The UP Diliman (UPD) community mourns the passing of Roberto B. Feleo on Sept. 13. Feleo was a retired professor at the UPD College of Fine Arts (CFA).
Sir Bob, affectionately called by his mentees, colleagues, and friends, will be remembered as a visual artist and art educator who selflessly shared his craft, knowledge, and talents with his students and peers.
Following his death, an outpouring of Facebook posts from his former students, recalled how Feleo meant to them: an adviser who recognized their potential and urged them not to give up, and a friend who loved to tell stories and share valuable life lessons.
In her obituary on Feleo, Lisa Ito-Tapang, an assistant professor at the CFA, said Feleo began teaching there in 1991 as a senior lecturer, “teaching the rudiments of materials, stagecraft, and sculptural technique.” He earned tenure in 1998 and served as chair of the Department of Studio Arts from 1998 to 1999.
According to a CFA Facebook post, Feleo served as the resident visual art instructor at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Makiling, Laguna, from 1980 to 2007. He also taught at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) School of Fine Arts in Malate, Manila.
Feleo earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts (major in Painting) from PWU in 1982.
He started participating in art exhibitions, both solo or group shows, in 1978. Since then, his artworks have gained recognition here and abroad.
Feleo’s August 6 was among the three grand winners of the 1st Metrobank Foundation Art Competition (now Metrobank Arts and Design Excellence) held in 1984.
In 1985, he staged his first solo exhibition, Sapin-sapin ni Feleo (Feleo’s Layering), in Hiraya Gallery, Manila. This exhibition later toured the Cultural Center of the Philippines (1987), and the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan (1988). Feleo was one of the recipients of the 1988 Thirteen Artists Award by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
His well-known installation Tau-tao: The Bagobo Myth of the Afterlife was displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts in 1997. It was again exhibited at the same museum from 2008 to 2012. He also had an exhibition at the Vargas Museum at UPD in 2010, Bound/Bomba.
Feleo organized exhibitions on four continents: From South America (Centro Provincial de las Artes Plásticas y Diseño/Provincial Center for Visual Arts and Design, Havana, Cuba, 1989), North America (University of Hawaii Art Gallery, USA, 1998), Australia (Third Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane, Australia, 1999), and Asia (Singapore Art Museum, 2009).
He was the sole illustrator of The Soul Book, authored by Francisco R. Demetrio, SJ, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, and Fernando N. Zialcita.
In a Facebook post, his niece Samantha Feleo announced that the wake will take place from Sept. 16 to 21 at the Arlington Memorial Chapels on Araneta Avenue, Quezon City.