Job Abednego David
Mga Obrang Hors de Combat
Hors de Combat Artworks
Works created during Military Custody
Hand-made in the Age of Machines
Group exhibition, Scholars' Gallery, Fundacion Sanso, San Juan City PH
Former Rebel Filipino Artist
I am a former Deputy Political Instructor with the NPA's STR-MRGU (a regional fighting unit), serving until my capture and surrender in September 2023. Prior to that, as a student leader in the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Fine Arts, I conducted underground political work against the government while refining the philosophical and phenomenological foundations of my artistic practice.
Ever since, I've been interested in Philosophy, which fueled my political practice, having studied Dialectics and phenomenology. I used phenomenology to guide my artistic practice, utilizing the concept of "Spirits" being represented as brushstrokes, which then make up "The World" which is the overall painting. I posit in this framework that the material world is nothing more than an abstract painting, which I represent in a system of spirits being in the world.
After living 6 years in the mountains of Sierra Madre and Mindoro Island as a rebel, I now reflect on my experiences as a failed revolutionary in my current body of work. I hope that my work would stir dialogue to both revolutionary and counter-insurgent factions of society. In my confession, I now see myself detached to any revolutionary or anti-government struggle, staying true to my petite-bourgeois class origin. My meditation on this personal and political fact is underway as an article.
I now spend my time trying to fulfill my role as a husband and family-man, supporting my wife who is also a former rebel, as we tackle life with PTSD, political exclusion, stigma, and economic crises.
Exhibitions
"Mga Obrang Hors de Combat" Solo Exhibition, January 2026, Gravity Art Space
"Hand-made in the Age of Machines" Scholars' Gallery, Fundacion Sanso (July 2026)
"Karatig, Istorya Gallery (April 2026)
From MNL to the WRLD, Dexterton Showroom (August 2025)
No Name Show, Gravity Art Space (Dec 2024 & Dec 2025)
Anti-Ego, Kanto Gallery, Makati (2016)
MADE Finalists, CCP Little Theater Lobby / Le Pavilion (2014)
Shell National Students Art Competition Finalists, Ayala Museum (2013)
Not So Fresh, UP CFA Gallery (2012)