting, but Andres shrugs off the barbs with a laugh. For him, "life can sometimes be too harsh that if you're not bolstered by your principles and beliefs, you can be spurned down easily."

Inspiration
Barrioquinto is an admirer of New York graffiti artist Jean Michel-Basquiat and Edvard Munch who had greatly influenced his works. Among the local artists, he prefers Jojo Legaspi's art best, which portrays a hazy distinction between existence and death. It is where Barrioquinto derived and heightened his ability to depict people in brutal fashion of brooding, rust drenched composition. He confesses that he does not abide the laws of colors but merely suits his artistic composition with his changing moods. What matters to him is the satisfaction of his hunger for self-expression.

Solo Exhibitions
2009 THE GODS OF SMALL THINGS Blanc Compound

2004 UGALING BABOY,UGALING ASO…THIRD WORLD!!! West Gallery,Mandaluyong City.

2003 FHAMVHENTA HEZPESYAL West Gallery,Makati City.

2002 RIPE (with decay) The Drawing,Room Makati City. SORROW IN THE HOUSE OF BEAUTY West Gallery,Mandaluyong City.

2001 MY LOVE GONE WRONG SONGS Big and small art co.,Mandaluyong City.

STOP KILLING ME West Gallery,Mandaluyong City.

Selected Group Exhibitions
2005 DOG GOD, UST TRAVELING SHOW

2004 13 ARTISTS AWARDS CCP

2001 THE 10TH INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL PRINT AND DRAWING EXHIBITION Taipei Fine Arts Museum, R.O.C.

WHO OWNS WOMEN'S BODIES? (Traveling show)

1999 THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL BIENNAL PRINT AND DRAWING EXHIBITION Taipei Fine Arts Museum, R.O.C.

NOKIA ARTS AWARD-ASIA PACIFIC Singapore