Ernest Concepcion

Ernest Concepcion was born in Manila, Philippines where he received his BFA from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. In 2002, he moved to the United States where he began The Line Wars, a series of black and white drawings depicting opposing forces engaged in ridiculous battle based on the nostalgic references of childhood and adolescence.
He moved to Brooklyn and participated in a number of art residencies including The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Workspace Program, the Bronx Museum of Art Artists-in-the-Marketplace (AIM) Program, the Artists Alliance Inc. Rotating Studio Program, the Lower East Side Printshop Keyholder Residency, the LMCC Swing Space Program at Governors Island with The Shining Mantis and an artist residency in Beijing, China via NY Arts Magazine.
Through extensive studio time and experimentation, he eventually broke away from the formulaic style of his drawings and explored different approaches of conflict creating an entirely new series of works including painting, sculpture, and installation.
With a significant body of work, Concepcion was able to exhibit both here and abroad and has had a number of solo exhibitions in the last few years. In 2011 he was both a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) finalist in the Drawing Category and a Nominee for the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant. In 2012, he re-established his connections with some prominent Manila art galleries where he had two solo exhibitions, in West Gallery and Blanc Gallery respectively and participated in a number of major group exhibitions and more importantly, became the artist feature at The Lopez Memorial Museum, a private museum in Manila.
In 2013 he participated at El Museo del Barrio’s LA BIENAL, had a solo exhibition in Minneapolis then returned to Manila to exhibit an entirely new series of paintings at Art Informal. This year 2014 he became a Light & Space Contemporary resident artist and just finished his first ever solo museum exhibition at the UP Vargas Museum showcasing entirely new epic-scale works that not only marks a momentous return home for the artist but also became his ultimate artistic epiphany where an aesthetic clash and evolution appears as this grand painterly starburst throughout the expanse of the exhibition. Currently, he is working on new paintings for a solo exhibition at 1335 Mabini and an upcoming art fair in Europe. He divides his time as a full-time artist working between Manila and Brooklyn. Selected as one of the recipients of the 2015 CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) Thirteen Artists Awards.