Jerson Samson

Jerson Samson was lucky to be situated in Antipolo, specifically at the Juan Sumulong Elementary and High school. Here, children were early exposed to art, thanks to art instructors like Solano Cruz, who became a mentor. When he grew up, Jerson was so good at this medium that he was invited to assist other talented young artists slightly older than he was, such as Ferdinand Montemayor and Gemo Tapales of the Antipolo art group Salingpusa (meaning understudy) whenever they had large commissions to do. Jerson would become one of the pillars of the junior group that Salingpusa birthed, Kuting ( meaning kitten), Jerson went on to finish a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at University of the Philippines, graduating there as a painting major in 1998.

Jerson specializes in detailed renditions of people at community activities such as moving house. He also paints crowds fleeing from a neighborhood fire, or families inside crowded tenements-making public the private lives that go on behind the closed doors that the prefab cement walls. 

Favoring warm shades of yellow and orange; by 1997 his figures acquired alizarin-red outlines for emphasis. 

From the time he was nine up to the age of fourteen, Jerson has kept winning all of seven first prizes in art, mostly at on-the-spot competitions in Manila. He has 33 other awards to his name. 

At 20, Jerson’s works were already getting into the finals of major national contests such as the Shell competition and the Metrobank Foundation National competition. His works were selected as Jurors Choice at the Art Association of the Philippines Annual of 1997.