Rodel Tapaya
Rodel Tapaya is a leading Philippine painter who is known for his large-scale canvases, narrative murals and sculptural installations that evoke the primordial rainforests of indigenous folklore as allegories for the present reality.
Often executed on canvas, glass, or burlap, Tapaya creates unique cosmologies out of labyrinthine forms, weaving together mythical creatures with hallucinogenic landscapes that recall the magic realism and political praxis of Mexican muralists. In doing so, the artist addresses the conflict between tradition and rapid urbanisation, global labour, and rural exodus, and the nation’s ongoing postcolonial traumas.
Born in 1980 in Montalban, Rizal, Tapaya received the Top Prize in the Nokia Art Awards in 2001, which enabled him to study at Parsons School of Design in New York and the University of Helsinki. He completed his degree at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, and in 2011 was awarded the Signature Art Prize: a triennial award recognizing the most distinguished artworks to emerge from the Asia-Pacific region.
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