Mark Salvatus (b. 1980, Lucban, the Philippines) practices revolve around the themes of public engagement and site-specificity, often manifested through multimedia settings including installations, videos, collages, and interventions. His works often present diverse outcomes of energies, meanings, and experiences. Through his observations of everyday mundane objects, popular culture, and mass behavior, Salvatus extracts minute yet vital connections from the debris of everyday politics in the city, informed by the history of the Philippines. His reflections on popular culture and mass behavior often blur the nation’s history and its complex narratives, creating platforms that invite audience participation and foster social discussion.
Salvatus represented the Philippines at the 60th Venice Biennale this year. His solo exhibitions were held at the University of the Philippines Vargas Museum (Manila, 2015 and 2011), Art Center Ongoing (Tokyo, 2015), Cultural Center of the Philippines (Manila, 2014), Museum Barengasse (Zurich, 2014), and La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre (Victoria, 2011), among others. His recent participation in group exhibitions were shown at University of the Philippines Vargas Museum (Manila, 2024, 2021, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010), MAC Panamá | Museum of Contemporary Art (Panama, 2024), Hong-gah Museum (Taipei, 2023, 2022, 2020), National Taiwan University of Arts Our Museum (Taipei, 2023), Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (New York, 2023), Metropolitan Museum of Manila (Manila, 2023, 2020, 2013, 2012), University of Nevada Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art (Las Vegas, 2022), National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taichung, 2021), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, 2021, 2018), Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (Manila, 2021), Pera Museum (Istanbul, 2021), Sifang Art Museum (Nanjing, 2021), Contemporary Calgary (Alberta, 2021), University of London SOAS Brunei Gallery (London, 2019), Center for Heritage, Arts and Textile (Hong Kong, 2019) among others.
Salvatus currently lives and works between Manila, the Philippines, and Osaka, Japan.
