Norberto Roldan
Bio
Norberto Roldan (b. 1953, Roxas City, Philippines; lives and works in Roxas City) has been a leading figure in the artistic landscape of the Philippines for decades. His installations, assemblages and paintings of found objects, text fragments, and found images address issues surrounding everyday life, history, collective memory, and the ways in which material objects are re- appropriated in another context.
In 1986, he founded the seminal artist group Black Artists in Asia—a Philippines-based group focused on socially and politically progressive practice—and in 1990 he established VIVA EXCON (Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference), the region’s longest-running biennale. Presently, he is the Artistic Director of Green Papaya Art Projects, which he co- founded in 2000. This independent artist-run initiative and alternative art space fosters collaboration and cultural exchange between artists, and remains the longest running independent and multi-disciplinary platform in the country. He graduated with a degree in BA Philosophy from St. Pius X Seminary and took his BFA in Visual Communication from the University of Santo Tomas.
He was represented in several landmark surveys like No Country: Contemporary Art for South/Southeast Asia, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum (2013); Between Declarations & Dreams: Art of Southeast Asia Since the 19th Century, National Gallery Singapore (2015); SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, National Art Centre Tokyo (2017); and, Passion and Procession: Art of the Philippines, Art Gallery of New South Wales (2017).
Selected Works
Selected Works
2005
installation with cabinet, mirror with collage, found bottles and lighting fixture
There are no ideas but in things: first communion
2005
installation with cabinet altar, picture frame, found objects and lighting fixture
There are no ideas but in things: 10 hail Mary’s
2005
installation with box altar, plastic dayglo figurines, found objects and lighting fixture
Installation view of 'Passion and Procession: Art of the Philippines' at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Selected Exhibitions
Selected Press
- Prompted: Exhibitions in June 2024
- What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in June
- Five Shows to See in Chelsea During Frieze New York 2024
- New York Lowdown: 7 Exhibitions to See Over Spring, 2024
- Norberto Roldan holds 1st N.Y. exhibition, his tribute to the ‘enduring spirit of the Filipino people’
- Silverlens debuts at Art Basel Miami Beach with Norberto Roldan solo
- Artist Norberto Roldan Collages the Philippines’s Past and Present
- The Freshman Class of 2023: Meet 8 Art Galleries Making Their Art Basel Miami Beach Debut
- Art Basel Miami Beach 2023: What To Expect At The Main Fair
- Six Artists To Watch From This Summer’s Group Shows
- New York’s Silverlens Bets Big with an Ambitious Group Show That’s Luring Filipino Americans
- The Sacred and the Secular in Norberto Roldan’s “Viva España/ Long Live America”
- Rites & Rituals
- ‘The House Is Still Burning’: Censorship, Pandemic and Art in the Philippines
- Best of 2019: Our Top 15 Exhibitions Around the World
- Multimedia Artist Norberto Roldan Looks Back on Three Decades of Art
- Norberto Roldan: The Sacred Art of History, Politics and Faith
- Southeast Asian art gets its biggest showing in Japan
- Norberto Roldan’s painting in Guggenheim touring exhibit