Paolo Arao

Paolo Arao (b.1977 Manila, Philippines) is a Brooklyn-based, Filipino-American artist working with textiles and painting. He received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Arao has shown his work widely and has presented solo exhibitions at The Columbus Museum (Georgia), David B. Smith Gallery (Denver), Western Exhibitions (Chicago), Jeff Bailey Gallery (NYC), and Morgan Lehman Gallery (NYC) amongst others.

Residencies include: Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), the Millay Colony, the Studios at MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, Lower East Side Printshop Keyholder Residency, NARS Foundation, Wassaic Project, BRIC Workspace, Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Fire Island Artist Residency.  He is a recipient of an Artist Fellowship from The New York Foundation for the Arts. His work has been published in New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, ArtMaze, Esopus, and Dovetail.

My work is rooted in geometric abstraction, but I am mending this lineage of painting through my use of textiles, making work that explores the elastic nature of queerness and honors my Filipino heritage. The color palettes, patterns and motifs found in textiles of the Philippines have inspired and are infused into my work.

            A common thread throughout my practice is a restless fascination with color and a dual interest in the optic and the tactile. Color and materiality shapes our understanding and perception of identity; this is conceptually interwoven into my work. Made with dyed fabrics, re-purposed clothing, weathered canvas and hand woven fibers, the works resemble flags or quilts. The resulting objects often carry physical traces of the bodies that wore them. Color is vital to my work. My relationship to color is not passive. It is political, it’s personal, it’s emotional, it is felt and it’s in my very being.

Education

Skowhegan School of Painting + Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME (2000)

BFA Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (1999)

Loughborough College of Art + Design, Loughborough, UK (1998)

            Lorenzo de Medici Art Institute of Florence, Italy (1998)

 

 

Solo Exhibitions

2021     Drawdown, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY

2021     Paolo Arao: In Dialogue with Drawing, The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA

2020     Never Too Much, David B. Smith Gallery, Project Room, Denver, CO

2019     Key Change, Glass Box Gallery, Seattle, WA

2018     Night Throbs, Western Exhibitions, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL

2018     52 Weeks, Barney Savage Gallery, New York, NY

2010     Between the Lights, Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, MN

2008     ForNever, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

2006     Intermission, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

2004     Make Them Love You, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

 

 

Two + Three Person Exhibitions

2020     Triple Play: Paolo Arao, Rhys Coren, Erin O’Keefe, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2019     Here or There: Paolo Arao + Kaveri Raina, RATA Projects at 1 Rivington, New York, NY

2019     Like Mercury in the Wind: Paolo Arao, Sam King, Jason Osborne, Oneoneone, Chapel Hill, NC (curated by Louis Watts)

2019     Zina Al-Shukri, Paolo Arao, Anthony Sonnenberg, Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2018     Good Vibrations: Paolo Arao, Angela Heisch, Ryan Reggiani, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY

2018     Project 14: Paolo Arao + Nick Makanna, c2c project space, San Francisco, CA

 

 

Group Exhibitions

 

2021     Where the Heart Is: Contemporary Art by Immigrant Artists, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

2020     Index, Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA (curated by Alicia Little)

             Cut + Color, Albany International Airport Gallery, Albany, NY (curated by Kathy Greenwood)

             A Feeling Falls Apart, Geary Contemporary, New York, NY (curated by Poppy DeltaDawn)

2019     Queer Abstraction, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS (curated by Jared Ledesma)

             Shift, Able Baker Contemporary, Portland, ME (curated by Tracy McKenna)

             All We Want Is To See Ourselves, FLXST Contemporary, Chicago, IL (curated by Jan Christian Bernabe)

             Shape Rattle + Roll, Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY

             The Unusual Suspects: A View of Abstraction, DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Richard Kalina)

             Here: A Bit of Everywhere + Everyone They’ve Been, NARS Foundation, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Vanessa Kowalski)

             Woven Walls, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY

             After + Because Of, Marsh Gallery at Herron School of Art + Design | Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN

             Quiet March to a Warring Song, The Shaker Museum, New Lebanon, NY (curated by Amie Cunat) (catalog)

             Ad Astra Per Aspera, The Wassaic Project: Maxon Mills, Wassaic, NY (curated by the Wassaic Project)

             The Whole + It’s Parts Through an Urbanistic Lens, Space 52, Athens, Greece (curated by Das Esszimmer)

             New York is Now, IS-Projects at Platforms Projects, Athens, Greece (curated by Jacob Cartwright)

             An Idea, Maybe, Foyer Gallery, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia (curated by Tim Doud + Zoe Charlton and Raygun Projects)

 

2018     Rhythm, Stress, + Pausing, Super Dutchess, New York, NY

             Afterimage, Paradice Palase, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Kat Ryals and Lauren Hirshfield)

             Three Squared, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA (curated by Sue and Phil Knoll)

             Conveyor, Morgan Fine Arts Building, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Kate Mothes)

             Half a Wave, Pfizer Building Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Rachel Cohen and Christine Rebhuhn)

             Site Menagerie, 86 Main Street, Yonkers, NY (curated by Charles Sommer and Regina Ruff)

             The Cruellest Month, Mother Gallery, Beacon, NY

             Squaring the Sun, Far x Wide, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Jes Cannon)

             Somewhere Nearby, Bridge Productions, Seattle, WA (curated by Sue Danielson)

2017     The Flat Files: Year Five, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY (catalog)

             Painting Not Painting, Sindikit, Baltimore, MD (curated by Tim Doud and Zoe Charlton)

             Western Decoy, No Place Gallery, Columbus, OH (curated by Angela Heisch and James McDevitt-Stredney)

             Broad Stripes + Bright Stars, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

             Common Ground, Ana Nova Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia (curated by Vika Dushkina)

             All Things Great + Small, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA (curated by Sue + Phil Knoll)

             Overlaid + Underpinned, Curating Contemporary, online (curated by Anthony Falcetta)

             Steady Mess, Bureau of General Services, Queer Division, New York, NY

             Postcards from the Edge, Metro Pictures, New York, NY (Organized by Visual AIDS)

             Object + Influence, Hygienic Gallery, New London, CT (curated by Jason Silva)

2016     Casheesh, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

             Our City, The New School, New York, NY (organized by Thomas Hammer)

             Common Ground, Triumph Gallery, Moscow, Russia (curated by Vika Dushkina) (cat.)

             The Retrieval of the Beautiful, The Painting Center, New York, NY (catalog)

             Introductions, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Jim Osman)

2015     The Flat File: Year Three, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY

             Remains to be Seen, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA (curated by Sue + Phil Knoll)

2012     Grey Full, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Geoffrey Young)

2011     Contemporary Drawings, Barton Art Galleries, Barton College, Wilson, NC

2010     Wall to Wall, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

             Observant, ISE Foundation, New York, NY (curated by Vicki Sher)

2009     Next Wave Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Dan Cameron)

             Whitey on the Moon, 106 Green, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Kanishka Raja)

             Room Tones, St. Cecilia Convent, Brooklyn, NY (organized by Nathan Spondike)

             Give Them What They Never Knew They Wanted, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

             Intus Tensio, or Appropriated Special, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Paul D’Agostino)

2008     Monsters, RENTAL, New York, NY (curated by Robert Longo)

             Making History, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Yaelle Amir)

2007     Hard Times, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

2005     Introspective Men, Madder 139 Gallery, London, England (curated by David Kefford)

             Fresh Direct, Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York, NY

2004     Sunday Afternoon, Match-Art, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Matthew Fisher + Christina Vassalo)

             Pencil Me In, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

             Cleanliness, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Adam Frank)

             Playpen, The Drawing Center, New York, NY (curated by Austin Thomas)

2002     Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY

              Lucky Draw, Deitch Projects, New York, NY

              Made in New York, Arno Maris Gallery, Westfield, MA (curated by John O’Connor)

              SNAPSHOT, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT

2001     Interval: New Art for a New Space, SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY

             Mitochondria Emancipation, Asian American Arts Centre, New York, NY (curated by Christine Kim)

             All Hands, Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY (curated by David Terry)

             AIM 21/ Artist in the Marketplace, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (cat.)

2000     SNAPSHOT, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD

             Fresh, Butler’s Laundromat, Skowhegan, ME (performance with Daniel Bozhkov)

             Vermont Studio Center Resident Artists, Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT

 

Residencies + Fellowships

FST Studio Projects Fund (2020)

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE (2020)

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY (2019)

NARS Foundation Residency, Brooklyn, NY (2019)

Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (2019, 2018, 1999)

BRIC Workspace Residency, Brooklyn, NY (2018)

The Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY (2018)

The Wassaic Artist Residency, Wassaic, NY (2018)

The Studios at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2018)

Keyholder Residency, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY (2018-2019)

Fire Island Artist Residency, Cherry Grove, Fire Island, NY (2016)

Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Studio, New York, NY (2008, 2007)

NYFA Artist Fellowship (Drawing) New York Foundation for the Arts (2005)

Emerging Artist Fellowship, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY (2002)

Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL (2002)

Artist in the Marketplace Fellowship, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY (2001)

Skowhegan School of Painting + Sculpture Scholarship (2000)

 

Visiting Artist/ Artist Lectures / Panel Discussions / Teaching

2021     Artist Lecture, City + Guilds of London Art School, London, UK

             Artist Lecture, Columbus State University + The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA

2020     Panelist. Working with Fiber. MAD Museum + Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. A conversation with Paolo Arao, Dance Doyle and Erin M. Riley (moderated by Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy)

2020     Artist Lecture, School of Art, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC

2020     Artist Lecture, American University, Washington, D.C.

2020     Panelist. The Devil is in the Details. A discussion with Paolo Arao, Diana Guerrero-Maciá and Marie Watt (moderated by Tim Doud and Zoë Charlton)

2020     Visiting Artist, Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY

2019     Adjunct Professor, Visual Thinking, Fordham University, New York, NY (Fall Semester)

2019     Visiting Artist, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

2019     Panelist. Abstract Painting: Wrong Questions, Right Answers. DC Moore Gallery, NYC. A discussion with Paolo Arao, Amie Cunat, Carrie Moyer and Odili Donald Odita (moderated by Richard Kalina)

2019     Visiting Artist, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2017     Visiting Artist, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

2016     Visiting Artist, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA

2011     Visiting Artist, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY

2003     Visiting Artist, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

 

Bibliography

2020     Dovetail Magazine, Issue 2, Winter/Spring. December 2020.

             Jaeger, William. “Airport gallery gets real and textured with ‘Cut + Color’” Times Union. August 31, 2020.

2019     Langevin, Julien. “Plastic Expressions in Particularity: Nature Moves in Tracy McKenna’s                   Shift at Able Baker Contemporary.”

             Art Spiel, November 21, 2019.

             TxP (Textiel Plus), Issue 249, “COLOR”, August, 2019, the Netherlands.

             Barcio, Phillip. “Richard Kalina Curates an Abstract Art Show at DC Moore Gallery.” IdeelArtMagazine. July 3, 2019.

             Arnold, Sharon. “Color, Conduits & Connectivity.” Bridge Productions, Seattle, WA. June 2019.

             Couzens, Julia. “Legacy of the Hand: Paolo Arao’s Textile Paintings,” Two Coats of Paint. May 11, 2019

2018     “Pictures at an Exhibition: Afterimage at Paradice Palase,” ArtNews.com, November 30, 2018

             Strumfield, Zan. “On the Cover.” Chronogram. Jul 2018. P. 18 (plus cover image)

             Fontaine, Pearl. “Must See New York: Nick Cave, Justine Kurland, Paolo Arao and More.” Whitewall, June 20, 2018

             New American Paintings, North Eastern Ed., Vol. 134, Open Studio Press, Boston, MA

             Esopus, Issue 25, Spring Issue, Brooklyn, NY

             Maake Magazine, Issue 6 (curated by Holly Coulis)

2017     Naber, Nick. Profile: Paolo Arao, The Coastal Post, December 2017

             Murphy, Olivia. Paolo Arao – Yearbook 2016. Yearbook Paintings: Queering Abstraction.

             Hannum, Terence. “Painting Not Painting.” B-More Art, August, 14, 2017

             ArtMaze Magazine, Issue 02, April, 2017

             Terra Firma Magazine, Issue 04, Speed= Distance / Time, February, 2017

2016     Artist Interview, FLOORR Magazine, Issue No. 5, August, 2016

             Stone, Bryony. i-D Magazine, The Queer Artists of Fire Island, July 14, 2016

2011     Modern Painters, 100 Artists to Watch, December 1, p. 60

2008     Fusco, Maria. The Happy Hypocrite: Issue 1 – Linguistic Hardcore, Bookworks, London

             Fisher, Matthew. “The Distance of Drawing.” Matthews the Younger blogspot

2006     Risemberg, Rafael, “A Weekend in the Country.” The New York Blade, April 3: p.16

2005     New American Paintings, North Eastern Ed., Vol. 56, Open Studio Press, Boston, MA

             Harper’s Magazine, Readings, January, p. 22

             Orden, Abraham. “Circus Without a Tent.” Artnet.com, February 11.

2004     VOGUE (Portugal), November p.104

             The New York Sun, Calendar, October 19, p.15

             Iwasaki Hitomi, Robert Lee and Timothy Liu. Mitochondria Emancipation, Asian American Arts Centre, New York, NY

2001     Smith, Roberta. “Funky Digs with Lots of Space for Performance-Oriented Hipsters.” The New York Times. September 28. E39.

            Ramoran, Edwin, and Lydia Yee. Artist in the Market Place: 21^st Annual Exhibition. Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY