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.
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Education
- 2019
- MFA in Fine Art, Goldsmiths, London, England
- 2012
- BFA in Painting and Animation, Magna Cum Laude, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, USA
- 2008
- Bilingual International Baccalaureate Diploma, St.Clare’s, Oxford, England
Solo Exhibitions
- 2026
- [Title TBD], Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, Bucharest (Forthcomig)
- 2024
- Tetris effect, Catinca Tabacaru, Art Basel Paris, FR
Love is not a maybe thing, Efremidis, Berlin
- 2023
- I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again, Alice Amati, London
- 2022
- What if the tongue is cut out?, Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries, with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery
- 2020
- Ți-a ieșit iepurele în cale, Another Mobile Gallery, Bucharest
Faya Lobi, Praz Delavallade, Paris
Wan Destination Wanhoop, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA; Curator: Ben Tollefson
- 2019
- MFA, Goldsmiths, London
Opportunity Cost, Praz Delavallade, Los Angeles
- 2018
- Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Drawing Now, Paris
als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn” (if the whole body were an ear), Readytex Art Gallery, Surinam
The Future Looms Dark and That We Can Scarcely, Barbé Urbain, Gent, Belgium
- 2017
- TNF with Xavier Robles de Medina, Readytex Art Gallery, Surinam
If you dream of your tongue, beware, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York
- 2012
- Atelo, Little Beasts Gallery, Savannah, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2026
- Access All Areas, curated by Matthias Sohr, Xippas Geneva
- 2025
- Srefidensi – Suriname Vrij! Symbols of 50 Years of Surinamese Independence, curated by Vincent Van Velsen, Framer Framed
Wi Sranan, curated by Noukhey Forster, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen
The Third Space, Curated by 2nd World, presented by Galeria Catinca Tabacaru; Collateral Exhibition to the 6th Art Encounters Biennial; French Institute, Timisoara
- 2024
- Veils of Impermanence, Gossamer Fog, London, UK (curated by Samuel Capps)
BPA// Exhibition 2024: Half-Light, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (Forthcoming)
Sowing Watermelon Seeds, CBN, Lagos Nigeria (curators: Sinazo Chiya,Raphael Guilbert, Olukemi Lijadu, Sarah Lorentzen, Tushar Hathiramani)
Currency Exchange, BPA// Raum, Berlin; Curator: Zhiyuan Yang
- 2023
- State of Emergence, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, NADA East Broadway, New York; Curators: Lesia Kulchynska and Catinca Tabacaru
DucatoPrize 5 Finalists in Contemporary, Piacenza
Biographicality, Efremidis, Berlin
Capture Change, nouveaux deuxdeux, Munich
Party in the Blitz, Mamoth, London
- 2022
- Manifestatie 1980–1989: Surinaamse verhalen van vreugde en verdriet, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR (co-curated w/ Miguel Keerveld)
Trust in Mortals, Brigade, Copenhagen
NADA Curated: Reduction to Satire (Reductio ad Satura), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, The New Art Dealers Alliance (curated by Fatoş Üstek; online)
The Palliative Turn, Künstlerhaus Bremen; Curated by Nadja Quante in close collaboration with Kasia Fudakowski and Olav Westphalen
Ĩ’NDAFFA FORGER / OUT OF THE FIRE, 14th Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal; Curators: Dr El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Delphine Buysse, and Anna Karima Wane
An Evening On The Palliative Turn hosted by Kasia Fudakowski, Pogo Bar, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Curator: Sofie Krogh Christensen
- 2021
- Udubaki, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam
Dionysia, No Man’s Art Gallery, Amsterdam
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
The Palliative Turn, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam, Germany; Curator: Olav Westphalen
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, Bucharest; Curator: Luís Manuel Araújo
Group exhibition, M. LeBlanc, Chicago
- 2020
- CTG Collective: The Berry Eaters, Catinca Tabacaru, New York
- 2019
- General Meeting, Freehouse, London; Curated by Darren Flook and Nancy Hatcher
The Sound of Silence, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles
ZWRT, Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent
Metabolic Museum University, 33rd Ljubliana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubliana, SI (devised by Clémentine Deliss)
- 2018
- CTG-R: Zimbabwe, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe
Material, Cob Gallery, London, UK
From Shape to Form, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, USA (curator: Jon Seals)
Jubileum Expo: 25 Jaar Readytex Art Gallery, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam
- 2017
- While Meditating on War, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam; Curator: Ronit Eden
X-C: Transference Between Neighbors, (with Clément Carat), WOW International, Amsterdam
- 2016
- Exhibition of the IAOCA, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
Zig Zag Zim, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, ZI (catalogue); Curated by Catinca Tabacaru
Zig Zag Zim part II, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, New York
25 Years Contemporary Art in Suriname, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam; Curator: Sasha Dees
- 2015
- Fictions and Constructions, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, NY
- 2014
- It Begins on Paper, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, NY
- 2013
- Ever Ours, Beethoven Festival: LOVE 2013, Chicago; curator: Catinca Tabacaru
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
- 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
- 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
Xavier Robles de Medina
Anton de Kom photographed by Piet Zwart, 1933, 2025
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, object nr. 1987.1.1599, oil on wood 36 × 24 cm
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, object nr. 1987.1.1599, oil on wood 36 × 24 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Luigi Mangione is charged with murder as an act of terrorism in CEO’s death, NPR, 17 December 2024, 2025
Colour pencil on paper, 14 × 21 cm (framed 27 × 34 cm)
Colour pencil on paper, 14 × 21 cm (framed 27 × 34 cm)
Xavier Robles de Medina
Argh!, 2023-2024
graphite on paper, paper size 40 × 30 cm | drawing size 35 × 25 cm
graphite on paper, paper size 40 × 30 cm | drawing size 35 × 25 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Aaliyah Queen of the Damned. Directed by Michael Rymer, Warner Bros.Pictures, 2002, 2023-2024
Acrylic on wood 83 × 74 cm
Acrylic on wood 83 × 74 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Removal of the statue of Queen Wilhelmina from Independence Square, Paramaribo, Suriname. 1975. right: visual artist Stuart Robles de Medina. Stichting Surinaams Museum. Archive nr. 20–162, 2024
Installation view at Efremidis, Berlin
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Installation view at Efremidis, Berlin
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Xavier Robles de Medina
Removal of the statue of Queen Wilhelmina from Independence Square, Paramaribo, Suriname. 1975. right: visual artist Stuart Robles de Medina. Stichting Surinaams Museum. Archive nr. 20–162, 2024
Detail
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Detail
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Xavier Robles de Medina
Installation view: Metropolis, Mamoth Gallery, London UK, 2022
Xavier Robles de Medina
Removal of the statue of Queen Wilhelmina (Gerard van Lom) from Independence Square, Paramaribo, Suriname. 1975. right: visual artist Stuart Robles de Medina. (source: Stichting Surinaams Museum, archive nr: 20–162), 2019–2020
Graphite on paper 23 × 20 cm
Graphite on paper 23 × 20 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), Walt Disney Productions, 1937, 2023
patinated bronze relief 24 × 32 × 10 cm
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
patinated bronze relief 24 × 32 × 10 cm
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Installation View: 15th century Chan Chan mass grave discovered in Peru, Live Science, 17 November 2021, Efremidis, Berlin, 2022
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza
Marina Ovsyannikova disrupts live TV broadcast with antiwar protest, Vremya, Channel One Russia, 14 March 2022, 2023,
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Gorillas in the Mountains of Southern Nigeria: World’s rarest great ape pictured with babies, BBC News, 9 July 2020, 2022
Acrylic on wood 114 × 200 cm
Acrylic on wood 114 × 200 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Xavier Robles de Medina’s presentation with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery at Art Basel Hong Kong Discoveries 1C31
Xavier Robles de Medina
Untitled (dress to protest), 2022
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 30 in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2021
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Photo: Sascia Reibel, Shortnotice Studio
Acrylic on wood
56 × 43 cm
Photo: Sascia Reibel, Shortnotice Studio
Xavier Robles de Medina
Harappa joint burial site, Haryana, India. 2500 BC. (source: Vasant Shinde)—repeated earthen plate,
2019–2020, graphite on paper, 37 × 34 cm (incl. border)
2019–2020, graphite on paper, 37 × 34 cm (incl. border)
Xavier Robles de Medina
Cult Value, 2018, graphite and plaster, 15 × 12 × 4 in | 40 × 30 × 11 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
In the realm of translation, 2018, graphite and plaster, Edition of 4, 44 × 33 × 8 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
en het donker duurde een volle nacht, 2016, graphite on paper, 13.5 × 16.5 in | 34 x 42 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
The end of the night, 2017, chromatic ink paper, 17 × 14 in | 43 × 35.5 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
In de Branding, 2014, graphite on paper, 8 × 12 in | 20 × 30 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
I saw red and reacted (releasing his vitality to the sea), 2016, graphite on paper, 17 × 14 in | 43 × 35 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Court upholds ED poll victory, 2018
woodbox, plexi, newspaper dated: August 25, 2018
24 × 17 in
Xavier Robles de Medina
Sans titre II (assemblage d’objets de Musekiwa réinterprétés dans l’espace), 2017, graphite on paper, 16 × 12 | 40 × 30 cm
Xavier Robles de Medina
Nharira Cave II (Zimbabwe), 2015, chromatic ink pen on paper, 11 × 7.5 in | 28 × 19 cm
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.
Education
- 2019
- MFA in Fine Art, Goldsmiths, London, England
- 2012
- BFA in Painting and Animation, Magna Cum Laude, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Savannah, USA
- 2008
- Bilingual International Baccalaureate Diploma, St.Clare’s, Oxford, England
Solo Exhibitions
- 2026
- [Title TBD], Galeria Catinca Tabacaru, Bucharest (Forthcomig)
- 2024
- Tetris effect, Catinca Tabacaru, Art Basel Paris, FR
Love is not a maybe thing, Efremidis, Berlin
- 2023
- I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again, Alice Amati, London
- 2022
- What if the tongue is cut out?, Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries, with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery
- 2020
- Ți-a ieșit iepurele în cale, Another Mobile Gallery, Bucharest
Faya Lobi, Praz Delavallade, Paris
Wan Destination Wanhoop, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA; Curator: Ben Tollefson
- 2019
- MFA, Goldsmiths, London
Opportunity Cost, Praz Delavallade, Los Angeles
- 2018
- Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Drawing Now, Paris
als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn” (if the whole body were an ear), Readytex Art Gallery, Surinam
The Future Looms Dark and That We Can Scarcely, Barbé Urbain, Gent, Belgium
- 2017
- TNF with Xavier Robles de Medina, Readytex Art Gallery, Surinam
If you dream of your tongue, beware, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York
- 2012
- Atelo, Little Beasts Gallery, Savannah, USA
Selected Group Exhibitions
- 2026
- Access All Areas, curated by Matthias Sohr, Xippas Geneva
- 2025
- Srefidensi – Suriname Vrij! Symbols of 50 Years of Surinamese Independence, curated by Vincent Van Velsen, Framer Framed
Wi Sranan, curated by Noukhey Forster, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen
The Third Space, Curated by 2nd World, presented by Galeria Catinca Tabacaru; Collateral Exhibition to the 6th Art Encounters Biennial; French Institute, Timisoara
- 2024
- Veils of Impermanence, Gossamer Fog, London, UK (curated by Samuel Capps)
BPA// Exhibition 2024: Half-Light, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (Forthcoming)
Sowing Watermelon Seeds, CBN, Lagos Nigeria (curators: Sinazo Chiya,Raphael Guilbert, Olukemi Lijadu, Sarah Lorentzen, Tushar Hathiramani)
Currency Exchange, BPA// Raum, Berlin; Curator: Zhiyuan Yang
- 2023
- State of Emergence, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, NADA East Broadway, New York; Curators: Lesia Kulchynska and Catinca Tabacaru
DucatoPrize 5 Finalists in Contemporary, Piacenza
Biographicality, Efremidis, Berlin
Capture Change, nouveaux deuxdeux, Munich
Party in the Blitz, Mamoth, London
- 2022
- Manifestatie 1980–1989: Surinaamse verhalen van vreugde en verdriet, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, SR (co-curated w/ Miguel Keerveld)
Trust in Mortals, Brigade, Copenhagen
NADA Curated: Reduction to Satire (Reductio ad Satura), Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, The New Art Dealers Alliance (curated by Fatoş Üstek; online)
The Palliative Turn, Künstlerhaus Bremen; Curated by Nadja Quante in close collaboration with Kasia Fudakowski and Olav Westphalen
Ĩ’NDAFFA FORGER / OUT OF THE FIRE, 14th Dakar Biennale, Dakar, Senegal; Curators: Dr El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Delphine Buysse, and Anna Karima Wane
An Evening On The Palliative Turn hosted by Kasia Fudakowski, Pogo Bar, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Curator: Sofie Krogh Christensen
- 2021
- Udubaki, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam
Dionysia, No Man’s Art Gallery, Amsterdam
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
The Palliative Turn, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam, Germany; Curator: Olav Westphalen
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, Bucharest; Curator: Luís Manuel Araújo
Group exhibition, M. LeBlanc, Chicago
- 2020
- CTG Collective: The Berry Eaters, Catinca Tabacaru, New York
- 2019
- General Meeting, Freehouse, London; Curated by Darren Flook and Nancy Hatcher
The Sound of Silence, Praz-Delavallade, Los Angeles
ZWRT, Barbé Urbain Gallery, Ghent
Metabolic Museum University, 33rd Ljubliana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubliana, SI (devised by Clémentine Deliss)
- 2018
- CTG-R: Zimbabwe, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, Harare, Zimbabwe
Material, Cob Gallery, London, UK
From Shape to Form, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, USA (curator: Jon Seals)
Jubileum Expo: 25 Jaar Readytex Art Gallery, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam
- 2017
- While Meditating on War, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam; Curator: Ronit Eden
X-C: Transference Between Neighbors, (with Clément Carat), WOW International, Amsterdam
- 2016
- Exhibition of the IAOCA, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
Zig Zag Zim, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, ZI (catalogue); Curated by Catinca Tabacaru
Zig Zag Zim part II, Catinca Tabacaru Gallery, New York, New York
25 Years Contemporary Art in Suriname, Readytex Art Gallery, Paramaribo, Surinam; Curator: Sasha Dees
- 2015
- Fictions and Constructions, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, NY
- 2014
- It Begins on Paper, Catinca Tabacaru, New York, NY
- 2013
- Ever Ours, Beethoven Festival: LOVE 2013, Chicago; curator: Catinca Tabacaru
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
- 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
- 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