Monica Delgado

Bronx, New York

Monica Delgado uses acrylic paint to create vibrant abstracts full of texture and color. Her stunning technique tricks the viewer into thinking the medium is fabric, canvas, paper, or plastic.

Monica Delgado was born in Manila, Philippines in 1979. She works with acrylic paint as her main medium, with a sculptural approach. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in Painting from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Cum Laude.

Monica has exhibited her work in solo and group shows in Manila, Singapore, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and Miami. Her works are part of permanent collections in Conrad Hotel Manila, Andaz Hotel Singapore, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, Louis Vuitton Manila, as well as private collector collections. She is represented by Maybaum Gallery in San Francisco and PG Art Gallery in Istanbul, and has completed two residencies from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Monica lives and works in New York City.

Monica’s artist statement: I create multidimensional explorations of the physicality of paint that trick the viewer into thinking the medium is fabric, canvas, paper, or plastic. My process involves drying acrylic paint in layers, drips, individual strips or sheets. I squeeze paint out of condiment bottles in varying lines, drip paint from sticks or knives, or spread it with putty tools and scrapers. Once it’s dry, I stack, layer, coil, roll, drape or wrap the paint around objects or cut it into tiny pieces and adhere it together.

I was formerly a traditional, photography referencing painter. But the cultural debate surrounding the death of painting, coupled with an emerging rebellion against the repetitive motion and limitations of painting on canvas, sparked a need in me to challenge how far I could stretch the concept of a painting and the use of the medium.

I want my work to bring delight and wonder to viewers, and more importantly, to open up a chain of questions regarding the interrelation between paint as a medium and subject, its relationship to traditional supports or lack of, and to participate in the dialogue of resuscitating painting without predictability.