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). Manalo received an MFA in Painting from Yale, BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BS from the University of Wisconsin.
Until Tomorrow, 2025, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches
They Know What To Do, 2025, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches
Stamped and Certified, 2025, oil on wood, 36 x 36 inches
Spillover, 2025, oil on canvas, 17 x 26 inches
Mahirap Ang Isip, 2025, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches
Lament, 2025, oil on canvas, 23 x 33 inches
Endurance, 2025, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches
Boundless, 2025, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches
A Calculation of Being, 2025, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches
Murmurings, 2024, graphite on Fabriano, 32 x 44 inches
Endless Lies, 2025, pen on paper, 6 x 8 inches
No End in Sight, 2025, pen on paper, 9 x 11 inches
Frog Legged, 2025, oil on board, 10 x 10 inches
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
2025 December – January: “Lament”, Solo Show, Addison Ripley Fine Art Gallery, Washington D.C.
2024 September – December: “Asia in Maryland”, Asian Arts Center at Towson University, MD and at the Pratt Library in Baltimore, MD.
2023 November – Solo Show: “Ninety Degrees”, Gaslight Gallery, Frederick, MD
2022 April – Solo Show: “To Grow A Life”, Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
2020 September – October, Solo Show: They See Us, Castle Gallery at Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, MD.
2019 October- November, Kith and Kin, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
October- November, Confluence Select, Curated by Philip Hutinet of East City Art, Otis Street Arts Center, Mt. Rainier, MD
October, Transformer Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
September 7 – December 31, 2019, Solo Show, Curated by Romy Silverstein of Addison Ripley Fine Art Gallery, Facebook, DC, Washington DC
January, Select Department of Art Faculty at American University, Curated by Jack Rasmussen, Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport, Baltimore, MD
June, “Character Abstraction”, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Curated by Spencer Dormitzer, Brentwood, MD
2018 November, Transformer Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
September, “Asian Art in Maryland”, Asian Art Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
December, “Adrenaline”, Solo Show, Addison Ripley Fine Art, Washington D.C.
2017 November, Transformer Auction, Katzen Art Museum at American University, Washington D.C.
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.
