BIO :
Education
1987 University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
College of Fine Arts, Major in Painting
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Mapping Memories, Marahuyo Art Projects
The Battle of Mactan, a large scale painting for the Quincentennial event
commemorating 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines,
National Museum of the Fine Arts, Manila
2018 Denizens, UP CFA Gallery Diliman, Quezon City
An Extraordinary Eye For The Ordinary,
Metropolitan Museum of Manila
Elmer Borlongan Draws The Line, Ateneo Art Gallery, Quezon City
2015 Pinoy Odyssey, CANVAS Gallery, Quezon City
Labyrinth of Kinship, Pinto Art Gallery, Antipolo City
2014 In City and Country: 1992-2012, survey show at the Ayala Museum,
Makati City
2013 Pabula/Fables presented by CANVAS, UP Vargas Museum
Sign City, Bencab Museum
Hari Sonik, Secret Fresh Gallery, San Juan
2012 Rizalpabeto, Manila Contemporary, Makati City
2011 Kariyanan, Pinto Art Gallery, Antipolo City
2009 Ditoy Ilimi (Our Town), Sitio Remedios, Currimao, Ilocos Norte
Ordinary People, Gallery Orange, Bacolod City
2006 The Rocking Horse, 1/of Gallery, Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Makati
The Rocking Horse, Glorietta 4 ArtSpace, Makati City
2005 Joyride, Boston Gallery, Quezon City
2003 Deboto, West Gallery, Mandaluyong City
2002 Teritoryo, Boston Gallery, Quezon City
2001 A Decade of Drawing, Anita Gallery, CASA San Miguel, Zambales
2000 Lifeline, Drawing Room, Makati City
1999 Mauway, Boston Gallery, Quezon City
1997 Works on Paper, Casa Nakpil, Manila
1995 Barangay, Anita Gallery, CASA San Miguel, Zambales
Tagapagmana, Hiraya Gallery, Manila
1994 God Bless Our Trip, West Gallery, Mandaluyong City
1993 Aki, Boston Gallery, Quezon City
Selected Local Group Exhibitions
2022 Hari-harian, Thombayan ArtSpace, Makati
Kontrapunto, Art Verite Gallery, Taguig
2021 20/30: A Limited Edition Print Portfolio in Celebration of the
50th Anniversary of the Cultural Center of the Philippines,
CCP Little Theater Lobby, Manila
UGYON, Orange Project Gallery, Bacolod
Cold Comfort for Change, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City
Quincentennial: Stories by Robby Galang, CANVAS Gallery
Noventa, Eskinita Art Gallery, Makati
2020 Sketch Marks, Art Cube Gallery, Makati
2017 Alay 20, Boston Gallery, Cubao
Re:View, BenCab Museum, Benguet
Take A Line for A Walk, U.P. Vargas Museum Diliman
2015 The Next Chapter, CANVAS 10th Anniversary Exhibit, UP Vargas
Museum, Diliman, Quezon City
Art Fair Philippines represented by Boston Gallery, The Link, Makati
2014 Extended Play, Inaugural Group Show, Vinyl On Vinyl, Makati City
If Trees Could Talk, GT Toyota Asian Center, University of the
Philippines Diliman, Quezon City
Paraluman represented by CANVAS Gallery at the Art Fair Philippines,
The Link, Makati City
2013 Living Memory, two-person show of Plet Bolipata and Elmer Borlongan,
Wada Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Defense, CANVAS Gallery, Art Fair Philippines, Makati City
Pares-Pares, Liongoren Gallery, Cubao
Revolution, Vargas Museum, UP Diliman, Quezon City
2012 Kalayaan, Looking For Juan Outdoor Banner Project, UP Vargas Museum
When the Earth Smelled of Water, two-person show with Plet
Bolipata, Alliance Francaise Total Gallery, Makati City
2011 Ciento Cincuenta, Pinto Art Gallery, Antipolo City
Mukha, Glorietta Art Space, Makati City
ManilArt, NBC Tent, Taguig City
Monumental, Manila Contemporary, Makati City
2010 Dekalogo, UP Vargas Museum, Quezon City
2009 Bolipata and Borlongan: Two Part Invention, Ayala Museum, Makati
2008 Blue Hour, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
Looking for Juan, Ayala Museum, Makati City
ART 40, Pinto Gallery, Antipolo City
Love Out Loud, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
Art and Rock and Roll, Ayala Museum, makati
2006 Conversations With Bobi, Cultural Center Of The Philippines, Manila
Dos Por Dos, Boston Gallery, Quezon City
LiveArt, Subic Art Institute and Gallery, Zambales
Through The Palette’s Eye, UP Vargas Museum, Quezon City
2005 Carte-Visite, Black Soup Project, Quezon City
2004 Wild Imagination: The Grotesque Illustrated,
Lopez Memorial Museum, Pasig City
2003 Yankee Doodles, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
2002 Quiapo, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
Eros Pinoy, SM Megamall Art Center, Mandaluyong City
2000 Posporo, Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City
Ode to an Urban Jungle, West Gallery, Mandaluyong City
1998 New Drawings, Drawing Room, Makati City
Alab Ng Puso, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
1995 Vox Populi, Vox Dei, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City
1994 Thirteen Artists, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
1991 Haring Ibon, two person show with Mark Justiniani, City Gallery, Manila
Selected Foreign Group Exhibitions
2019 Living Earth: Pinto International, MAC Music Art Culture, Milan
2018 Two Houses: Politics and Histories in the Collection of John Chia and
Yeap Lam Yang, LASALLE Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore
Pintokyo, Hillside Forum, Shinuya, Tokyo, Japan
2017 Pinto Manhattan, Urban Zen, New York
2013 Living Memory, Wada Fine Arts, Tokyo City, Japan
2012 Maelstorm, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Singapore
2009 Chianciano Terme Biennale, Tuscany, Italy
2007 Beyond Borders II, Royal Plaza, Singapore
2006 Filipiniana, Centro Cultural de Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain
2001 Faith and the City, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2000 12 ASEAN Artists, Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia
Sydney Biennale, Art Gallery of New South Wales,, Australia
1999 New Stories from an Old Chapter, Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, CA
1998 At Home and Abroad,
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, California USA
Houston Art Museum, Texas, USA
East-West Center Museum, Hawaii, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
1998 Glimpses into the Future: Art in Southeast Asia, Tokyo Museum of
Contemporary Art and Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan
1996 Traditions/ Tensions Contemporary Art in Asia,
Asia Society Galleries, New York
Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art,
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Modernity and Beyond, Singapore Art Museum
Memories of Overdevelopment, University of California, Irvine, CA
1995 Vox Populi, Vox Dei, Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1994 Fourth Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
Awards and Achievements
2007 Gintong Aklat Award for “Rocking Horse”. Best Illustrated Children’s
Book. Published by CANVAS
2006 CANVAS Fellow,
The Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development
2004 Award for Continuing Excellence and Service (ACES),
Metrobank Foundation
1997 Artist of the Month, GSIS Museum of Art, Manila
Travel Grant, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Artist-In-Residence, ARCUS Interactive Residence in the Arts,
Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
1995 Artist-In-Residence, CASA San Miguel, San Antonio, Zambales
Travel Grant, Sydney, Australia
1994 Thirteen Artist Award, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
1993 Delegate, ASEAN Painting Workshop and Exhibition, Manila
1992 Second Prize: Oil Painting Category, Metrobank Annual National
Painting Competition
1989 Delegate, International Conference On Human Rights and Democracy,
Paris, France
1988 Second Prize: Oil Painting Category, Metrobank Annual National
Painting Competition
1984 Delegate, ASEAN Youth Painting Workshop and Exhibition,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Public Collections
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan
Singapore Art Museum
Queensland Art Gallery, Australia
Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo City, Philippines
Bencab Museum, Benguet, Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Elmer Borlongan's work is part of major collections among them include the Fukuoka Art Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Pinto Art Museum among many others. He is a multi-awarded artist whose distinctions include the CCP 13 Artist Award in 1994.
From the tender age of eleven, Elmer Borlongan has dedicated his life to drawing and painting lives of the working class in Philippines. Raised in Manila, Borlongan first learned how to paint at a children’s workshop taught by venerated painter-artist Fernando Sena. Later on, he pursued a major of painting at College of Fine Arts of University of the Philippines. As an active member in the local art scene, Borlangan has contributed to several artist-collectives and groups such as ABAY, Salingpusa and later, Sanggawa to produce works featured in survey shows and mural projects. `
Best described as “Figurative Expressionism”, his paintings are characterized by stylized figuration and idiosyncratic features such as bald heads, large, uneven eyes and elongated limbs. His subjects are rendered in distorted forms and posed in front of minimal background in order to amplify the everyday struggles of urban life in Manila. Notably, characters under his portrayal always process expressions of disconcertment and despair, highlighting the emotional depth and downtrodden of society. Gifted with a sense of sensitivity and compassion, Borlongan is not only keen to evoke empathy through his paintings, but also to espouse the humor implicit in the ordinary lives of people, as well as feats of resilience and vivacity in the face of poverty and hardships.
E L M E R
B O R L O N G A N
Born in 1967 in Manila, Philippines.
Leaves and works in Zambales (Philippines).
