This would have made a good poster advertisement for a job recruitment agency, covering a wide spectrum of occupations, with dual destinies. No wonder for the artist, Jeho Bitancor, who has advertising background, having worked for the reputable McCann Erikson before. In Career Change, one can either change jobs or have dual jobs. For instances, the cashier needs her work to supplement her fees to be a ballerina, the high-riding executive with tie looking at his handphone probably for power-lunch appointments could become a menial office sweeper, and so on and so forth. Whatever one does, it helps to drive the wheels of the economy although in human terms, it is left for the individuals making a career change to experience. Thing is, unless you are born with a stash of obscene wealth to your name, you need to move your butt and work – going through the rigmarole of education, specific courses, universities… to get through in life. Yet, all those in the job market are hostage to the tentacles of the late capitalist system.
Based in the United States, Jeho Bitancor studied at the University of the Philippines over a long period from 1984-1992, followed by the Art Students League in New York in 1997. He is one of the ‘13 Artist Awardees’ of the Cultural Centre of the Philippines in 2006. He took part in the Vermont Studio Centre residency under the Freeman Foundation in 1997. He has done three solos with the Liongoren Gallery. He is the founding president of the Baler Art Group based in Aurora province, and is now involved in the Bliss Art Projects, an independent artist-run space dedicated to transcultural exchanges in New York. His works are collected by the Singapore Art Museum, the Ateneo Art Gallery, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Cojuangco Museum, and the University of the Philippines.