Lesley-Anne Cao is a visual artist based in Quezon City, Philippines. Her practice is a series of divergent processes that explore the interplay of materiality, exhibition making, and fiction. Her work makes use of recognizable materials — books, plants, debris, precious metals, and money — towards the actualization and presentation of fictional objects and environments.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 A song plays from another room, MO_Space, Taguig City.
2021 Hard and soft prayers, The Drawing Room Gallery, Makati City.
2018 The hand, the secretary, a landscape. Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2021 Last Words, ROH Projects, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2021 Cast But One Shadow, University of the Philippines Vargas Museum, Quezon City. curated by Kathleen Ditzig and Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2021 No More Mesmerizations, Bangkok Biennial 2020/1 — Manila/Online Pavilion. curated by Vincent Ardidon.
2020 I’m finding it hard to believe, Modeka Art Space, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2020 Florae – The Women Artists : The Special Project for MSAC 10th Anniversary III, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
2020 Issue 2: Points of Connection, West Space Offsite (Online Program), West Space, Melbourne, Australia. edited by Andy Butler.
2020 Jack of Golds, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City.
2020 this walk, a hunt; this path, a quarry. Artinformal Gallery, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2020 3rd Kamias Triennial: Sawsawan in the Dirty Kitchen. Kamias Special Projects, Quezon City. curated by Patrick Cruz, Su-ying Lee, Allison Collins.
2019 a knowing intimacy or a life. University of the Philippines Vargas Museum, Quezon City. curated by Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2019 To give a moment a name (with Derek Tumala and Katherine Nuñez). The Drawing Room, Makati City. curated by Con Cabrera.
2019 Courses of Action. Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and Para Site, Hong Kong. curated by Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2019 More light than heat (with Lao Lianben). Calle Wright, Manila.
2019 City of Bawal. 1335Mabini, Makati City. curated by Roy Voragen.
2019 Of sampaguita, ilang-ilang (with MJ Flamiano and Czar Kristoff). c3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne, Australia.
2019 A Public Collection of the Hidden but Familiar. Limbo, Makati City. curated by Tropikalye (Nice Buenaventura).
2018 Fieldnotes. Makiling Botanic Gardens and Nomina Nuda, Los Baños, Laguna. curated by Nomina Nuda and Para://Site Projects.
2018 Spin Cycle. 25 Humabon Street, Magallanes Village, Makati City. curated by Kiat Kiat Projects.
2018 Quid Pro Quo. Bangkok Biennial, Bangrak Market, Bangkok, Thailand. curated by Liv_id Collective and Alice Sarmiento.
2018 100 Films for One Hundred Years: Hidden Cinema. Ayala Museum, Makati City. curated by Nick Deocampo.
2018 Yielding Nodes. Silang, Cavite. curated by Para://Site Projects.
2018 Composite Circuits. Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati City. curated by Dayang Yraola.
2018 To eat is to survive to be hungry. Mabini Projects, Manila. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2017 The Arm (with Itos Ledesma). 98B Collaboratory, Manila.
2017 Parle pas français, merci. Corredor Gallery, U.P. College of Fine Arts, Quezon City.
2017 D. Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2015 PaperViews15: Rapid Cycling. Project Space Pilipinas, Lucban, Quezon.
2015 Nonfiction (with Lou Lim and Issay Rodriguez). Project 20, Quezon City.
2015 Bull in the Heather. Art Center / Galerie Anna, Mandaluyong City. curated by Lena Cobangbang.
2015 REPULSE. MAKNA Seni Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. curated by Asep Topan.
2015 Preview Magazine 20th Anniversary Exhibition. Green Sun, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2015 Pop+art: Productions. Artery Art Space, Quezon City.
2015 Project Bakawan Arts Festival. U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.
2015 SiLab: Sining Laboratoryo Arts Festival. U.P. Los Baños, Laguna.
2014 Unisex. Artery Art Space, Quezon City.
2014 Luminescence. Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila.
2014 Objection. PAN /// Project Space, 98B Collaboratory, Manila. curated by Asep Topan.
2013 Je ne sais pas encore, exactament. École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.
2013 Thin Skinned. Light and Space Contemporary, Quezon City.
2012 Being. Sining Kamalig, Quezon City.
2010 Y. Sining Kamalig, Quezon City. curated by Nestor Vinluan.
2009 Tagsibol. National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila. curated by Jonathan Olazo.
SCREENINGS
2019 15th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, The Maltings Theatre, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
2019 19th Seoul International New Media Festival, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Asian Artist Moving Image Platform: 2nd Curatorial Forum (presented by Los Otros), Gyeonggi Sangsang Campus, Seoul, South Korea
2019 2nd Hobiennale (program by recess), Cinema One, Hobart, Tasmania
2019 .giff Festival of New Cinema (with Los Otros), Warehouse Eight, Makati City
2018 Lost Frames XI: Pasinaya Open House Festival, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
2017 Lost Frames VII, Catch272, Quezon City
RESIDENCIES & GRANTS
2019 Örö Residency Programme, Örö, Finland — Residency and production grant, with exhibition We Meet at the Seaside, Dalsbruk, Finland, curated by Erica Yu Wen Huang and Nina-Maria Oförsagd
2017 Keelung, Taiwan — Residency and production grant, with Keelung Ciao exhibition curated by Yi-Hsuan Kuo and Erica Yu Wen Huang
2014 Artist Mentorship Program (Mentee), Artery Art Space, Quezon City
AWARDS / GRANTS
2019 New Cinema Competition - Shortlist, 15th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
2019 Fernando Zóbel Prize for Visual Art - Shortlist, Ateneo Art Awards 2019
2019 National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila — International travel grant (for Of sampaguita, ilang-ilang)
2018 Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila — Exhibition grant (for The hand, the secretary, a landscape)
2013 University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts - École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts Exchange Program — Scholarship grant
EDUCATION
2014 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Major in Painting), University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts - Diliman
2014 International exchange scholar, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
2021 A song plays from another room, MO_Space, Taguig City.
2021 Hard and soft prayers, The Drawing Room Gallery, Makati City.
2018 The hand, the secretary, a landscape. Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2021 Last Words, ROH Projects, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2021 Cast But One Shadow, University of the Philippines Vargas Museum, Quezon City. curated by Kathleen Ditzig and Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2021 No More Mesmerizations, Bangkok Biennial 2020/1 — Manila/Online Pavilion. curated by Vincent Ardidon.
2020 I’m finding it hard to believe, Modeka Art Space, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2020 Florae – The Women Artists : The Special Project for MSAC 10th Anniversary III, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
2020 Issue 2: Points of Connection, West Space Offsite (Online Program), West Space, Melbourne, Australia. edited by Andy Butler.
2020 Jack of Golds, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City.
2020 this walk, a hunt; this path, a quarry. Artinformal Gallery, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2020 3rd Kamias Triennial: Sawsawan in the Dirty Kitchen. Kamias Special Projects, Quezon City. curated by Patrick Cruz, Su-ying Lee, Allison Collins.
2019 a knowing intimacy or a life. University of the Philippines Vargas Museum, Quezon City. curated by Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2019 To give a moment a name (with Derek Tumala and Katherine Nuñez). The Drawing Room, Makati City. curated by Con Cabrera.
2019 Courses of Action. Goethe-Institut Hong Kong and Para Site, Hong Kong. curated by Carlos Quijon, Jr.
2019 More light than heat (with Lao Lianben). Calle Wright, Manila.
2019 City of Bawal. 1335Mabini, Makati City. curated by Roy Voragen.
2019 Of sampaguita, ilang-ilang (with MJ Flamiano and Czar Kristoff). c3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne, Australia.
2019 A Public Collection of the Hidden but Familiar. Limbo, Makati City. curated by Tropikalye (Nice Buenaventura).
2018 Fieldnotes. Makiling Botanic Gardens and Nomina Nuda, Los Baños, Laguna. curated by Nomina Nuda and Para://Site Projects.
2018 Spin Cycle. 25 Humabon Street, Magallanes Village, Makati City. curated by Kiat Kiat Projects.
2018 Quid Pro Quo. Bangkok Biennial, Bangrak Market, Bangkok, Thailand. curated by Liv_id Collective and Alice Sarmiento.
2018 100 Films for One Hundred Years: Hidden Cinema. Ayala Museum, Makati City. curated by Nick Deocampo.
2018 Yielding Nodes. Silang, Cavite. curated by Para://Site Projects.
2018 Composite Circuits. Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati City. curated by Dayang Yraola.
2018 To eat is to survive to be hungry. Mabini Projects, Manila. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2017 The Arm (with Itos Ledesma). 98B Collaboratory, Manila.
2017 Parle pas français, merci. Corredor Gallery, U.P. College of Fine Arts, Quezon City.
2017 D. Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2015 PaperViews15: Rapid Cycling. Project Space Pilipinas, Lucban, Quezon.
2015 Nonfiction (with Lou Lim and Issay Rodriguez). Project 20, Quezon City.
2015 Bull in the Heather. Art Center / Galerie Anna, Mandaluyong City. curated by Lena Cobangbang.
2015 REPULSE. MAKNA Seni Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. curated by Asep Topan.
2015 Preview Magazine 20th Anniversary Exhibition. Green Sun, Makati City. curated by Gary-Ross Pastrana.
2015 Pop+art: Productions. Artery Art Space, Quezon City.
2015 Project Bakawan Arts Festival. U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.
2015 SiLab: Sining Laboratoryo Arts Festival. U.P. Los Baños, Laguna.
2014 Unisex. Artery Art Space, Quezon City.
2014 Luminescence. Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Manila.
2014 Objection. PAN /// Project Space, 98B Collaboratory, Manila. curated by Asep Topan.
2013 Je ne sais pas encore, exactament. École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.
2013 Thin Skinned. Light and Space Contemporary, Quezon City.
2012 Being. Sining Kamalig, Quezon City.
2010 Y. Sining Kamalig, Quezon City. curated by Nestor Vinluan.
2009 Tagsibol. National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila. curated by Jonathan Olazo.
SCREENINGS
2019 15th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, The Maltings Theatre, Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
2019 19th Seoul International New Media Festival, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2019 Asian Artist Moving Image Platform: 2nd Curatorial Forum (presented by Los Otros), Gyeonggi Sangsang Campus, Seoul, South Korea
2019 2nd Hobiennale (program by recess), Cinema One, Hobart, Tasmania
2019 .giff Festival of New Cinema (with Los Otros), Warehouse Eight, Makati City
2018 Lost Frames XI: Pasinaya Open House Festival, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila
2017 Lost Frames VII, Catch272, Quezon City
RESIDENCIES & GRANTS
2019 Örö Residency Programme, Örö, Finland — Residency and production grant, with exhibition We Meet at the Seaside, Dalsbruk, Finland, curated by Erica Yu Wen Huang and Nina-Maria Oförsagd
2017 Keelung, Taiwan — Residency and production grant, with Keelung Ciao exhibition curated by Yi-Hsuan Kuo and Erica Yu Wen Huang
2014 Artist Mentorship Program (Mentee), Artery Art Space, Quezon City
AWARDS / GRANTS
2019 New Cinema Competition - Shortlist, 15th Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK
2019 Fernando Zóbel Prize for Visual Art - Shortlist, Ateneo Art Awards 2019
2019 National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Manila — International travel grant (for Of sampaguita, ilang-ilang)
2018 Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila — Exhibition grant (for The hand, the secretary, a landscape)
2013 University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts - École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts Exchange Program — Scholarship grant
EDUCATION
2014 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Major in Painting), University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts - Diliman
2014 International exchange scholar, École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France