BIOGRAPHY

M a r i a   L o b o


Born and raised in Hong Kong, Maria Lobo's art training took her to Italy, Spain and the USA.  Studying at the University of Santa Clara and the San Francisco Art Institute, she gained degrees in Fine Art and Painting in 1985. Having been part of the San Francisco Hunters Point artists' community, Maria returned to Hong Kong in 1994 and now spends her time between Vancouver and Hong Kong. She frequently exhibits her work in the US, Canada and Hong Kong. Maria looks to her heritage for inspiration. Her work is "East Meets West" in both imagery and technique, reflecting her multi-cultural background as well as the East/West environment in which she lives.

About her new collection "Love Knots", she states: "My inspiration for this work is Asian Calligraphy but I am trying to work now in a more playful way, from my heart, not so much from my head. The strokes are looser now. I am using the idea of calligraphy as pure pattern and abstract shapes. I am not interested in any words or any meaning, just the forms that are created or the fragments of the characters that make interesting forms. Patterning and use of negative space have always been part of my visual vocabulary, as well as the East-West influence, which is ever present. I have also always used a sense of pattern, symmetry and balance in all my abstract work, since 1999. This tends to give me a sense of "order on chaos" or "organizing the abstraction". By using the grid system here, I am doing the same, with a color palette including reds, blacks, earthy tones and neutrals, with some metallic."

 

Education and Background
1993-1994
Graduate Studies in Advanced Painting, San Francisco Art Institute, USA
San Francisco City College Artists' Critique Seminars, Fort Mason, San Francisco, USA

1987-1989
Independent Study, Barcelona, Spain

1985
BFA, University of Santa Clara, California, USA

1983-1984
Art history and Painting, Loyola University of Chicago, Rome Center, Rome, Italy


Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008
"Love Knot", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong

2006
"Circular", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
Maria Lobo Eclipse Series, Soly Luna, Hong Kong

2005
"Layered Heritage", Gateway Theatre, Vancouver, Canada

2004
"East Meets West", Fiction Five, North Vancouver, Canada
"Maria Lobo", Chouinard Gallery, Chicago, USA

2003
MTRC Project Installation, Tseung Kwan O station, Hong Kong

2002
"HK/NY", Plum Blossoms Gallery, New York, USA
"Maria Lobo", Chouinard Gallery, Chicago, USA

2001
Layers Of Life, Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong.

2000
Maria Lobo Open Studio 2000, Artist’s Studio, Hong Kong.


Selected Group Exhibitions
2009
"REACH FOR THE HEART", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong

2008
"Tribes", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong

2007
"Art Summer", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
"40 Plus, 40 Minus", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
Woman, Arlene Lachman Gallery, Panama City, Panama

2006
"Princeton in Asia", Angel Orensanz Ctr. for the Arts, New York, USA
Watchdog Annual Fund, The Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong
"Art Saturdays", Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong

2005
"A Changed Perspective", Maria Lobo and Andrew Chan, Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong
Watchdog Annual Fund, The Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong       
"Totally Manipulated : Digital Art Today", CityScape, North Vancouver, Canada
"Maria Lobo and Dafine Blanco", Studio 2, Vancouver, Canada
"Art by Asian Women", Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, USA
"Art in the Garden", North Vancouver Arts Council, Vancouver, Canada
"Explore Asian Heritage", The Roundhouse, Vancouver, Canada
"Through the Kaleidoscope", Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong

2003
"Hong Kong Cyberport Summer Show", Hong Kong
"Watchdog Annual Fund", The Aberdeen Marina Club, Hong Kong

2003
"Traditions: the Blessing and the Curse", Invitational, Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, USA
"6th International Show", Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, USA
"Small Works Great Thought", Plum Blossoms Gallery, Hong Kong
"In Celebration of Art: Hong Kong Arts Centre 25th Anniversary Exhibition", Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
"Watchdog Annual Fund", Invitational Show, Hong Kong
"Import/Export", Womanmade Gallery, Chicago, USA

2000
Galerie Martini, Salon D’hiver 3, Hong Kong


Public Commission
2003
Layers of Tradition, 7 ft x 40 ft mural.
HK Mass Transit Railway Corporation, Tsueng Kwan O, Hong Kong


Corporate Commissions
Crown Hotel, Macau, China
Shangri-la Hotel, Shanghai, China
MGM Grand Hotel, Macau
Four Seasons Hotel, Hangzhou, China
Glaxy Hotel, Macau, China