Gabe Naguiat (b. 1984) is a visual artist from Quezon City, Philippines.

“My work aims to raise the viewer’s awareness of the multi-layered nature of our reality. I draw inspiration from graphic design, quantum physics, metaphysics, ancient cultures, and explore these themes through the materiality of spraypaint – a medium that stems from my artistic roots in urban art.”

While all that is good have been lavishly represented in the country’s quincentennial celebrations, Gabe Naguiat decided to focus on the dark side. The artist reworked a popular representation of a biblical villain, by renowned artist Fernando Amorsolo no less, that appeared in gin bottles originally sold under the brand name Marca Demonio.

Naguiat’s fantastical version masks the violence of Amorsolo’s work, which depicts St. Michael in the final act of slaying a cowering Devil. He layers the duelling characters and the background in a kaleidoscope of colors with splashes of metallic gold, obscuring St. Michael’s fury and his nemesis’ terror. The artist’s narrative is continued beyond his canvas, where he imagines the countless men who’ve uttered tagay before drinking from a communal vessel, to seal the bond of friendship with a saint and the devil bearing witness.