Pierre F. Patricio

Pierre Patricio Farum y Castro (born February 20, 1960 in Dumalag, Capiz, Philippines) is a Filipino self-taught artist. He has successfully exhibited both internationally and in his home country. He is also known for his representations of the Philippines at the first two editions of the United Buddy Bears exhibition.

Life & Career

Patricio was born in 1960 in Dumalag, a small town in the province of Capiz. He is the second son of Emerson Patricio Bereber, an agriculturist, and Teresita Farum Castro, a public school teacher. A naturally precocious child, he already started dabbling in art at the tender age of five. His family later settled in the coastal town of Pilar where his father worked as a sugar technologist. Teachers have recognized his talent during the secondary grade and encouraged him to develop his artistic potential upon winning a national drawing competition. In high school, he went on to win second prize in a regional art contest sponsored by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. His entry to the national Colgate-Palmolive on-the-spot painting competition in 1977 won the grand prize placing his name to the public spotlight for the first time. He later designed the official seal of the Pilar National High School. Although his parents were aware of his talent, they strongly believed that nothing would come out of it. Therefore, he was sent to attend college in Iloilo City. He first took up Civil Engineering at the Western Institute of Technology but later finished his degree in Maritime Transportation at the Iloilo Maritime Academy (now the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University-Arevalo). He more or less learned his techniques the autodidactic way.

After graduation, he worked as a Geological Draftsman for the Azure Mining Corporation in 1982. He later worked for several various shipping companies in Japan. As a seaman, he travelled throughout Asia and the Pacific. In 1988, he migrated with his wife in Greece where he took up foremal studies in figurative drawing under Professor Lou Esthatiou at the "American Hellenic Union" in Athens. He decided take up full time in art since 1993. In 1998, he moved with his family in Germany where he was deeply influenced by its people, landscapes, arts and culture. He had his paintings on display at the Brigette Wagner Gallery in Bonn until he eventually moved to Berlin the following months where he resided until 2005.

Today, his styles vary from cubism to impressionist and abstract touches. He has designed several landmark sculptures in Berlin, better known as the Buddy Bears which were developed by Eva and Klaus Herlitz. He also represented the Philippines at the first two editions of the United Buddy Bears exhibition. He has exhibited in Athens, Hamburg, Manila, Roxas City, Iloilo City, Cologne, Berlin, Brussels, Tuscany, Potsdam and Bad Homburg.

The "Greek News Daily" described: "...looking at his art, there is a definite cubism influence...(his) paintings have a mythical feeling to them due to the subjects of his paintings, his use of color and inner vision that comes out on the canvas." His paintaings are said to "depict the glory of the human spirit" according to the "Worldscope" Newspaper. "The color combinations reflect his view of the environment. The beauty of life is the centerpiece of his works." was mentioned by the "Eimsbüttler Wochenblatt". He has also been featured several times at Deutsche Welle TV. He originates from a coastal town in the province of Capiz descending from a Spanish-Filipino family. He now lives in the Philippines.

External links

* [http://www.dfa.gov.ph/news/pr/pr2006/jun/pr538.pdf Philippine Buddy-Bear for Project in Africa]
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.susannealbers.de/02kultur-buddy00.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools Philippine Buddy-Bear for Unicef]