Ernest Concepcion (b. 1977) is a Filipino painter based in Manila, Philippines, who combines the motif of classical landscape with contemporary caricatures and representations that take one into the framework of warfare while uncovering the effects of a larger 20th-Century, Postwar existence.

A graduate of the University of the Philippines Bachelor of Fine Arts. He spent several years in Brooklyn, New York, where he participated in a number of art residences including The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Workspace Program, the Bronx Museum of Art Artists-in-the-Marketplace (AIM) Program, the Artists Alliance Inc. Rotating Studio Program, the Lower East Side Printshop Keyholder Residency, the LMCC Swing Space Program at Governors Island and an artist residency in Beijing, China via NY Arts Magazine.

He joined Global Artists Committee of Asian Art Association In 2020.

Concepcion began exploring this juxtaposition in a series of over 100 drawings from 2004 titled The Line Wars. Within each 9 x 12-inch panel the artist covered the pictorial space with cartoon-like conflicts, portraying chairs flying toward each other, monster-like eggs smothering a massive army of Saint Benedicts, or pasta fighting against the quick-sands of rice.

In 2008 Concepcion’s vision of battlefield landscapes was realized on a much larger scale at the Kentler International Drawing Space where caricatures were tagged over landscapes and extended from floor to ceiling in the tall, narrow gallery space. In 2009 the artist presented a series of explosion paintings that consisted of enamel on steel. Colors became the physical layers of each mushroom cloud and marked the artist’s shift further into the depths of conflicted horizon lines, away from caricatures.

Honor

Tzefan 12 HaoHaus Artist Residence, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Summer 2015
CCP (Philippine Cultural Center) 13 Artist Award winners, Manila, Philippines, 2015
El Museo Del Barrio's LA BIENAL 2013, New York, 2013
Joan Mitchell Foundation painter and sculptor Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York, 2011
Finalists in the drawing category, New York Art Foundation (NYFA), New York, 2011
Resident Artist, New York Studio Gallery LES, Fall 2010, New York
Artist Space for Swaying Space Project, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Building 110, Spring and Summer 2010, Governors Island, NY
Artist in New York, New York Art Center, Beijing, Spring 2010, Heigezhuang Village
Workspace Program: Winter 2005 to Spring 2006, Broadway Artists' Residence in Lower Manhattan, New York City (LMCC)
Market Artists (AIM) Project, Bronx Museum of Art, Fall 2004, Bronx, NY
Young Artist Grantee, National Council of Culture and Arts (NCCA), 1999, Manila, Philippines

Exhibition

Abyss – Kedah Museum of Contemporary Art, Philippine Art Fair, 2020
Inevitable Embarrassment (Part 2019) – Source Gallery, Makati, Philippines, XNUMX
Ernest Concepcion and Seymour – 1335 MABINI Gallery, Manila, Philippines, 2017
Unprecedented Horizons – Isobelle Museum of the Philippines, Fort Bonifacio Global City, 2016
Can't sit down – Tianma Art Museum, Makati City, Philippines, 2016
Just a hint of chaos – 1335 MABINI Gallery, Manila, Philippines, 2016
Re-evolving in purgatory – 1335 MABINI Gallery, Manila, Philippines, 2015
Heroes at Auction-Secret Fresh Gallery, RONA Art Center, Manila, Philippines, 2015
Ernest Concepcion – Deutsche Bank, Makati, Philippines, 2015
The Crux of Things – The Vargas Museum, Manila, Philippines, 2014
Spreading-Informal Art Master Gallery, Manila, Philippines, 2013
Transformation-Video Room, Finale Art Archive, Makati City, Philippines, 2013
Embarrassment is inevitable – Gallery 13, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2013
No war on the Eastern Front-Blanche Art Museum, Manila Peninsula, Philippines, 2012
Puso + Daga – West Gallery, Manila, Philippines, 2012
La.A. Guerra – UNTITLED Art Project, Los Angeles, California, 2011
Saint Invasion-St. Joseph's College, Brooklyn, New York, 2009
Odson Odin-Studio Gallery, New York, New York, 2009
The Line Wars Deluxe – Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, New York, 2008