Olazo, Jonathan

Based in Metro Manila, Jonathan Olazo is an accomplished visual artist, art writer, and curator who has spent over three decades shaping the progressive trajectory of Philippine contemporary art. He formalized his creative practice at the University of the Philippines Diliman in the late 1980s and early 1990s, instantly embedding himself within the conceptual, non-conformist studio circles steered by legendary vanguard Roberto Chabet.

Olazo’s multi-hyphenate career successfully balances a prolific solo gallery timeline with significant institutional stewardship. He has guided subsequent generations of Filipino creators through a decade of teaching at his alma mater and directing public cultural spaces. As a trusted juror for top-tier national art prizes and an authoritative essayist for major contemporary monographs, Olazo occupies a unique position as both an active image-maker and a critical historian of his community’s visual culture.

Education & Academic Foundation
1992: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Major in Painting – University of the Philippines (UP) College of Fine Arts, Diliman, Quezon City

Major Awards & Prestigious Recognitions
2004: Appointed Resident Artist – Fukuoka International Research Residency, curated by Mizuki Endo, Fukuoka, Japan

2003: Artist of the Year (Shared with Rey Halili) – Art Manila Newspaper Awards

1994: Inducted Vanguard – Thirteen Artists Award, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)

1987: Grand Prize – Philippine Association of Printmakers (PAP) Graphic Arts Competition

1986: Third Prize – Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) Open Competition for Graphic Arts

Institutional Leadership & Academic Experience
2009–2017: Faculty Lecturer – Department of Studio Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman

2009: Gallery Director – National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Gallery, Intramuros, Manila

Strategic Jury Seats: Appointed Guest Juror for the Ateneo Art Awards (2017) and the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) Competition (2016).

Curatorial & Writing Legacy
Olazo is highly regarded for his architectural approach to exhibition-making and his text-based contributions to Philippine art history. He has authored definitive catalog essays and curated landmark institutional showcases:

Key Curatorial Projects
2017: Olazo Large-Scale – Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Pasay City (A monumental retrospective tracking his father Romulo Olazo's architectural-scale masterpieces)

2015: Thirteen Artists Awards Exhibition – Lead Project Curator and Catalog Essayist, Cultural Center of the Philippines

2014 & 2015: ManilArt – Appointed Contemporary Pavilion Project Curator, SMX Convention Center / SM Aura, Taguig City

2009: Bayan ni Nanding Versus the Postmodern World – Manila Contemporary, Makati City

Major Writing Commissions & Monograph Essays
"Roberto Chabet" Monograph (King Kong Art Projects Unlimited, 2015)

"OLAZO" Definitive Biography (Paseo Gallery / AZOOL Inc., 2014)

"Chabet 50 Years" Complete Catalog Digest (King Kong Art Projects, 2013)

Gallery Prose & Critical Reviews: Continuous production of contextual exhibition texts for modern vanguards and contemporary peers, including Nilo Ilarde, Bernardo Pacquing, Pete Jimenez, Monica Delgado, and Soler Santos.

Exhibition History
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019: The Icarus is Lovesick (ILS) 3: The Salon Painter and Morandi’s Still Life – The Drawing Room, Makati City

2019: The ILS 2: Notes on Rebus – Underground Gallery, Makati Cinema Square, Makati City

2019: Me, Cy and M. Chagall Down by the Schoolyard – West Gallery, Quezon City

2018: Paragon Parergon – The Drawing Room, Makati City

2017: Attachments / Zero Negotiations – The Drawing Room, Escolta Outpost, Manila

2016: Icarus is Lovesick Studio (ILS) – Mo_Space, Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig

2015: Children and the Weight of Expectation – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City

2015: Seeds from the Clipboard – Finale Art File, Makati City

2015: Studio – West Gallery, Quezon City

2014: Paintings on the Wall, Paintings on the Floor – Now Gallery, Makati City

2013: The Hotel Painter – Manila Contemporary, Makati City

2011: Dionysian Johnesian – Paseo Gallery, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City

2009: Answers Where Poetry Does Not Exist – White Box Studio, Cubao Expo, Quezon City

2009: Designer Emo for the Pseudo Tortured Soul – West Gallery, Quezon City

2009: The Ballad Phantasmagoria by Judas Bear Loves Über Bear – Mo_Space, BGC

2008: Tattoo and Catastrophe – The Drawing Room, Makati City

2007: Memoir – Project Room, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (International Solo Debut)

2006: Utterance in Times of Woe and Celebration – Green Papaya Projects, Quezon City

2005: Crime and Decoration – The Crucible Gallery, SM Megamall

2004: Dream World Club Manifesto – West Gallery, Quezon City

2003: Don Juan Manifestos / Don Juan Variations – Finale Art File, Makati City

1997: Touch – Finale Art File, Manila

1995: Moon Paintings – Finale Art File, Manila

1994: Idiot Paintings – Finale Art File, Manila

1994: Saved Paintings – Dirty Room 2, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines Diliman

1987: Guise and Disguise – Museum Hallway, Cultural Center of the Philippines (Professional Debut)

Selected Group Surveys & Critical Curation Outposts
2021: Notions – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City

2021: In Celebration of Creativity: A Homage to Junyee – Altro Mondo Creative Space, Makati City

2019: Future Present – Mono 8 Gallery, Manila

2018: An Italian in Manila – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City

2018: The Absence of a Plan is Itself A Plan – Mo_Space, Bonifacio Global City

2016: Material Witnesses – TAKSU Gallery, Singapore

2014: What does it all matter, as long as the wounds fit the arrows? (A Tribute to Roberto Chabet) – Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City

2014: No Title Yet 2014 (Curated by Nilo Ilarde) – Art informal, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City

2012: Abstraction is Homeless – Manila Contemporary, Makati City (A defining survey of contemporary non-representation alongside Bernardo Pacquing and Argie Bandoy)

2006: The Long Goodbye (Curated by Roberto Chabet) – mag:net Gallery, Paseo Center, Makati City

2004: Sedimentation of the Mind is a Jumbled Museum (Curated by Nilo Ilarde) – Jorge B. Vargas Museum, UP Diliman

2004: Transnational Duo: Jayson Oliveria / Jonathan Olazo – Tetra Art Space / Wald Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan