
Maria Taniguchi
Bio
Maria Taniguchi’s works encompass painting, sculpture, video and installation. Her practices investigate space and time along with social and historical contexts. Her series of “Untitled” brick paintings is an ongoing series that had been initiated in 2008. Each painting consists of seemingly countless rectangular cells, each one outlined by hand with graphite and filled with gray and black tones. The painstaking process creates a subtle yet complex pattern on the surface. These paintings develop in various extents, most of them reaching meters in size. The constructive structure embodies architectural elements, resulting in the paintings themselves manifesting as monumental existences within the space. The artist has referred to her brick paintings as the fundamental root of her larger artistic practice, while the other artworks such as sculptures and installations are reflection, or refractions of it.
Maria Taniguchi was born in Dumaguete City, Philippines, in 1981. She won the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2015 and was a LUX Associate Artist in 2009. Recent exhibitions include the 12th Gwangju Biennale: Imagined Borders, Gwangju Biennale Exhibition Centre, South Korea (2018); 21st Biennale of Sydney, SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium & Engagement, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia (2018); History of a vanishing present: A prologue, the Mistake Room, Los Angeles (2016); Afterwork, Para Site, Hong Kong (2016); Globale: New Sensorium, ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (2016); The Vexed Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila (2015); and the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane (2015). Her work is held in a number of collections including the M+ Museum, Hong Kong; the Burger Collection, Hong Kong; Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco; QAGOMA, Brisbane; and the K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai.
Selected Works
Selected Works














2018
Java plum wood
dimensions variable
Presentation at the 21st Biennale of Sydney was made possible with generous assistance from Mercedes Zobel; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and the Australia-ASEAN Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Installation view of the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Photograph: silversalt photography
Courtesy the artist; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo
Selected Exhibitions
Selected Press
- Silence in a world of noise: approaches to monochrome
- Tate Modern Acquires Works by Maria Taniguchi & Yee I-Lann
- Brutal truth: the artists inspired by high-rise horror
- Maria Taniguchi Wins HUGO BOSS ASIA ART Award 2015
- Maria Taniguchi Announced as Winner of Hugo Boss Asia Art 2015
- Finalists Announced for Hugo Boss Asia Art Prize 2015
- Hong Kong solo debut for Filipino who’s painted same thing since 2008