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Jeho Bitancor Jeho Bitancor is a Filipino painter, he is known for his paintings. He one of the more important and contemporary painters in our country and in our time today. He tried painting quasi-surreal paintings as his early exploration or as his first subject and focus, but he made people know him as a purveyor of social realist paintings. Jeho shows through his painting his ironies, epigram and statements, he is hoping that his painting will give out the message and serve as and impetuous change to the world. The themes for his painting are mostly about society. On the other hand, Jeho’s paintings or masterpiece catches the viewer’s attention about the aspects of migratory experience that breaks or brought together the Filipinos attachment to their homeland and the readiness of the Filipinos to adapt and adjust to a new country. Jeho Bitancor continues to paint and improve his masterpiece through time and as a painter he works twice as hard to let people understand what he want’s to deliver through his painting. LIFE Early Life'' His early phase in being a painter was characterized by people not familiar to him. He was trained firstly as a studio artist; the course he had taken up during his time in studying in the University of the Philippines is Fine Arts major in Painting after which he had to study his second major which is in Visual Communications. He was fully aware that when he pursues a degree in fine arts right after his graduation is a hard and tough decision and like other’s think he said to himself that this is a sure ticket to starvation well unless you have a rich family to support and buy the materials that you needed to go on with painting. He not rich or poor, he is just middle class; He doesn’t live a luxurious life. He is the eldest among his siblings, he has four siblings, and of course as a typical Filipino middle class person he is obligated to help his family and continue on with his life.

Jeho said, “what could be better than pursuing a lucrative career as an applied artist?” Then he said that he was an on and off employment as an art director and graphic designer for some leading ad agencies, for seven years. He said that the difference between ideals that he purse as an artist and the corporate world proved that to be so morally and philosophically speaking opposed that he walked out the job numerous times. Finally he was granted a US residency in 1997 and he resigned and left his job from advertising career. He said “but the art of visual communications remained and was put into a better use as I’ve rendered my services to cause-oriented and advocate groups in the years to come.” By that he volunteered and did fund-raising campaigns for Caritas Manila for one. And all the while, He realized that he was starting to paint and join art painting competition. US Residency Granted in 1997 It took place at the Vermont Studio Center in United States; a colony for international artists was located in the isolated “Green Mountain State.” Freeman Foundation was the one who grants the awards to only two artists per country in Asia. It was a tight completion and closely juried and distinguished by the judges as artist get to travel there in United States and imagine the one who will be granted will maintain a studio for free in the United States. The grant is includes the travel, shipping allowances, health insurance and even the meal. All the artists have to do is work on their masterpiece and not be disturbed and also needs to interact with other artists from around the world for a three months. It was surprising for Jeho Bitancor that his masterpieces were all received and admired in the United States. For his final Grant he was given a solo show in the Vermont Studio Center’s gallery and Freeman Foundation was the one who provided his free travel to New York as well. ''College Life His first choice was really Fine Arts, He said that he didn’t have any options, then again he can be in other fields that do not require math but he said that he pursed in studying a more creative endeavor. But He toke up the required subjects for his course Math 1 and Math 2. His contemporaries in University of the Philippines was his batch mates and classmates that is namely Ferdie Montemayor, Bernardo Pacquing, Manuel Ocampo, Gaston Damag, Roma Valles and Ronald Achacoso, among others. He also shared a Chabet class with Marcel Antonio and Rock Drilon. Senior contemporaries include Manny Garibay, Karen Flores, Elmer Borlongan, Tony Leano, Mark Justiniani and Alwin Reamillo, among others. Jeho Bitancor denied that he was one of the star students during his college days, he said that two of his classmates were namely Alwin Reamillo and Tony Leano. Jeho stated that as painting student it is hard to stand out because all of his classmates were really great and skillful and thus some are graduated from Philippine High School for the Arts. When he studied his second major in VisCom, He was noticed probably because of his advantage in training and his age that time. Jeho also said “One of my teachers, the best and strictest, admitted that she has nothing more to teach me and she said that she would recommend me for a scholarship in abroad instead. Of course, It did not materialize as I was in the habit of dropping minor subjects and there was no scholarship delinquent for students. Under his teacher’s class, which he always calls as ‘Chabet’s’ Class, their themes or outputs were into Neo-Expressionism and Post-Modernism. He learned so much about quasi-surreal imagery and it was slowly showing through his works also the social realism influence was slowly emerging in his artworks too. ''After College Life Jeho Bitancor said that during his third year in Visual Communications, and also the result of his practicum interview. He was offered a job, full-time by Emily Abrera of McCann Erickson. He was trained as an art director for a new department that he can supervise in the Direct-Mail Advertising. He proved that his first job in the corporate world is over-bearing and as he already had discipline as a visual artist, he resigned his job and went back to studying. He said that being an art director is responsible in providing visual solutions to some marketing problems. The product proposed by them must be approved and has to appeal to the senses and appetite. In influencing and getting the consumers to buy their products it takes a lot of strategy, research and creativity. And of course the hard work and the pressure is on him, Since he was the one that conceptualize and design the television commercials and the flyers or print ads and the collaterals that is handed out. The company that he is working on is just a medium-size ad agency. In making the print ad’s and collateral is done mostly with the partnership of a copywriter. Concept that is encouraged and needs to be done independently are multi-national ad agencies, so the artists can have a pure visual concept from the art director and a text-based concept from the writer. Jeho, also oversee some production process such as shoots, production design and printing. And note that Jeho Bitancor is the Art Director of Samsung here in the Philippines when it was first launched. He said that after he resigned his job as a Direct-Mail Advertiser he went back to school and the source of his funds then was from his savings that he earned from working there and he added that he illustrates for the school college paper and children’s magazine and well he also said that he sells some of his paintings from time to time. After Bitancor worked from McCann Erikson, he tried for another job trying to reconcile the need to paint and the need to eat. Avellana and Associates, Philippines Advertising Counselors, Leadcom Asia and Communication Concepts were among the topnotch victims of my “Attitude Problem.” He said proudly that he knows in himself that he performed well though even his convictions were elsewhere. Jeho was referring to his “I am not happy with my job. I think I’m better off elsewhere” as his attitude problem, Looking at it now I don’t regret anything, I know to myself that I made the right decision in resigning. ''ART EXPERIENCES Jeho said that advertising provided him a good training ground that enhanced his processes, taste and skills. And he said that he learned how to focus and learned how to achieve the right impact through minimum means and he learned how to organize and trim down unnecessary details in his artworks to save time and energy. Jeho also said that up until now he observes image’s that has expressive potential. REFERENCES "Jeho Bitancor" Artes de Filipinas Jeho Bitancor "Painting Truths" Kulay ng Diwa "Jeho Bitancor Jeho Bitancor Exhibit  "UTTERLY ART @ SINGAPORE"