It seems like each week, we celebrate the world-class talent of our kababayan. This week, we had an advance opportunity to check out the works of one of the best public art makers and one of the world’s most in-demand visual artists. He is Jefrë Figueras Manuel or more known as Jefrë, the artist.
He was born and raised in the United States, but his parents are Filipino. The last time Jefrë visited the country was when he was three years old and now that he is 45, he told us that he always had that void in him that he wanted to fill with all things Filipino.
“You know, I am Filipino-American. My parents went there (US) to look for the American dream. I was successful in going into the arts unlike them wanting me to go to the medical field. My career exploded in America and it got to a point in my career that I wanted to know where I came from and how can I apply the things that I do in the US and bring (them) here to our home country, the Philippines,” he said.
So, what exactly does Jefrë do? He graduated in Chicago with a degree in Urban Design Planning and he used this as a jumping-off point to create iconic artworks. One if which is the upcoming 151-ft. stainless steel installation in Jacksonville, Florida dubbed as The Jax, which started construction last year. The other Jefrë works are seen in Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Antonio and across the Atlantic to London, Abu Dhabi and the Philippines.
In the art circuit, A-listers like Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra have his works as well as TikTok’s biggest star Charli D’Amelio. Getting into the business, he said, was by a twist of fate.
“I only started art 10 years ago. How that happened was at age 35, I had a heart attack and triple bypass and genetic heart disease, so I cashed out my savings, I did not want to go through the art fair and gallery, so I tried design competitions.”
What is touching about Jefrë is that if most Filipinos want to make it abroad, he wants to make it here in the country. As he became more successful in the US, he also expanded his Filipino connections which eventually led him to meeting Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia.
“They’re my first Filipino celebrity clients,” said the artist who made the Singing in The Rain sculpture to represent the husband and wife. Jefrë also met with Piolo and made the Zen for the A-list actor. He also made works for Yassi Pressman and Iza Calzado.
He eventually got in touch with the Rufino family in New York that introduced him to the Sys and that was how the Time sculpture in EDSA was erected.
“I really wanted this to face EDSA and to remind people in traffic the value of time,” shared Jefrë. Well, the people stuck in traffic in EDSA won’t have any choice, but to reflect since it is often gridlock in the area. It is a good thing that Jefrë worked his way back to his motherland to share his talents.
Last Wednesday, Jefrë opened to the public his first-ever exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila in BGC, which runs until July 1. He aptly titled it, Points Of Origin, where you will see miniature versions of his works like the Time. He also loaned back the sculptures from his celebrity friends and it is all there in the museum for the public to marvel at.
Jefrë is a gift that keeps on giving because besides going back to the Philippines to share his blessings, he is also about to unveil the 20-storey high sculpture, The Victor, which is said to he bigger than the Statue of Liberty in New York. It is Jefrë’s mission to put the Philippines on the map when it comes to public art.
“The Eiffel Tower was created for the world fair, the Statue of Liberty was a gift and I wanted to figure out how to put the Philippines on the map by creating these giant icons here and having an exhibit is just a start to share how my process is,” he concluded.