Artist Isabel Manalo creates mix media work that straddles issues of place, identity, geography, nature and post-colonial identity in the form of photography, collage, and paint. She has been awarded three consecutive fellowships (2008, 2009 and 2011) at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. In 2003, she was awarded the Juror’s Choice Award at the McLean Project for the Arts painting biennial, and was a semi-finalist for the Trawick Prize in both 2004 and 2008. She’s been featured in two volumes of New American Painting (2004 and 2006).
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways,2021- 2022, oil on gesso board, 36 x 36 inches
I Can't Undress From the Pressure of Leaves, 2021- 2022, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
I Found a Village and in it Were All Our Missing Women, 2021-2022, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
I am the Only Being Whose Doom, 2021-2022, oil on primed arches, 50 x 40 inches
And You Inherit The Green of Vanished Gardens, 2021-2022, oil on arches, 60 x 70 inches
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, 2021-2022, oil on gesso board, 36 x 36 inches
My Worst Habit is I Get So Tired of Winter, 2021-2022, oil on gesso board, 36 x 36 inches
Little Feet Run Fast, 2009, oil on board, 48 x 48 inches
Ephemeral, 2018, acrylic, latex, enamel and oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches
Euphoria, 2018, acrylic, latex, enamel and spray paint on canvas, 24 x 24 inches
The Last Hurrah!, 2016, acrylic & latex on gesso board, 36 x 36 inches
Sonder, 2018, acrylic, latex, enamel and oil on panel, 30 x 30 inches
Serendipity, 2018, acrylic, latex and spray paint on canvas, 20 x 16 inches
Serotonin, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 72 1/2 x 71 1/2 inches
Phosphenes, 2018, enamel, latex, spray paint, acrylic and oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches
ISABEL MANALO
June 2000 – May 2008, December 2015 – Present. Professorial Adjunct Lecturer at American University, Washington D.C. Teach Foundation, Painting and Drawing courses to undergraduate students. Courses offer a strong drawing foundation, painting, three-dimensional and mix media experience. Students learn fundamental drawing skills such as drawing from the model, linear perspective, Chinese landscape ink painting and chiaroscuro painting and have access to printmaking and 3-D printing facilities. Perceptual and conceptual skills are developed with the main focus on observational skills, critical thinking, and imagination — all towards the goal of understanding the importance of personal expression and visual literacy. Essay writing, studio and museum visits, class critiques, reading responses and a daily sketchbook journal are all part of the curriculum.
January 2008 – Present. (Full time from 2010 – 2013 and Part Time from 2013 – present) Founder, Director and Editor of The Studio Visit (TSV), an online web journal whose mission is to advocate, collaborate and educate the importance of studio practice. Based on extensive research and recommendations, we feature best practices in under recognized contemporary visual artists addressing process and ideas in working artist studios. TSV is one of the first platforms to emerge as a pioneer of exposing artists in their studios online. I organize, manage and edit content of video (when applicable) and photography as well as the written article from contributing volunteer writers located across the globe. I am in charge of planning all events including logistics, media and public relations both in print and on line as well as the internal management of the function and design of the website itself. I actively coordinate and manage all forms of social media to promote and publicize our features and programming. This includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. TSV also uses traditional methods of writing and sending out press releases, newsletters and event updates when necessary. TSV’s team of volunteers include an Artist Liaison in Berlin, Social Media intern in North Carolina and regular contributors in NYC and Philadelphia. Guest Contributors come from all over the U.S and we continue to expand our coverage. TSV has an archive of over 80 featured artist interviews and it expects to keep growing. The TSV group on FB has close to 2000 members, as does the group DC Area Art that I began in 2008. Both of which I started and continue to monitor and manage as membership and traffic increases daily.
April 2009 – Present. Visual Artist at Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C. I am represented by this gallery and have had two solo shows in 2009 and 2012 and forthcoming this June 2016. I also curated a show titled “CultureScape” in 2011 featuring five women artists: Bridget Sue Lambert, Hedieh Ilchi, Lisa Blas, Elise Richman and Mei Mei Chang. My work was also organized in a solo retrospective at the German Marshall Fund as well as included in a number of group shows through Addison Ripley Fine Art.
September 2008 – June 2012– Visiting Assistant Professor (Three year Full Time Appointment) – American University, Department of Art, Washington, D.C. Taught Foundations, Intermediate and Advanced Painting and Intermediate and Advanced Drawing courses to undergraduate students. Conducted individual and group critiques to first and second year MFA candidates. Courses were interdisciplinary incorporating art history, theory, digital media, and music. Class critiques were an integral part of the course — both formal and informal. References and source material came from books, image database from the visual resources library and other online sites. Perceptual and conceptual skills are developed with the main focus on observational skills and hand-eye coordination towards developing personal expression. Students participated in life drawing, still life drawing, and the landscape among other subjects for real life observation. Research and investigation is emphasized for conceptually based projects. Essay writing based on museum and gallery visits were also a part of the class. Mentored and regularly critiqued undergraduate Art Majors and Minors through Independent Studies including Independent Study students majoring in Art Education, Communications and Film. Readings, either required or recommended were given on a regular basis as well as hosting guest artists, curators, collectors and other members of the art community to come to the studio classroom for artist talks. Exposure to artist’s studios, art museums, galleries, collector’s homes and art centers were always a regular part of the curriculum.
September 2012 – Present. Independent Artist Consultant. Approaching consulting from a holistic approach, I provide career expertise to artists within the professional and academic communities. I offer artistic evaluations towards strengthening themes and techniques in the actual artworks by conducting in-depth studio critiques. I provide support with time management in both long term planning, and short-term goals. I develop and recommend a step-by-step plan of action regarding all aspects of career building that includes education, competitions, promotion, publicity and referrals. I also make strategic recommendations and create direct connections and matches for potential jobs, residencies, school admissions and exhibition application. I give insight and advice on how to promote and publicize through traditional steps; press release, brochures, business cards, as well through social media helping choose the appropriate tools and applications. I respond to each individual need that is based on career and income level.
April 2016 – Present. Volunteer at the Textile Museum, Washington D.C. Provide administrative and logistical support during exhibition events as needed.
October 2012 – September 2013 – Visiting Artist and Curator at Takt International Artist Residency, Berlin, Germany. Conducted and led weekly group critique sessions with international artists in residence towards fostering dialogue, discourse and critical thinking in their work and practice. Curated each group (approximately every two months) into a themed exhibition at the Takt Gallery space called Tapir. I will be a Visiting Artist and Curator again this coming June 2016.
September 2010 – July 2012 – Board Member and Visual Artist Committee Member – District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC). Performed board member duties as required and sat on the visual artist committee reviewing artist submissions for exhibition at the gallery of DCAC, a 501c3 not-for-profit art organization. Also served as an Artist Liaison for the annual fundraiser called the ‘Experience Auction’.
EDUCATION
MFA, Yale University, 1999
BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1993
BA, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1990
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
ArtTable, Member since 2016.
SELECT EXHIBITION RECORD
2022
April, Solo Show, Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC
2016
June, Solo Show, Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
2015
December, Pop Up Space, Group Exhibition. Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
November, Solo Show “Skin Codes”, Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University, Long Island, New York, NY
2014
March, Solo Show “Stitching the Seam”, Orlando Museum of Art’s New Works Gallery, Orlando, FL.
2012
March, Bits of Elsewhere, Solo show at Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
April, Mutual Friends, Present Company, Brooklyn, NYC.
April, Commemorative 50 Year Exhibition, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
May, Group Exhibit organized by Adah Rose Gallery at Poggenpohl, Washington, D.C.
September, Select, Curated by JW Mahoney, District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington D.C.
2011,
February, Select, Washington Project for the Arts Auction. Curated by Claire D’Alba. Washington, D.C.
2010
January, Solo Exhibit Retrospective of work from 2006, 07, 08 and 09. Organized by Addison Ripley Fine Art at the German Marshall Fund, Washington D.C.
March, In The Beginning, Premier Group Show, Chroma Projects Art Laboratory, Charlottesville, VA
June, Fantastic Journeys, Curated by Beatrice Gralton, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA
July, Departures and Arrivals: Investigating the Vocabulary of the Contemporary Landscape. Curated by Cara Ober, Towson Center for the Arts, Towson University, Towson, MD
July, Periphery, Curated by Geoffrey Delanoy, Gormley Gallery College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD
July, Bits and Pieces. Group Show Curated by Laura Ammussen, Silber Gallery, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
November, Catalyst, Celebrating Washington Project for the Arts 35th Anniversary. Curated by JW Mahoney, Katzen Arts Center at American University, Washington, DC
2009
January, If I Didn’t Care: Multi-Generational Artists Discuss Cultural Histories, Richman Gallery, Park School, Curated by Rick Delany, Baltimore, MD
June, Idylls, Curated by Andrea Pollan in conjunction with the Washington Project for the Arts and the World Bank Art Program. World Bank Atrium, Washington, DC.
September, Once, Upon, Solo Show, Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC
2008
March, Solo Show, Togonon Gallery at Dae Advertising, San Francisco, CA.
April, Ethnography of No Place, Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College curated by Laura Amussen, Baltimore, MD.
May, 22nd Annual Critic’s Residency Program, Maryland Arts Place, Baltimore, MD.
December, Quasi-Painting, Randall Scott Gallery, Curated by Cara Ober, Washington, D.C.
2007
February, Los Angeles Art Show, Venice Beach, CA with Museum Works Galleries, Aspen, CO.
February, Primed, Washington Project for the Arts Corcoran Annual Benefit Auction. Curated by Irene Hoffman. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
March, Group Show, Curated by Carol Lukitsch, Meyer Foundation, Washington, DC
April, Saturated, Curated by Zoe Myers, Heineman Myers Contemporary, Bethesda, MD
May, Believe It, Curated by Jordan Block, Creative Arts Alliance, Baltimore, MD
August, Summer Introductions, Togonon Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
November, You Catch More Flies With Honey, curated by Hemphill Gallery, Carroll Square Gallery, Washington, DC.
AWARDS
2011 International Fellowship recipient by The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts at the Moulen a Nef in Auvillar, France.
2009 Fellowship Residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts funded by the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Mt. San Angelo, VA
Semi- Finalist, Bethesda Painting Award, Bethesda, MD
2008 Fellowship Residency at the Virgina Center for Creative Arts, Mt. San Angelo, VA
Semi-Finalist, Trawick Prize, Bethesda, MD
2005 Small Projects Grant, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities
2004 Second Place, Sixth Annual All Media National Juried Show, Touchstone Gallery, WDC
2003 Semi-Finalist, Trawick Prize, Bethesda, MD
Jurors Choice #1, Strictly Painting Biennial, Mclean Project for the Arts, Mclean, VA
2002 Small Projects Grant, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities
1999 Grant Recipient, Liquitex Student Paint Prize
1997 Individual Grant, Puffin Foundation
Junior Fulbright Recipient for Tagalog Language study abroad.
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
2014
January – Manuela Morales, Chilean artist created a site-specific installation using TV monitors, hand made fur heads and photographs. Bergstraße 16 Window.
2013
June – Natürlich, Tapir Gallery at Takt Artist Residency, Berlin. A group exhibition of 17 international artists who spent one to three months at Takt.
November – Falls of Solitude, Jaanika Peerna, Bergstrasse 16 Window, Berlin. Solo exhibition and installation of site-specific drawings by accomplished New York artist.
2012
July – Marco: Polo, Oversaw the Curatorial work of TSV Program Director Tori Greising at Artisphere in Arlington, VA with featured artist Reuben Breslar.
September – Outside In, A site-specific installation by Washington D.C. artists Sam Scharf and Megan Mueller using locally sourced material. Also exhibited work from TSV flat files of Jiha Moon, Mei Mei Chang, Tom Bunnell and Bridget Sue Lambert. Berlin, Germany.
2011
September – (e)merge Art Fair – Curated and represented six emerging artists for The Studio Visit (TSV) www.thestudiovisit.com as an exhibitor at the first international art fair devoted to emerging artists and art spaces in Washington D.C. Please see below for details on TSV.
May – Recollections: Materials, Space, Memory, A solo show of a site specific installation piece by Victoria Greising at District of Columbia Arts Center as part of their Curatorial Initiative program where I served as the mentor to a new ‘mentee’.
June – CultureScape, Group show of five artists Lisa Blas, Elise Richman, Hedieh Ilchi, Bridget Sue Lambert and Mei Mei Chang at Addison Ripley Fine Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
INSTITUTIONS INVITED AS A VISITING ARTIST SCHOLAR
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, Visiting Artist October 2016 | College Art Association Annual Conference: Panelist on “Meta Mentors: Time. Art. Money” Washington D.C. 2016 | Takt International Artist Residency, Berlin, Germany, Visiting Artist/Curator 2012 – 2013, 2016 | Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY, Visiting Artist 2012 | Smithsonian American Art Museum Luce Foundation, Artist Talk, Washington D.C. 2010 | George Mason University, Visiting Critic, Fairfax, VA 2009 | University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington, Visiting Artist, 2008.
REGISTRIES
The Drawing Center Viewing Program, New York, NY.
White Columns Curated Slide Registry, New York, NY.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Things to Do on Long Island, New York Times, Nov. – Dec. 2015 accompanied with featured image.
Artist Isabel Manalo Marries Art with Social Movement, The Statesman, by Krysten Massa, November, 2015.
Isabel Manalo’s Artwork pays tribute to Philippine Tragedy, Orlando Sentinel, by Matthew J. Palm, April 2014.
Isabel Manalo’s Bit’s of Elsewhere Series asks: What is a Memory? The Urbanite, by Cara Ober, July 2012.
Manalo Demystifies the Artist’s Studio, The Chautauquan Daily, by Joana Hamer July 2012.
Art Line Plus, Arlineplus.com, by Amanda Lineweber, May 2012
Drain Magazine, Interview by Craig Drennen, April 2012.
The Washington Post Going Out Guide, Gallery Opening of the Week “Bits of Elsewhere”, by Michael O’Sullivan. April 2012.
The Georgetowner, Gallery Walk in Book Hill, by Ari Post. February 2012
The Washington City Paper, “Fantastic Journeys”, by John Anderson, July 2010.
C-Ville, “From the Beginning”, by Catherie Malone, April, 2010.
August 2011: One Hundred Washington D.C. Artists, Edited by Lenny Campello, Schiffer Publishing company. Featuring 100 key Washington D.C. artists.
The Washington Post, Collector Mera Rubell Makes the Rounds of Washington’s Isolated Artists, By Jessica Dawson, 2009.
The Baltimore City Paper, Road to Nowhere: Ceci N’est Pas une Carte, By Deborah McLeod. 2008.
The Washington Post, You Catch More Flies With Honey Worth a Visit, by Jessica Dawson, December, 2007.
DCist, You Catch More Flies With Honey, By Kelly Rand, 2007
New American Paintings Mid-Atlantic Competition, Vol. 53, May 2006
Los Angeles Times, New Vistas in Landscape Painting, By David Pagel, February 2005.
The Washington Post, Art That Works, By Michael O’Sullivan, January 2005.
Washington City Paper, New Acquisitions of Works by DC Based Artists, by Louis Jacobson, September 2004.
New American Paintings Mid-Atlantic Competition, Vol. 51, May, 2004
The Washington Post, New and Notables: National Academy of Art Acquisitions, June
2004
DC One, The Glory of Painting By F. Lennox Campbello, June 2003
The Washington Post, Art in an Experimental Groove: Decatur Blue Gives the Flip Side of
Mainstream Some Extended Play By Jessica Dawson. January, 2003
The Washington Post, Isabel Manalo’s Fine Lines of Distinction By Jessica Dawson.
September, 2002.