Victor Balanon

(b. 1972, Manila, the Philippines)

Victor Balanon is a self-taught artist based in Quezon City, Philippines. He started to study Dental Medicine but left school to pursue his interest in art. He later studied film and animation at the Mowelfund Film Institute in Manila. He has worked as an illustrator creating storyboards, album covers and posters for film, independent comics and alternative music labels and later as an animator for a major Japanese animation company.

Keen on exploring alternative ways of artistic production, he has supported various local artist-run initiatives in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s and had since participated in various group shows both locally and abroad. He had his first solo exhibition in 2011 and had more than 20 exhibitions to date. His works have been shown at the Jakarta Biennale, the Manila Biennale, the Jewish Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, the University of the Philippines’ Vargas Museum, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts and the Singapore Art Museum.

Currently, he co-organizes a moving-image centred artist-run initiative called Lost Frames, where programs focus on providing a platform for screening video works, discussions and artist talks.