Meet Midas Bayle Villanueva II, the Cordilleran artist from Abra behind the viral Jesus Christ roadside paintings.
Jun 1, 2021 | 2 min read
A portrayal of Jesus Christ’s face illustrated on a small hill beside a road in Abra has become a popular destination for local tourists in the province.
According to Arvill Ninio Millan Belarmino, they were jogging with his companions on May 7, 2021, when they saw a well-known local artist performing his work. At first, they did not understand what he was doing, but soon after, they were astonished by the outcome.
The artist behind the portrait is Midas Bayle Villanueva II, a local visual artist from Bucay, Abra popularly known as Judas II.
Villanueva is one of the many self-taught Filipino artists who haven’t attended any prestigious art school to learn the art of painting.
He has been painting since high school and one of his favorite subjects to paint is the Lord Jesus Christ, ironically given his nickname.
“Ever since wala pang pandemic mga holy scriptures na favorite kong gawin like Lord Jesus always kong ginagawa lalo na nung high school pa lang ako,” Villanueva said in an interview.
Villanueva grasped the art of spray painting as his specialty and he interpreted his artistic talent through diverse canvas such as shirts, skin, bikes, cars, and walls.
His recent masterpiece was painted on a small hill beside a road where various motorists can have a peek and make a stop to grab a selfie.
Even though it is the rainy season, Midas’ work remains in the area. For Arvill, this is a great inspiration especially during this time of the pandemic.
“During the pandemic, we should just pray and this art may remind everyone that in every problem we are facing right now, we can overcome it someday. Laban lang,” Arvill said.
Jesus spray paint II
Midas has drawn nationwide spotlight for his amazing art of an image of Jesus spray-painted on the side of a small hill in Banglolao, Bucay. He again repeated his effort by spray painting another image next to the original image.
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