Xavier Robles de Medina
XAVIER ROBLES DE MEDINA (b. 1990, Surinam)
lives and works between Berlin and Paramaribo
Xavier Robles de Medina is an artist and writer working at the intersection of visual art and research-based approaches. Informed by his creolized queer subjectivity, he explores linkages between personal history and broader contexts, often deliberately disrupting linear readings. Following a process of methodical collecting of both found and original images and texts, he accumulates and collages these materials in a process of discovery, forming the basis for meticulously crafted works that are mathematically plotted and remain at once poetic and political.
BORN 1990 IN PARAMARIBO, SURINAME
LIVES AND WORKS IN BERLIN, GERMANY
EDUCATION
- 2024
BPA, Berlin Program for Artists, DE
- 2019
MFA in Fine Art, Goldsmiths, London, UK
- 2012
BFA in Painting and Animation, Magna Cum Laude, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), USA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2026
Source, Noah Klink, Berlin, DE [Forthcoming]
All The Rage, Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, Bucharest, RO- 2024
Tetris effect, Art Basel Paris, presented by Catinca Tabacaru, Paris, FR
Love is not a maybe thing, Efremidis, Berlin, DE- 2023
I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again, Alice Amati, London, UK [catalogue]
- 2022
What if the tongue is cut out?, Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Hong Kong [catalogue]
- 2020
Ți-a ieșit iepurele în cale, Another Mobile Gallery, Bucharest, RO
Wan Destination Wanhoop, SCAD Museum of Art, curated by Ben Tollefson, Savannah, USA
Faya Lobi, Praz Delavallade, Paris, FR [catalogue]- 2019
MFA, Goldsmiths, London, UK
Opportunity Cost, Praz Delavallade, Los Angeles, USA- 2018
Drawing Now, presented by Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Paris, FR
als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn” (if the whole body were an ear), Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR
The Future Looms Dark and That We Can Scarcely, Barbé Urbain, Gent, BE [catalogue]- 2017
TNF with Xavier Robles de Medina, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR
If you dream of your tongue, beware, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York [catalogue]- 2012
Atelo, Little Beasts Gallery, Savannah, USA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2026
Projections Onto the East [forthcoming], Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in cooperation with the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, DE [conceived by Fabian Bechtle and Leon Kahane]
Blackground: murmures des mornes, CAPC Musée d’art Contemporain de Bordeaux, curated by Salma Mochtari and Cédric Fauq, Bordeaux, FR
Aria Notturna, ZERO…, organised by Neue Alte Brücke, MattWilliams, Zero…, Milan, IT
Access All Areas, Xippas, curated by Matthias Sohr, Geneva, CH
May I Give You a Hand?, Galerie Noah Klink, Berlin, DE- 2025
Srefidensi – Suriname Vrij! Symbols of 50 Years of Surinamese Independence, Framer Framed, curated by Vincent Van Velsen, Amsterdam, NLD
Wi Sranan, Museum Cobra, curated by Noukhey Forster, Amstelveen, NLD
Tomorrow is a Different Day. Collection 1980 – Now, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL
The Third Space, Galeria Catinca Tabacaru x French Institute Timişoara; Collateral Exhibition to the 6th Art Encounters Biennial, Timişoara, RO
Bảy nổi Ba chìm – Seven up Three down, CCS Bard Hessel Museum, curated by Đỗ Tường Linh, Annadale-on-Hudson, New York, US- 2024
Veils of Impermanence, Gossamer Fog, curated by Samuel Capps, London, UK
BPA// Exhibition 2024: Half-Light, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, DE
Sowing Watermelon Seeds, CBN, curated by Sinazo Chiya,Raphael Guilbert, Olukemi Lijadu, Sarah Lorentzen, Tushar Hathiramani, Lagos, Nigeria
Currency Exchange, BPA// Raum, curated by Zhiyuan Yang, Berlin, DE- 2023
State of Emergence, NADA East Broadway x Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Curated by Lesia Kulchynska and Catinca Tabacaru, New York, USA
Ducato Prize 5 Finalists in Contemporary, Piacenza, IT
Biographicality, Efremidis, Berlin, DE
Capture Change, nouveaux deuxdeux, Munich, DE
Party in the Blitz, Mamoth, London, UK- 2022
Manifestatie 1980–1989: Surinaamse verhalen van vreugde en verdriet, Readytex Art Gallery, co-curated w/ Miguel Keerveld, Paramaribo, SR
Trust in Mortals, Brigade, Copenhagen, DK
NADA Curated: Reduction to Satire (Reductio ad Satura), curated by Fatoş Üstek; online
The Palliative Turn, Künstlerhaus Bremen; Curated by Nadja Quante in close collaboration with Kasia Fudakowski and Olav Westphalen, Bremen, DE
Ĩ’NDAFFA FORGER / OUT OF THE FIRE, 14th Dakar Biennale; Curators by Dr El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Delphine Buysse, and Anna Karima Wane, Dakar, Senegal
An Evening On The Palliative Turn hosted by Kasia Fudakowski, Pogo Bar, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Curated by Sofie Krogh Christensen, Berlin, DE- 2021
Udubaki, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR
Dionysia, No Man’s Art Gallery, Amsterdam, NLD
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK
The Palliative Turn, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam, curated by Olav Westphalen, Germany, DE
Flux and Reflux, Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany; Curated by Willem de Rooij in the framework of his exhibition Pierre Verger in Suriname; online
Dreams Made Flesh, Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, curated by Luís Manuel Araújo, Bucharest, RO
Group exhibition, M. LeBlanc, Chicago, USA
Alakondre, Wi Tru Fesi, Readytex Art Gallery, curated by Alida Neslo, Paramaribo, SR- 2020
CTG Collective: The Berry Eaters, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, USA
- 2019
General Meeting, Freehouse, curated by Darren Flook and Nancy Hatcher, London, UK
The Sound of Silence, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles, USA
ZWRT, Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent, BE
Metabolic Museum University, 33rd Ljubliana Biennial of Graphic Arts, (devised by Clémentine Deliss), Ljubliana, SI- 2018
CTG-R: Zimbabwe, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Harare, ZI
Material, Cob Gallery, London, UK
From Shape to Form, Yale Divinity School, curated Jon Seals, New Haven, USA
Jubileum Expo: 25 Jaar Readytex Art Gallery, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR- 2017
While Meditating on War, CBK Zuidoost, curated by Ronit Eden, Amsterdam, NDL
X-C: Transference Between Neighbors, (with Clément Carat), WOW International, Amsterdam, NDL- 2016
Exhibition of the IAOCA, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, JP
Zig Zag Zim, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Curated by Catinca Tabaca ru, Harare, ZI
Zig Zag Zim part II, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, USA
25 Years Contemporary Art in Suriname, Readytex Art Gallery, curated by Sasha Dees, Paramaribo, SR- 2015
Fictions and Constructions, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, USA
- 2014
It Begins on Paper, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, USA
- 2013
Ever Ours, Beethoven Festival: LOVE 2013, curated by Catinca Tabacaru, Chicago, USA
Slideluck, Oglethorpe Gallery, Savannah, USA
THE SKETCHBOOK SHOW!!!, Ashmore Gallery, Savannah, USA- 2012
META, Gallery 263, Cambridge, USA
Small Works 2012, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah, USA
Cherchez La Vérité, The Porch, Savannah, USA
Little Beasts Gallery, Savannah, USA
Far From Home, Blue Gallery, Savannah, USA
THE SKETCHBOOK SHOW!!!, Little Beasts Gallery, Savannah, USA- 2011
Drawing Works, Alexander Gallery, Savannah, USA
AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- 2026
4-year Artist Basic grant, Mondriaan Fonds, Amsterdam, NL
Fellowship nomination, Günther-Peill-Stiftung, DE- 2024
ars viva-Preis shortlist, Der Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft, Berlin, DE
- 2025
Artist Project grant, Mondriaan Fonds, Amsterdam, NL
Krull Arbeitsstipendium honoree, Hans und Charlotte Krull Stiftung, Berlin, DE- 2023
DucatoPrize (finalist), Piacenza, Italy
- 2021
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (shortlist), London
- 2016
Royal Award for Modern Painting (shortlist), Royal Palace Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2015
Prix de Rome (Visual Arts nominee), The Mondriaan Fund, Netherlands
- 2012
Artistic Honors Scholarship, Savannah College of Art and Design, USA
RESIDENCIES
- 2026
SCAD Alumni Atelier Program, Savannah College of Art and Design, Lacoste, FR
- 2025
Open Studio Program, Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milano
- 2020
CTG ( R ): Romania, CTG Collective with Another Mobile Gallery, Bucharest
- 2019
CTG ( R ): Finland, CTG Collective at Serlachius Museums Residency, Mänttä
- 2018
CTG ( R ): Zimbabwe, CTG Collective in collaboration with Dzimbanhete Arts & Culture Interactions (DAI), Harare
- 2017
CTG ( R ): Zimbabwe, CTG Collective in collaboration with DAI, Harare
WOW Amsterdam, Netherlands- 2015
CTG ( R ): Zimbabwe CTG, Collective in collaboration with DAI, Harare