Sadly, artist Jose Macalino passed away suddenly in March 2019.

Jose Macalino was a visual artist and performance artist. Jose was an active participant in the 1986-1994 artist-run scene in Brisbane. Jose participated in many exhibitions, happenings and events at John Mills National, 40 Charlotte Street, Brisbane [located at the John Mills Himself building].

Far away from his upbringing in the Philippines he was at home in Eighties Magandjin Brisbane artist run spaces like That Contemporary Art Space at rear 20 Charlotte Street, and at many multimodal artistic events located at the John Mills National. His contribution to experimental art, sound art, video art/filmmaking and performance art in Queensland was significant.

Among many other Australian-Asian artists working inside these Queensland-based spaces, Joey explored the imagined ‘outer limits’ of the mind, body and soul through Artaud-like embodied practices, gestures, ceremonies and rituals. Creative practices which tempered a metaphysical and alchemical balance between eastern and western experiences, thinking and understanding. He considered the ways that slow living and fast living – and a middle way inbetween both – could coexist.

Jose’s work and that of many other Asian diaspora artists transformed Queensland’s independent art ecology long before the Queensland Art Gallery Asian Pacific Triennale monolith came into being in 1993. This reality and the work of so many independent Queensland artists remains unacknowledged and unvalued in formal, mainstream arts institutions.

Later in life Jose turned his deep humility and creative prowess to realty, business developments and being a dedicated and loving single father.

During our café jaunts in the Valley 2015-2017 Joey fondly remembered his earlier life as an artist, and what he often called: ‘My Visions, Thoughts, My Cosmic Love’. During these conversations he would speak with gentle gusto about Eighties performativity, and his works like Synthetic Memoreez, Distillation, working with Filipino Australian colleagues like Mara and Kiki, his passion for independent Brisbane fashion labels like ‘Anti-Body’ by Chris Feld, Lindy Stokes, Kenn Bushby among many others, and the ‘lost experimental film’ funded by the AFC in the early 1990s that is secreted into collective memory.

Jose, also known as Joey, Joe and other artfully cosmic nicknames will always be remembered lovingly by those who knew and worked alongside him during sixty wonderful creative orbits of the sun.

Artist Paul Andrew May, 2019