Brian Bernardo is a native of Bulacan, a province right next to Manila in the north and spent his formative years there and later finished his second degree in BFA at the Bulacan State University. His artistic practice and creative development was honed by joining several art contests and public events in the arts. Eventually, his career would evolve and his works exposed in the various galleries in Manila and he would later receive distinctions for his work including the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) 2011. He is a member of the Art Zoo, Lumina Art Group, Art Association of the Philippines and other art guilds.

During the early stages of his career, he started with religious art. Throughout the years, his styles and range of themes and tropes would develop into something distinctly his but as always, he considers his work to be spiritual and purposeful, personal and full of biographical truths. His paintings are simply objects of storytelling of his experiences which evoke his understanding of the oftentimes, inscrutable world around him.

At the moment, his work can be identified with pop surrealism. His staple images which he coined “manimals”, are animal headed figures with human bodies. These hybrids are allusions that attempt to present a range of sharp ambiguities and subtexts : are these anthropomorphized creatures or are they simply men who reveal the natural beasts in them?

These works are marked by a characteristic, strikingly imaginative pictorial language and a repertoire of symbolic images. These animal representations as a way to explore the established boundaries between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom. To him, there is such a porous distinction between what is human and an animal besides the obviously biological. Men will always have bestial impulses hidden under the veneer of civility and morality and claim of higher intelligence. As we’ve seen constantly in the history of humanity, humans do act worse than animals and are more savage than the creatures they assigned to be beastly. One is left wondering how supreme men’s place in the scheme of things really is?

The owlman, a character that grew out of his process is a representation of himself. His penchant for animal representation developed because of his obvious love for animals and other associations, like the Chinese zodiac . Naturally, he advocates animal welfare ,his art is also subtly informed by empathy towards animals.

His technical style can be immediately aligned with realism but sometimes he also turns to pop surrealism themes. He also does art toys and customization of toys. From time to time, he still returns to painting religious images as a way to steadily work on his skill in rendering images and to be able to heed to the dexterous demands of realism.

SOLO EXHIBIT

2016
FROM PARTS UNKNOWN (RISE OF THE OWLMAN), Painting and Art toy Launch
Six Inch Gallery, Ronac Art Center, Greenhills, San Juan City

2019
Poster Boys, 2nd Solo Exhibit
Six Inch Gallery
Secret Fresh Gallery, RONAC Art Center, Greenhills, San Juan City

TWO MAN EXHIBITS

2017
“The Inevitable”, Brian Bernardo x Yao Sampana
Provenance Art Gallery, Shangri-la at the Fort, BGC, Taguig City

“Worlds Apart”, Brian Bernardo and Jukus Sepada
Gallery B, Secret Fresh Gallery
Ronac Art Center, Greenhills, San Juan City

GROUP EXHIBITS

2019

“Elevate” - Group Exhibit
Village Art Gallery, Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City

Secret Fresh Gallery x Xavier School Batch ‘95 - Xavier Art Fest, Xavier School, San Juan City

Here and Now 2019 - A year-end Exhibit
Village Art Gallery, Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City