Geraldine JAVIER

Geraldine JAVIER (b. 1970) captures the historical and socio-political realities confronting Philippine society and translates them into her own visual language. Unlike the previous generation of Filipino artists who were absorbed in socialist realism, she has developed a distinctive mode of expression rooted in wide-ranging and diverse interests. Motifs imbued with narratives of myth, nature, death, and childhood recur throughout her paintings. Since relocating in 2013 to the suburban area of Batangas, the artist has developed a deeper engagement with nature and the environment. In January 2020, the La Cumbre volcano on Fernandina Island in the Galapagos and, over sixteen thousand kilometers away, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted simultaneously. Volcanic ash blanketed the world while violent explosions propelled plumes of smoke high into the sky. From her studio and residence in Cuenca, Batangas, JAVIER witnessed these biblical scenes firsthand—lightning and storms dominating the night sky. When the eruptions subsided, the devastation revealed animals mummified in ash and trees reduced to ruins, landscapes that seemed to be rendered in charcoal. In the midst of recovery efforts, the pandemic began. On March 17 of that year, Batangas Province, together with the rest of the Philippines, entered lockdown. Having previously experimented with visual language through collaborations with printmakers, embroiderers, and weavers, JAVIER returned—in the fractured world that followed the pandemic—to the solitary practice of painting. From the surface of the canvas, she envisions the soils of nature and the galaxies of the universe. She further conveys, through painterly language, the cyclical principles embodied in the roots of trees, the neural networks of living beings, and the mysterious interconnections of planets. Volcanic eruptions are destructive, yet they also enrich the soil with fertile minerals, laying the groundwork for new life. For JAVIER, creation is precisely such a process of recovery and mourning.

 

Born in Makati, Metro Manila, in 1970, JAVIER graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in Nursing in 1991 and earned her BFA in Painting in 1997. She has participated in major international biennales, including the Helsinki Biennial 2025 (2025), the 35th São Paulo Biennial (2023), the 13th Havana Biennial (2019), and the 4th Prague Biennale (2009). Her solo exhibitions include presentations at Artinformal (Philippines, 2024; 2021), Silverlens Galleries (Philippines, 2023; 2013), Mizuma Gallery (Singapore, 2022), ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI (China, 2018), PSP (Philippines, 2017), Finale Art File (Philippines, 2015; 2011; 2008; 2007), ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Korea, 2013; 2011), ARNDT Gallery (Germany, 2013), Equator Art Projects at Gillman Barracks (Singapore, 2012), Valentine Willie Fine Art (Singapore, 2011; Malaysia, 2006), and STPI (Singapore, 2011). She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions held at institutions such as the Gyeongnam Art Museum (Korea, 2025), Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Brazil, 2024), Palácio das Artes (Brazil, 2024), KF ASEAN Culture House (Korea, 2024), ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN (Korea, 2020; 2010), ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI (China, 2017; 2016), the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, 2017), and Ormond Collective (Australia, 2012). In 2003, she was named one of the “13 Artists Award” by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), gaining significant recognition. Her works are part of the collections of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA, Philippines), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, Philippines), Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (Philippines), Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), Gyeongnam Art Museum (Korea), and ARARIO MUSEUM (Korea), among others.