RONALD VENTURAArtworks Preview

PRIMO MARELLA GALLERYMilano - Lugano

Arena Hall - Booth A2

Ronald Ventura1973 born in Manila, PhilippinesLiving and working in Manila, Philippines

Biography

Born in 1973 in Manila, the Philippines, Ronald Ventura earned a BFA in painting from the University of Santo Tomas in 1993. After graduating, he worked at the university as an instructor. Ventura had his first solo exhibitions in 2000, called All Souls Day, which was held at the Drawing Room in Makati City, Philippines, and Innerscapes, which was held at the West Gallery Megamall in Mandaluyong City. In 2001, he received the Artist of the Year prize from Art Manilla, and then in 2005, he won the prestigious Ateneo Art Gallery, Studio Residency Grant in Sydney, Australia, for his The Human Study series of graphite works on canvas. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, and is included in many private collections. Ventura continues to live and work in Manila, the Philippines.

Artist Statement

“I try to do something that is inviting to draw the viewer in. But if you look care-fully, you can see something behind. You must look closer to the painting.”

RV

Known for his intermingling of hyper-realism, cartoons, and graffiti with both hi-storical and Pop subject matter, Ventura subverts commercial images he finds in magazines creating a vision of a fantastical world that can be surreal, yet hints at the real dangers that humanity faces: from commercialism to pollution and war. His work portrays scenes of chaotic disarray, incorporating traditional Western and Asian mythologies with contemporary cultural symbols. Working in both painting and sculpture, there is often an ominous sense of expansion in Ventura’s works, with objects and patterns swirling outward.

Untitled 22018

Oil on canvas122 x 183 cm

Untitled 32018

Oil on canvas101 x 76 cm

Untitled 42018

Oil on canvas61 x 91, 5 cm

Untitled 52018

Oil on canvas61 x 91, 5 cm

Untitled 62018

Oil on canvas61 x 91, 5 cm

Untitled 72018

Oil on canvas46 x 61 cm

Untitled 82018

Oil on canvas with fiberglass resin frame40,5 x 30,5 cm (painting) 82,5 x 71 cm

Untitled 92018

Oil on canvas with fiberglass resin frame40,5 x 30,5 cm (painting) 82,5 x 71 cm

Untitled 102018

Oil on canvas with fiberglass resin frame40,5 x 30,5 cm (painting) 82,5 x 71 cm

Untitled 112018

Oil on canvas with fiberglass resin frame40,5 x 30,5 cm (painting) 82,5 x 71 cm

Untitled 12017

Fiberglass/resin, Metal, Oil paint & polyurethane paint71 x 257 x 117 cm

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019Collateral Exhibition, Venice Biennale, ItalySolo Presentation at Art Dubai, Primo Marella Gallery Milan and Lugano

2018Territorial crossing, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy Eyeland, Fine ArtCenter, TaiwanComic Lives, Whitestone Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2017Shadow Forest, Encounters and Explorations, The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila, Philippines

2016Finding Home, MoCA, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Taipei, TaiwanBehind the Clouds, The Drawing Room Contemporary Art, Makati City, PhilippinesTalisman, Ronac Art Center, Greenhills, Manila, PhilippinesAnito Kristo, Ronac Art Center, Magallanes, Makati City, PhilippinesRonald Ventura, Recent Works, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland

2015The Hunting Ground, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, ItalyRonald Ventura. Recent Works, Taiwan Art Fair, World Trade Center, Taipei, Taiwan

2014E.R. (Endless Resurrection), Tyler Rollins Fine Arts, New York, NY, USABulul, Ronald Ventura and the Traditional Art of the Philippines, Museo delle Culture, Lugano, Switzerland

2013Voids and Cages, Perrotin Gallery, Hong KongRonald Ventura: Recent Works, Fine Art Center, Tainan City, Taiwan

2012Fiesta Carnival, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, ItalyRecyclables, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, SingaporeWatching the Watchmen, Vargas Museum, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines

2011Thousand Islands, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, NY, USAHumanime (I), Fine Art Centre, Eslite Building, Taipei, Taiwan

2010Converging Nature, The Drawing Room, Makati City, PhilippinesFragmented Channels, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy

2009Metaphysics of Skin, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, NY, USAMajor Highways, Expressways and Principal Arterials, Ark Galerie, Jakarta, Indonesia

2008Mapping The Corporeal, Museum of the National University of Singapore, SingaporeZoomanities, The Art Center Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

2007Illusions & Boundaries,The Drawing Room, Makati City, PhilippinesUnder the Rainbow, West Gallery Megamall, Mandaluyong City, PhilippinesAntipode, The Human Side, Artist Residency, Artesan, Singapore

2006Cross Encounter, Ateneo Art Gallery, Quezon City, PhilippinesDialogue Box, West Gallery Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

2005Human Study, The Cross Art Projects, Sydney, AustraliaMorph, West Gallery Megamall, Mandaluyong City, PhilippinesHuman Study, The Art Center Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

2004Dead-End Images, The Art Center Megamall, Mandaluyong City, PhilippinesBlack Caricature, Big & Small Art Co., Megamall, Mandaluyong City, PhilippinesContrived Desires, West Gallery Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018Contemporary chaos, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, NorwayLe Nuove Frontiere della Pittura, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy

2017Changing Perspective: Art Jog 10, Jogja National Museum, Jogjakarta, IndonesiaMutable Truths: Perspective in Philippine Contemporary Art, Sydney, AustraliaMetropolitan Museum of Manila X Ronald Ventura, Art Fair Philippines, The Link, Makati City, Philippines

2015Ventura X Bench, Art Fair Philippines, The Link, Makati City, Philippines

2014Art Fair Philippines, The Link, Makati City, Philippines

2013Basel Art Fair, Perrotin Gallery, Hong KongThe Philippine Contemporary: To Scale the, Past and the Possible, The Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila, Philippines

2012Korea International Art Fair (KIAF), Perrotin Gallery, Hong Kong

2011Surreal versus Surrealism, IVAM – Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain

2010A Duad at Play: Francis Ng & Ronald Ventura, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore

2009South East B(l)ooming, Prague Biennal 4, Prague, Czech RepublicPost-Tsunami Art, South East B(l)ooming, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy

2008Filipino Art Exhibition, Singapore Art Museum, SingaporeAsian Sculpture Exhibition, Oita Prefecture, Buongo Ono City, Japan

2005Cross Encounters: The 2005 Ateneo Art Awards Exhibition, Power Plant Mall Rockwell Center, Makati City, Philippines

2004Korea Asian Art Festival, Inza Plaza, Seoul, South Korea19th Asian International Art Exhibition, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka City, Japan

200313 Artists Awards Exhibition, Main Gallery, Bulwagang Juan Luna, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City, Philippines

2002Philip Morris Asean Art Awards, Nusa Dua, Bali, IndonesiaSoft: Tresacidos, Art Center, SM City Cebu, Philippines