Xavier Robles de Medina

BIO | SELECTED WORKS

Xavier Robles de Medina’s (b. 1990, Paramaribo) sensibilities are rooted in an observational drawing practice as well as an objective dissection of the painting as a three-dimensional object. He questions social and artistic categorizations, in search for a truth regarding his identity as it relates to the painting tradition. 

In 2015 Robles de Medina was the youngest nominee for the Prix de Rome Visual Arts (Netherlands) and also completed Residency Programs at WOW Amsterdam and CTG: Zimbabwe. In 2016 his drawing “En het donker duurde een volle nacht” earned him a place on the short-list of the Royal Award for Modern Painting (Netherlands.) Last year Robles de Medina enjoyed his first NYC solo with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, his first solo exhibition in Suriname at Readytex Art Gallery, and embarked on the MFA Fine Art program at Goldsmiths, University of London. His first European solo was on view in May 2018 at Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent.

CV

Xavier Robles de Medina
Born in 1990 (Paramaribo, Suriname)
Lives and works in London

Education

2017 - 2019
MFA in Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, England

2012
BFA in Painting, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
BFA in Animation, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
2008
Bilingual International Baccalaureate Diploma, St.Clare’s, Oxford, England

Selected solo exhibitions

2020
FOURTEENTH DAKAR BIENNIAL, new dates TBA, Dakar, Republic of Senegal
WAN DESTINATION WANHOOP, 4 February–18 May, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA
FAYA LOBI, 1 February–21 March, Praz-Delavallade Gallery, Paris (catalogue)

2019
OPPORTUNITY COST, 19 January–16 February, Praz-Delavallade,
UNIT 5, Los Angeles

2018
ALS HET HELE LICHAAM OOR ZOU ZIJN,
Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Suriname
THE FUTURE LOOMS DARK AND THAT WE CAN SCARCELY, Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent, Belgium (catalogue)

2017
TNF, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Suriname (catalogue)
IF YOU DREAM OF YOUR TONGUE, BEWARE, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York City, USA (catalogue)
X-C: TRANSFERENCE BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS (w/ Clément Carat), Green Gallery,
WOW Amsterdam, Netherlands

Selected group exhibitions

2020

THE BERRY EATERS (w/ Admire Kamudzengerere, Jaakko Leeve, Rachel Monosov, Shinji Murakami, Terrence Musekiwa, Elena Näsänen, Johanna Rytkölä, Justin Orvis Steimer), 28 February– 8 March, CTG Harlem, New York City, USA

2019
THE SOUND OF SILENCE (w/ William Anastasi, Lita Albuquerque, John Baldessari, Martin Creed, Mary Corse, Jose Dávila, Sam Durant, Thomas Fougeirol, Fernanda Gomes, David Horvitz, Ann Veronica Janssens, On Kawara, Gabriel Kuri, Gabriel Orozco, Christopher Orr, Golnaz Payani, Philippe Parreno, Dario Robleto, Analia Saban, Richard Serra, Shimabuku, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Richard Tuttle, Sergio Verastegui, Brian Wills), Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles
ZWRT (w/ Stien Bekaert, Evy Bosman, Hugo De Clercq, Benni Efrat, Manor Grunewald, Dieter Lannoo Sofie Middernacht and Maarten Alexander, Shinji Murakami, A.R. Penck, Gail Stoicheff, Stef Van Looveren, Simon Van Parys, Tamara Van San, Stan Van Steendam, Adriaan Verwée, Andy Wauman), Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent, Belgium

2018
CTG-R: ZIMBABWE (w/ Andrea Abbatangelo, Rachel Monosov, Felix Kindermann, Capucine Gros, Ranti Bam, Justin Orvis Steimer, Terrence Musekiwa), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe
MATERIAL (w/ Caroline Achaintre, Alice Anderson, Sam Austen, Antony Cairns, Fernando Casasempere, Nick Doyle, Willa Hilditch, Henry Hudson, Kristina Horne, Agata Ingarden, Ann Cathrin November Høibo, Rasmus Søndergaard Johannsen, Thomas Langley, Caroline Larsen, Dean Levin, Lindsey Mendick, Nissa Nishikawa, Irvin Pascal, Ren Ri, Meekyoung Shin, Linnéa Sjöberg, Graham Wilson, Hirosuke Yabe), Cob Gallery, London, UK
FROM SHAPE TO FORM (w/ Carmen Flores, Gaby Collins-Fernandez, José Delgado Zúñiga, Rocío Olivares, Saredt Franco), Yale Divinity School, New Haven, USA (curated by Jon Seals)
JUBILEUM EXPO: 25 JAAR READYTEX ART GALLERY, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Suriname

2017
EVEN MY MUM CAN MAKE A BOOK, Corridor Project Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands
WHILE MEDITATING ON WAR (w/ Celine van den Boorn, Barbara Broekman, Ramaz Goiati, Lana Mesi, Ilya Rabinovich, Tamar Rozenblat, belit sag, Emanuel Tegene), CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam, Netherlands (curated by Renske de Jong)

2016
ZIG ZAG ZIM, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe (catalogue) 3
ZIG ZAG ZIM part II (w/ Admire Kamudzengerere, Rachel Monosov, Terrence Musekiwa, Justin Orvis Steimer), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, NY
25 YEARS CONTEMPORARY ART IN SURINAME (w/ Dona Akobe, Kenneth Flijders, Soeki Irodikromo, Remy Jungerman, Kurt Nahar, Dhiradj Ramsamoedj, René Tosari), Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Suriname (curated by Sasha Dees)

2015
FICTIONS AND CONSTRUCTIONS (w/ Rui Chafes and Felix R. Cid), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, NY 2014
IT BEGINS ON PAPER (w/ Patricia Cronin, Greg Haberny, Rachel Monosov, Justin Orvis Steimer, Gail Stoicheff, Swoon, Sophia Wallace), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA (catalogue)

Awards and accomplishments

2016
Royal Award for Modern Painting shortlist, Royal Palace Amsterdam, Netherlands

2015
Prix de Rome Visual Arts nominee, The Mondriaan Fund, Netherlands

2012
Honors Scholarship, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA (2008–2012) United Student Forum Member, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA 2011 Cover Artist of Strathmore 300 series Canvas pads, Strathmore Artist Papers, USA

2010
1st place Black and White Drawing, and Canson Award, Foundations Honors Show, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA

Gallery affiliation
Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, NY (represented)
Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles and Paris (represented)
Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Suriname