Jose Johann Bitancor is a Filipino painter and graphic designer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Far Eastern University in the Philippines. Prior to his migration to the United States, his creative outputs were devoted entirely to the Applied Arts, particularly Exhibition Design and Collateral Design. Upon his first settlement in Memphis Tennessee, his innate inkling to work with his hands and play with materials has led to experiments in woodcarving and wire sculptures. He pursued a short stint at the University of Memphis-Tennessee to further increase his knowledge and feed his then growing appetite for the Fine Arts. His efforts quickly led to his participation in local art groups’ events and managed to receive a Portfolio Merit Scholarship from the Memphis College of Art-Tennessee.

To date, his works had been featured in a number of group exhibitions in the Philippines and in the US. Notable among which were those held at the Rochester Contemporary Arts Center, Bliss on Bliss Art Projects in New York, A/NT Gallery in Seattle, the Germantown Performing Arts Center in Tennessee and the University of the Philippines Vargas Museum and Bencab Museum.

Bitancor’s present oeuvre consists of two-dimensional exploration of linear, planar and textural compositions in a non-representational manner. His concerns consist of not only unifying chaotic elements in abstract compositions, but also injecting them with symbolic references to social realities.

The exhibition will be on display until the end of July. Viewing hours are Mon-Thurs 8:30am-8pm, Friday 8:30am-5pm, and Saturday 8am-noon. For more information the artist can be reached at johann_bit@yahoo.com