Taking a cue from her own life growing up on in the rural community of Pakil in Laguna, Jovan Benito’s (b. 1982) canvases are examples of folk life simplified. Always in abundance in her joyful works of art are happy and idyllic figures that Benito paints in a colorful, attractive, and cheerful way.

As a young artist, Jovan Benito has carefully grown and matured from being an apprentice to her husband, Filipino surrealist, Jerry Morada. She has, however, quickly discovered her own style, technique and palette of colors. Benito’s talent for observing the world surrounding her started as a child watching her artist father work on paintings of movie billboards. But, whatever she picked up from her father, her husband and other Laguna artists, ended there.

Benito paints her signature renderings of quotidian scenes. Using a bright palette, her works display Fiesta panoramas and classical scenes that demonstrate her astounding technique. Dominated by that same idyllic glow that exemplifies an Amorsolo but adapted to suit a contemporary aesthetic style, Benito shows that she has mastered a classical Philippine art tradition.