Alfredo Esquillo Jr., and "B.I. Joe"

In the series of paintings which he calls Tragicomedy, Alfredo Esquillo Jr. displays his more surrealist bent.  For these works, he makes repeated use of an image he christens as the wheelchair-jeepney.  A product of his imagination, he paints this as a jeepney’s dashboard without an engine.  Instead, the large wheels of the wheelchair appear to mechanically power the hybrid vehicle.  Through the years, Esqui has employed this in several of his pieces: on its own in Third World, pushed around in circles by several buffoons in Survivor, carrying a load of cartons in Lipat-Bahay.  He uses the wheelchair-jeepney as a device to underscore the hobbled and disabled state we Pinoys find ourselves unable to shake off, the legacy of repeated missteps by our political leadership.  Another conveyance that we see repeatedly in his tragicomedies is the double-faced jeepney, two jeepney dashboards facing opposite directions.  Esqui has used this as a metaphor for the Philippines’ lack of progress.  The state has two drivers pulling it in opposite directions. Continue reading →