Landmark Projects

David Medalla

David Medalla was born in Manila, Philippines. He studied philosophy and literature at Columbia University in New York City. Medalla took up painting seriously with the encouragement of Filipino poet Jose Garcia Villa, American actor James Dean, Spanish painter Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Spanish poet Jaime Gil de Biedma.

In the spring of 1960, David Medalla gave his first performance in Paris at the Academie Raymond Duncan (the brother of Isadora Duncan). Medalla's performance was introduced by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard who hailed Medalla as a genius. French poet Louis Aragon agreed wholeheartedly with Bachelard's opinion of the Filipino artist. Aragon wrote in Medalla's address book: "J'aime tout ce qui fait chez vouz" ("I love all that you do"). French art critic Pierre Restany described Medalla as "the marginal artist par excellence".

David Medalla has participated in numerous exhibitions of contemporary art, including 'Documenta 5' in Kassel, Germany; 'L'Informe' at the Centre Pompidou; 'Fluxattitudes' at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York; 'Out of Actions' at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; 'Force Fields' at MACBA in Barcelona; 'Art and Healing' at the Institute of Contemporary Art of Boston; 'Air Art' at the University of Art Museum in Berkley, California; 'Travels II' at the Clocktower Gallery in New York; 'Rio Trajetorias' in Rio de Janeiro; 'Trolley's World Tea Party' at the Horniman Museum in London;'Changing Channels' in Berlin'; and 'Happiness' at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.

David Medalla and Adam Nankervis participated in the 'Live/Life' show at the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris and the Centro Cultural de Belem in Lisbon; and in 'Micropolitiques' at Le Magasin in Grenoble. Medalla and Nankervis founded the Mondrian Fan Club in New York in 1993.

David Medalla, at various times, was an artist-in-residence with DAAD in Berlin; the British School in Rome; South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, England; the University of Hawai'i in Manoa; the University of Texas in Austin; and Delfina Studios in London.

David Medalla has won awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Jerome Foundation of America. Franklin Furnace sponsored Medalla's performance entitled "Five Immortals at Drop Dead Prices" at Cooper Union in New York. Medalla's performance entitled "Voyages and Somersaults of the Pilgrim Monkey" at the Academy in Venice was praised by Italian artist Emilio Vedova.

David Medalla has lectured at the Sorbonne, the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art of New York, Silliman University and the University of the Philippines, the Universities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, the New York Public Library, Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Warwick and Southampton in England, the Slade, St. Martin's, Chelsea, Goldsmiths and Camberwell Schools of Art in London.

David Medalla performed with Shoe Taylor Guinness their :Homage to Isadora Duncan" at the British Museum in 2001.

David Medalla has performed in numerous venues all over the world He has collaborated with various artists including Fred Ardales Galang, John Dugger, Peter Smith, Philip Cohen, Nick Payne, Oriol de Quadras, Mark Greaves, Kai Hilgemann, Brian Morgan, Ezio Falcomer, Alessandro Fiorella, Enrico Oliviero, Gianni Sandri, Fritz Stolberg, Bryan Mulvihill, Michael Morris, Mark Piron, Tiago Slewinski, Guido Fassbender, Adam Nankervis and many others.

David Medalla edited SIGNALS Newsbulletin in London from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, David Medalla initiated the Exploding Galaxy. From 1975 to 1977, David Medalla was chairman of Artists for Democracy and director of

the Fitzrovia Cultural Centre in London.

David Medalla is the founder and director of the London Biennale.

Bibliography: "Exploding Galaxies: the Art of David Medalla" by Guy Brett, with a foreword by Dore Ashton and an envoi by Yve-Alain Bois, published by Kala Press, London, in 1995.