Carlo Tanseco’s matchbox art brings Rizal and ‘Pilipinas Kong Mahal’ together

The solo exhibition runs at J Studio’s new Makati space from Oct. 17 to Nov. 15.

In a sari-sari store, a matchbox sits alongside cigarettes and sachets. During a brownout, it can help light a candle. At a carinderia or a roadside stall, it’s another small necessity.

For Filipino artist Carlo Tanseco, though, a matchbox can hold something bigger: a nation’s memory.

He revisits his Rizal Matchbox in Pilipinas Kong Mahal, a solo exhibition opening Oct. 17 at J Studio’s new space in Makati. The gallery previously operated in Taguig and had its headquarters in Las Piñas.

The show features eight works inspired by the lyrics of the beloved patriotic song by Francisco Santiago and Ildefonso Santos—arranged in four red-and-blue pairings.

Through sculptures and paintings, Tanseco has long reimagined familiar Filipino objects as art, from Rizal matchboxes and postage stamps to canned goods and sari-sari store snacks. Through altered labels, wordplay, and playful reinterpretations, he uses everyday items to explore Filipino identity, memory, and shared experience.

And in Pilipinas Kong Mahal, Tanseco returns to a form that “remains generative,” finding new ways to explore Filipino history, faith, and nationhood through the song’s lyrics and imagery.

Flags and coins evoke nationhood. Devotional objects and Katipunero references connect faith, sacrifice, service, and freedom. A compass and pearl give form to silangan and hiyas. Stamps, Rizal’s pen, a cross, and a burned match move through allegiance, service, and mortality.

In the final work, sampaguita blossoms form the three stars and sun of the Philippine flag. A gold flower chain extends ligaya toward prosperity, wealth and the hope for a better life.

Rizal, meanwhile, is more than a monument, the face on a coin, or the hero learned in school. He represents the power of ideas and words—and the courage it takes to stand by them.

For a humble matchbox, all those ideas become concrete. While small and ordinary, it holds the possibility of fire. In Tanseco’s hands, it becomes a way to revisit the ideals behind Pilipinas Kong Mahal and ask what they mean to Filipinos today.

The exhibition runs from Oct. 17 to Nov. 15. It’s part of J Studio’s inaugural presentations at its new location on the second floor of Tamarind Place, 2320 Chino Roces Avenue Extension.

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