Thursday, January 29, 2015

Selected images


ARNALDO MIRASOL was born and raised in Tondo, Manila, Philippines. He took up Fine Arts, major in painting at the University of Santo Tomas and the University of the East. Mirasol began working as a professional artist in 1981, when he was hired as editorial cartoonist for the newspaper People's Journal Tonight. In 1987, he applied and was hired for the same job in Joe Burgos' We Forum Publications. In between his cartooning stints, Mirasol worked as gallery assistant at the Galeria de las Islas, and was an educational book illustrator from 1988 to 2000.

In 1996, Mirasol showed his portfolio to Reni Roxas and Marc Singer, publishers of Tahanan Books for Young Readers. Being especially impressed by the cover art he did for Phoenix Publishing House, Reni and Marc commissioned Mirasol to do the illustrations for their collaborative book First Around the Globe: The Story of Enrique. Mirasol went on to illustrate four more books for Tahanan: Tamales Day, The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel, Once Upon a Time, and Long Ago and Far Away. Mirasol's other books are Origin of the Frog, Anina ng mga Alon (Anina of the Waves), and Mga Modernong Alamat Volume 4. Two of his books are prize-winners abroad. The Origin of the Frog won a runner-up award in the 12th Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustration in Tokyo, in 2000. While the excellence of his illustrations for The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel landed him on the Honour List of the Basel-based International Board on Books for Young people (IBBY).

Mirasol has had three solo art exhibitions, so far - once at the Hiraya Gallery and twice at the Crucible. He had also participated in several group exhibitions. His paintings in the eighties, although belonging to the social-realist school, were tempered somewhat with surrealist color and humor. One of his paintings from that period, the  Hungry Child Dissected, won in 1984, one of the three Best Entry awards in the First Metrobank Annual painting Competition. 2008 was a landmark year for Mirasol. It was during that time that he finally weaned himself away from the sharp-focus realist style of his previous paintings. While his earlier works were rendered with a meticulous attention to details, his recent illustrations and paintings - with their simplification, distortion, and loud coloration - have a decidedly modern and pop art feel to them. Mirasol still lives in Tondo, with wife Carina, and sons Brando de Niro and Karel Andrei. He is popularly known as Arnel Mirasol in the Philippine art circle.

Paintings



WARRIOR BIRD, 2002, acrylic on paper, 12.5 X 12.5 inches, Robinzon Fernandez collection



DAWN DUEL, 2002, acrylic on paper, 12.5 X 12.5 inches, Reni Roxas collection



CORRUPT BUREAUCRAT DISSECTED 2,  2002, acrylic on paper, 12.5 X 12.5 inches



THE SWIMMING CLASS, 2002, acrylic on paper, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection



SERAGLIO FANTASY, 2005, oil on canvas, 24 X 24 inches, private collection



SUPREMACY OF EVE, 2006, acrylic on paper, 30 X 22 inches, Elvira Gonzaga collection



SNORKELER'S BLUES, 2006, oil on canvas, 24 X 13 inches, private collection



TREKKERS' BLISS (Taal Crater Lake), 2006, oil on canvas, 24 X 13 inches, private collection



LORD OF THE REEF, 2007, acrylic on paper, 30 X 22 inches



BOY CONTEMPLATING HIS COCKEREL, 2007, oil on canvas, 24 X 13 inches, Jerry Dean collection



VENUS OF BORACAY (after Titian's Venus of Urbino), 2008, oil on canvas, 33X 24 inches, Lorna Torralba-Titgemeyer collection



CANDY SERPENTS (after Picasso's Two Women Running on the Beach and my son Kai's serpent doodles), 2008, acrylic on paper, 22 X 22 inches



HIS SERENADE (after Venus of Urbino ), 2008, acrylic on paper, 12.5 X 12.5 inches, Gerry dela Cruz collection



MY SERENADE (after Venus of Urbino), 2009, oil on canvas, 35 X 35 inches, Jules Felix collection



DECLINE AND FALL OF THE GREEK TRUMPETER, 2009, 9 X 14 inches, Jules Felix collection



GREGORIAN CANT: HOMAGE TO HEART, 2009, acrylic on paper, 7.5 X 10 inches, private collection



BLOODY MARY, 2009, oil on canvas, 8 X 10 inches, Sari Ortiga collection



SAND DUNE CONCERTO, 2009, oil on canvas, 8 X 10 inches, Sari ortiga collection




SURVIVAL ALLEGORY, 2011, oil on canvas, 24 X 24 inches, private collection



CIRCO DE AMOR, 2015, oil on canvas, 20 X 29 inches, The Artologist Gallery


Illustrations


THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, 1989










TINIK NA PIITAN (Fishbone Prison), 1992




Cover art for a textbook on Reading published by Phoenix Publishing House



Cover art for a textbook on Reading published by Phoenix Publishing House



An illustration for Origin of the Frog, published by Rex Printing, Jerry Dean collection



An illustration for Origin of the Frog, Bert and Dulce Falsis collection




An illustration for Origin of the Frog, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection


An illustration for the story Chun, published by Tahanan Books, Reni Roxas collection



Cover art for First Around the Globe: The Story of Enrique, published by Tahanan Books, Marc Singer collection



An illustration for The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel, published by Tahanan Books, Tisa Roxas-Tan collection



An illustration for The Brothers Wu and the Good-Luck Eel, Marc Singer collection



Cover art for An Introduction to Economics and Economic Development Issues in the Philippines, published by Bookmark, Bert and Dulce Falsis collection



THE IMPERIALIST MANIFESTO (Cover art for a textbook on World History published by Bookmark), 1999,  acrylic on paper, Reni Roxas collection



Illustration for Rex Printing's 2000 Calendar, acrylic on paper



Greeting card design for Hallmarks L.I.F.E. (Leukemic Indigent Fund Endowment) Project, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection



THE FARMER AND HIS WIFE, 1999, acrylic on paper, 20 X 8 inches, Reni Roxas collection


THUMBELINA, 2000, oil on canvas, 10 X 12.5 inches, Mark Yap collection


THE LITTLE MERMAID, 2000, acrylic on paper,10 X 12.5 inches, Mark Yap collection


THE WILD SWANS, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Reni Roxas collection



THE NIGHTINGALE, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection



THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Didith Tan-Rodrigo collection



THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA, 2000, acrylic on paper,  10 X 12.5 inches, Bobby Roxas collection

THE TRAVELING COMPANION, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, May C. Reyes collection


THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES, 2000, acrylic on paper, 20 X 12.5 inches, May C. Reyes collection


THE UGLY DUCKLING, 2000, acrylic on paper, 10 X 12.5 inches, Segundo Matias Jr. collection


SEA GYPSY ( an illustration for Anina ng mga Alon), published by Adarna House, 2002, acrylic on paper, Bert and Dulce Falsis collection


RUMPELSTILTSKIN, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Frances Ong collection


THE GOOSE GIRL, 2003,  acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Reni Roxas collection


SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED, 2003, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Marixi Rufino-Prieto collection


SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, 2004, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, private collection


RAPUNZEL, 2003, acrylic on paper, Reni Roxas collection


HANSEL AND GRETEL, 2004, acrylic on paper, Marian Factora collection


THE FROG PRINCE, 2003, acrylic on paper,Bert and Dulce Falsis collection


THE SHOEMAKER AND THE ELVES, 2004, acrylic on paper, 11.2 X 14 inches, Jerry Dean collection


Cover art for The Mermaid's Castle (Ang Palasyo sa Serena), published by Lulu.com, 2008, acrylic on paper, 10 X 8.5 inches, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection


FREE DIVING CONTEST, 2008, acrylic on paper, 10 X 8.5 inches, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection


MERMEN DRUM CORPS, 2008,acrylic on paper, 10 X 8.5 inches, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection


SEAFOOD BUFFET, 2008, acrylic on paper, 10 X 8.5 inches, Vince Tabirara collection


CORAL CITY, 2008, acrylic on paper, 10 X 8.5 inches, Vince Tabirara collection


THE ABYSS  (illustration for Alamat ng Agila). 2009, acrylic on paper, 9 X 12.75 inches, Segundo Matias Jr. collection
TEST FLIGHT (illustration for Alamat ng Agila). 2009, acrylic on paper, 9 X 12.75 inches, Segundo Matias Jr. collection


WING ENVY (illustration for Alamat ng Agila), 2009, acrylic on paper, 9 X 12.75 inches, Dr. Manolet Delfin collection


PRIMAL EAGLE (illustration forAlamat ng Agila), 2009,acrylic on paper, 9 X 12.75inches


MISS BUTTERFLY (illustration for Alamat ng Palay), 2010, oil on canvas, 24 X 33 inches, Segundo Matias Jr. collection