THE ARTIST & HIS WIFE

JOEL EUGENIO EPISTOLA FERRARIS

Filipino Artist/Muralist

Joel Eugenio Epistola Ferraris was born in Iloilo City, Philippines, on April 5, 1959 into a family of self-taught artists.

The eldest among the five siblings, he started to hone his skills at a very young age and joined his first art competition at the age of 9. From then onwards, he and his siblings reaped awards by joining art competitions and took part in art exhibitions every year.

After studying Architecture at the University of the Philippines, he went fulltime as an artist. Trained and skilled in painting because of the numerous portraits he did in the past, he was commissioned by GUESS? USA in the Philippines to do a 100 feet long mural in line with the apparel company’s Anti-AIDS campaign that was co-sponsored by the Department of Health of the Philippines. The late actress and GUESS? USA model Anna Nicole Smith unveiled the mural “ARMOR OF GOD” which was displayed on the facade of Rustan’s in Makati, Philippines in 1994.

In 1996, Joel moved to Hong Kong to join his wife who works as an IT Consultant. He joined the Hong Kong Mural Society after painting “Lek Yuen Jewel”, his very first mural designed for the Hong Kong Housing Authority. A 66-foot mural depicting marine life, this vibrant piece of public art won the 2nd best mural award in a publicly judged competition.

Soon Joel became the mural society’s vice chairman and took part in the group’s more than 100 mural projects all over the territory, including the painting of Hong Kong’s giant mural in Tsing Yi Island with compatriot Artist Arnel Agawin.

In a two-man art exhibition “Rapid Reflections” at the newly opened John Batten Gallery in 1997, Joel teamed-up with another Filipino artist, Justo Cascante. This opportunity introduced him to Hong Kong’s art scene, especially when he was interviewed on CNN International.

A series of art projects ensued and his cooperation with his artist compatriots led to the start of the Philippine Arts Festival, an annual Filipino arts and cultural event in Hong Kong. He also constantly joins multinational group exhibitions like the ArtWalk, the Gambling Show and CityPoetry organized by John Batten. At the same time, Joel is represented by the John Batten Gallery in Hong Kong.

Despite his diminishing penchant for art competitions, his painting titled NEOPHYTE was chosen among the Top 30 Finalist of the first Sovereign Art Prize in 2004 in Hong Kong, while his younger brothers continue to garner awards in the Philippines.

After his solo shows in the Philippines and Hong Kong, Joel was invited to the USA by the University of Pittsburgh in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 2006 to put up a solo show titled “FREE FLOW” as part of the Spectrum Series program of the University of Pittsburgh in Bradford. Being the first Filipino invited to this prestigious multicultural and multinational event, he exhibited what amounted to a retrospective of his works, revealing his true nature as an artist not afraid to discover new styles and innovations in the discipline called art.

For the past decades of art-making, Joel E. Ferraris finds fulfillment when he introduced several original techniques and styles starting from devising ways to do art in his home province in the Philippines way back in the late 70s by using indigenous materials and continued to explore the possibilities of newly found objects, mediums and his newly developed styles in Hong Kong in the new millennium.

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“To me, a free flowing life means to be guided by the Divine Light and to swim into that life-giving water in which one is able to gently hurdle or evade life's many obstacles while maintaining a certain balance in one's career, family life, social responsibilities and most of all moral and spiritual obligations.” Joel E. Ferraris