Maria Madonna Davidoff

Multi-cultural artist Maria Madonna Davidoff was born in the Philippines but has lived and exhibited in Europe, Asia and the United States. She studied printmaking and painting at The Art Students League of New York, Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Manila, and traditional batik painting in Bali, Indonesia. She is currently based in New York and Singapore.

Her Selected group and solo exhibitions includes the FusionArts Museum in New York city, Cedar Ridge Gallery in Toronto, Canada, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum in Japan, GSIS Museum in Manila, The Museum of the Americas in Florida, The Museum of Art and History, in Fribourg, Switzerland, the New Delhi F.A.C Society Gallery in India, Visconti Gallery in Paris, France, and the Mesnerhaus Gallery in Tirol, Austria.

The Swiss Consulate Cultural Section of New York, features Maria Madonna Davidoff regularly in their Swiss Events Series and she is also often listed with the Asian American Arts Alliance calendar of events in New York City.
She was included in books entitled: Fragments of Young Swiss Art published by UBS of Switzerland and also
Filipino-Americans in Our Midst published in the United States.

Her works were also presented during the symposium on The History of Philippine-American Art at Montclair State University and was a guest lecturer/visiting artist at the Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

She was invited to participate and exhibit as guest artist in Langenfeld, Austria for the Austrian International Art Symposium called Between Worlds, Between Borders, 2005.

Maria Madonna Davidoff has been reviewed by a Washington Post art critic who wrote, ”Of the thirty three works on view at the Foundry Gallery, I liked Maria Madonna Davidoff’s mix-media scrolls…”

Aside from being a fine artist, she is also an award-winning book cover illustrator and her artworks have been published in books, magazines and major newspapers.

Her website is: www.madonnaart.com

ARTIST STATEMENT
Being a multi cultural artist who has lived and traveled in 3 different continents in the world definitely affected my work. Thus, my paintings and prints are based on personal as well as universal icons. The word icon may mean an image, a representation, a simile or symbol. Icons are very much a part of our present world. It has been used since pre-historic time and we are still being influenced by it.

In my latest mix media “Scroll” series, I try to develop art that is both lyrical and portable, a reflection of the nomadic nature of one who is constantly on the move. Recognizing this sense of displacement, I never really belong anywhere, and so I try to create my own cultural space wherever I find myself. It is a way for me as an artist to make sense of things around me. Thus, creating the scrolls make perfect sense since these banner-like images are "transportable" just like myself. The scrolls can easily be rolled up and carried around and like myself, could be reinvented, able to adapt and survive. My motivation in creating works of art stems from my enjoyment in expressing myself and exposure to different cultures continues to inspire me in so many ways, I have acquired a more global perspective on the symbols and images in art. I've also come to realize that symbols and icons all over the world speak of the universal themes of fear, joy, hope, pain, and celebration. I believe that we are one collective eye sharing a single planet.