In Bacolod, a city nestled in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, artist Charlie Co has spent the last two decades shaping and sustaining a community-centred vision of contemporary art. Both a celebrated painter and a co-founder of Orange Project—a grassroots art space dedicated to nurturing local talent—Co’s contributions have helped place Bacolod on the map of Southeast Asia’s independent art scenes. He is also a founding member of the seminal collective Black Artists in Asia and co-founder of VIVA ExCon, the Visayas-wide biennial that continues to champion regional artistic voices and critical exchange across the archipelago.

Recently, Co was invited to speak at Gathering, a conversation series hosted by Art Hub Copenhagen, bringing together founders of independent art spaces from across Asia. Representing both Orange Project and Art District, Co reflected on the importance of sustaining alternative art ecosystems outside of metropolitan centres. “It was a great opportunity to show the audience—mostly Scandinavians—that we at Orange Project are doing something significant and being noticed,” he shared. His conversation with AHC’s founder Jacob Fauricius underscored the shared challenges faced by artist-run spaces globally: “We differ in some aspects, yet we are the same in many.” The experience marked not just recognition from an international community, but a moment of resonance—an acknowledgment of the quiet perseverance of artist-led initiatives in places often overlooked.

His journey, marked by defiance, resilience, and unwavering creative conviction, began in a modest family home where expectations to join the family business were eventually overridden by his desire to paint, protest, and participate in global discourse through art. At the heart of Co’s practice—both in painting and in institution-building—is a refusal to forget. His canvases, often filled with fantastical imagery, masks, and spectral figures, are layered with memory and metaphor, weaving together personal, political, and cultural histories. As Orange Project celebrates its 20th anniversary, Co continues to navigate what it means to build something lasting—not only in art, but in community.

“I have stayed true to myself and my storytelling through my work, whether they have been inspired by personal experience or social commentaries.” – Charlie Co

CNTRFLD. Your upbringing in Bacolod City and the Visayas region has played a crucial role in shaping your artistic journey. How have your early years and heritage influenced your decision to become an artist?


CC. I come from a Filipino Chinese family. My father sailed from China alone at a tender age of 10 years old, escaping communist China. My parents started with nothing and worked through very hard times to build a successful furniture business in our hometown, Bacolod City. 
In elementary school in St. John’s Institute, a Chinese School, I think I was in 5th Grade, I was chosen to represent our school in an inter-school art competition. I drew a circus scene with clowns, despite never having been in a circus. I lost in that art competition. The following year in Grade 6, I was again chosen to represent our school in another art contest. Prepared with my art materials, I waited all day long, but I was never called to go to the contest. I asked my teacher what happened, and she replied: “We didn’t let you join because you are going to lose anyway”. I was crushed but that didn’t stop me from drawing and painting. That experience taught me resilience.

All four of my siblings contributed to our growing family business. As the youngest child, it was no surprise that my parents, like many Chinese parents, expected me to help with the business rather than pursue my passion. However, I rebelled against their wishes and decided to follow my dream of becoming an artist.

In the 1980’s my first exposure to contemporary art was because of our furniture business. My father had so many Interior Design and architectural magazines and books.

When I started painting, I would take photos and have them developed and I would cut them out and paste them on the pages, pretending that my paintings are on the walls of a living room in a magazine. Every time my father would see me drawing or making terracotta sculptures, I would be asked by my father to deliver furniture or collect payments from our business’ wealthy customers in Bacolod. Hung inside their homes were works of  famous Filipino artists, like Juvenal Sanso, Manansala, HR Ocampo, Ang Kiukok and many others and I enjoyed looking at the works.

In 1980, I enrolled in La Consolacion College in Bacolod to study Fine Arts. There I met senior artist Nunelucio Alvarado, founder of Pamilya Pintura - a school-based artist group that I eventually joined. Pamilya Pintura somehow shaped my creative process. It was a fearless group, experimental and community based.

We mounted exhibitions with themes that matter. It also made me develop my character as an artist because this was where I learned to be stubborn and firm to what I wanted to create. I then knew that to become an artist, it was going to be a very long and difficult journey.

Venturing out on my own while I studied briefly in Manila, I would spend my free time visiting galleries, and I wondered: How would I survive as an artist when I was just starting and there are hundreds of artists with exceptional skills who are much better than me. 
I mounted my first one-man show in 1983 in Bacolod. Shortly after, I came to know Bobi Valenzuela at the Hiraya Gallery, and he became one of the very first mentors in my artistic career.

In 1990, I received the prestigious 13 Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I presented the trophy to my ailing father, and from that moment on, he encouraged the rest of the family to support my chosen career. Unfortunately, shortly after that, my father passed away.

Looking back, I believe that my parents’ initial disapproval of my artistic ambitions only strengthened my determination to follow my passion.

CNTRFLD. You co-founded Black Artists of Asia (BAA) in the 1980s. What motivated you to establish this collective, and how did it shape your artistic identity and approach to socio-political themes?

CC. Even in my elementary and high school years, I was already engrossed in social studies. I would draw war scenes, conflicts and current events. My interest in this subject matter all the more strengthened when I joined Pamilya Pintura.

BAA was initiated by Norberto Roldan, then very active as a left-leaning activist artist of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines - Negros chapter. However, even before BAA was founded, my works already had socio-political inclinations and being in BAA did not exactly shape my being known as one of the social realist contemporary artists in the 1980s. I was already deeply engaged and recorded the things what was happening in the political scenes in the Philippines and the world that affected me emotionally through my art. 


BAA never really expanded or developed as a group. The name is only mentioned and attached to each of the member’s individual profiles when we have solo exhibitions. It has not been active for decades now as we had gone our separate ways in our careers. Moreover, the belief I had in mind from its inception became a fallacy when Norberto Roldan revealed not just to me but to several people present at a VIVA ExCon meeting in 2023 that BAA was only created at that time to give a legitimate name to the group, he founded to be part of a leftist group. He had a different agenda from the beginning in contrast to what we, the other members, were made to believe. And to be honest, he had already created the name BAA when I was informed that I was part of it. 

As far as my career is concerned, I have found my own style as an expressionist, surrealist and socio-realist from the very beginning of my artistic journey. 



CNTRFLD. Your work often reflects deep social and political awareness. What issues or events have most influenced your art over the years, and how do you perceive your role as an artist in society?

CC. As mentioned above, I just painted what was happening around me. I get very absorbed in current events, whether having experienced them personally or from watching the news on television and the newspapers. From these, I get my own vision that it deeply reflects on my work through my iconography. I become not just a bystander but a social commentator in my artworks. A Japanese curator Ben Misuzawa once wrote that I (was) am a chronicler of time. I believe this is so, but it also deeply involves strong emotions and sensibility from within, physically and mentally. Wars have never changed, even from the olden times up to the present, even getting worse. I get to question myself why do we, as human beings, never learn from our mistakes, and why do these conflicts never change. Why do we have to suffer because of greed and selfishness of a few — all because of politics. I have been to many museums in many parts of the world, and I saw hundreds of paintings showing war and conflict from the ancient times to the present. Although the background and era change, war is still constant.

CNTRFLD. Expressionism, surrealism, and socio-realism have been constant elements in your work. How have your themes and mediums evolved throughout your career, and what drives your artistic choices today?


CC. For four decades I work every day, honing my style… and each day for me is a learning process. I have learned to experiment with my medium, putting every ounce of my energy into it. Up until 2013, I have been using oil paint in my paintings, but I had to switch to acrylic paint when I underwent kidney transplant in 2014, upon doctors’ advice because it was safer for me. I also dwell in pen and ink, oil pastels on paper, terracotta sculptures, mixed media and public art. In the past 10 years, I have been also using modelling paste in my artworks. The stronger my subject matter is, the more intense my strokes become. 


I have been painting most of my life, 40 years this year to be exact. I’d like to say, I have stayed true to myself and my story telling through my work, whether they have been inspired by a personal experience or social commentaries. My work may be dream-like but exudes a lot of satire in them - giving the viewers hints of answers to their questions, a sense of reality of the world around us.
In 1988, in a group show in Sydney, Australia, a writer wrote an article about my work and these exact three definitions: expressionism, surrealism and socio-realism were used to describe my art. So yes, these best describe my art.

CNTRFLD. Orange Project has become a thriving hub for contemporary art in Bacolod. What inspired you to establish it, and how do you see it contributing to the local art community beyond Manila’s mainstream art scene?



CC. Orange Project is the result of a simple dream shared by two individuals—Ben (Bong) Lopue III and myself. Our partnership may have started in an unusual way, but in many ways, it is close to perfect as far as running Orange Project is concerned yet still work in progress. Back then, Bacolod only had a handful of art spaces. Artists exhibited their works in hotel lobbies, restaurants, and small galleries. One of my hopes then was to have a proper gallery for local artists to exhibit their work.

Bong, who is 17 years younger than me, had been assigned by his parents to build commercial spaces in their family-owned complex, Lopue’s Mandalagan. We met by chance at a gas station, and he proposed the idea of opening a gallery together as partners. By sheer serendipity, we realized we both had the same vision and passion.

In 2005, we opened Orange Gallery in a 60-square-meter space in one of the spaces his buildings. Since then, we’ve held at least 10 exhibitions a year and expanded to several areas in the complex. In 2018, Bong built the largest contemporary art space in Bacolod, which we renamed Orange Project. The space has since attracted not only local artists but also artists from mainstream Manila and other art groups both locally and internationally. 
With the help of our lean but dedicated gallery team, we’ve expanded our reach through collaborative efforts, artist residencies, and exchange programs. Through these initiatives, we’ve not only brought contemporary art to our local community for them to experience and appreciate, but we’ve also shown the world what our local art community is capable of.

I’m proud to say that whenever people in the Philippine art world mention Negros or Bacolod, they always acknowledge the strength of our art community. It has also inspired many artist-run spaces outside of Manila, that it is possible to create an artist hub in their own region.

CNTRFLD. VIVA EXCON, which you helped initiate, is the longest-running biennial in the Philippines. What do you think makes it a vital platform for artists in the Visayas, and how has it evolved since its inception?

CC. In the more than 30 years of its existence, I have only missed one VIVA ExCon, which was held in Roxas City in 2023 when I had to be in Leipzig, Germany for a group artist residency which Orange Project initiated. I have always believed in the main goal of VIVA when I co- founded it with Norberto Roldan, Nunelucio Alvarado and Dennis Ascalon, which was to bridge the islands of the Visayas so that we may have a voice in the art community in our country. Back then in the early 90’s, there was obviously no social media yet and networking was difficult. And, even to this day, it is still equally hard - logistics and travel-wise, since geographically, the Visayas is separated by water. Despite this, artists are still eager to attend the biennial by way of land, sea and air. In its early years, we already established network with Baguio artists and Japanese artists as well. In the past 10 Vivas or so, the platform has widened its reach to curators and art groups from local and international institutions. Thus, bringing the art world closer to the Visayas. Viva, for me, is not just about exhibitions and conferences. It is about inspiring, camaraderie, collaborations, sharing and establishing long term friendships and giving voices to many Visayan artists outside of Manila.

It has proved true for me, because the people who attended the first few Vivas, who were students and young budding artists like me then, have now become established artists, professors and long-time friends. They continue to volunteer their time to help organize and raise funds for the succeeding ExCons. Paying it forward, they now bring their students to attend VIVA. 
I believe the uniqueness of VIVA EXcon that sets it apart from other art festivals is that it moves from one Visayan Island to another. The island groups get to bid to host the next viva ExCon, and each Viva is unique in its own way, mainly because the island host has their own infrastructure, facilities, culture and heritage. 


CNTRFLD. Your recent works in System Corrupted are visually intense, tackling themes of mortality, crisis, and chaos. Can you share more about this series and how personal and global events have shaped its creation?

CC. System Corrupted is part of my trilogy vision. The first exhibition was Guerra Guerra in 2016 held at the Manila House, which was about the wars from Allepo, Syria to the wars in Mindanao, Philippines. The second series was System Corrupt in 2022 and the third is On Our Watch, which was exhibited at the Art Fair Philippines this year 2025. 
These three exhibitions are the result of my visions that I have honed and practiced as an artist for 40 years. Art critics say I am a visionary, and it may be true. My art comes to me in a vision, and, for me, it is timeless.

System Corrupt is about survival. Surviving the Covid 19 pandemic, global war and the local elections. My works in this exhibition are political in nature and portray my vision on how I see the world. Some relate to our religious faith. As in the main piece The World Gone Mad, an 8 feet x 20 feet diptych mixed media painting, reveals our chaotic world when the covid pandemic hit us globally. The world has lost its perspective. All this time we thought there were no more boundaries in our modern times. But when the pandemic happened, it turned out there were indeed boundaries. We had to cross borders with heavily guarded soldiers just to cross from one city to another. We were not allowed to sit or stand close to another person. Covid 19 turned our world upside down. And yet, when the world opened up again after more than two years, a war erupted once again between Israel and Palestine, followed by the war between Ukraine and Russia. Thus, the exhibition “On Our Watch”.

The exhibition “On Our Watch” Is a reminder for us that the events that affect us globally is happening on our watch.  With our current technology, we see conflict and war happening before our very eyes and it greatly affects the world’s economy and our personal lives.

CNTRFLD. Your paintings often blend allegory with raw social commentary. What is your process for developing these layered narratives, and how do you balance personal expression with broader societal concerns?


CC. Whenever I am deeply and emotionally affected by something, I cannot help myself but to bring it out through my work. Suffice it to say, expressing it through my works helps me maintain my sanity. As an artist, I’ve always had my two worlds: the whimsical world and the dark world. But these two sides both contain my own symbolism and iconography, something many would not understand at first glance but would later connect the imageries that make up one whole story. 



CNTRFLD. Having exhibited across Asia, Australia, Brazil, and beyond, how do you see Filipino contemporary art being received internationally? What challenges or opportunities do you think exist for artists from the Philippines?

CC. I believe Philippine art has very good, if not exceptional, artists. In the recent years, Filipino artists, though not that many, have been making waves in the international art scene. Each of these artists have their own process of making their way out there and maybe, that has also paved the way for the international interest in Filipino artists and their story- telling through paintings, sculptures, video, installations and performances. Even in in Southeast Asia, Filipino art stands out. Hopefully globally as well.

CNTRFLD. For aspiring artists, what advice would you give on sustaining an art practice and navigating the art world while staying true to their vision?

CC. Persevere and be patient. Success is not achieved overnight. Once you've found your style and your own identity, keep working at it. There will be challenges and frustrations along the way—lots of them—so don't let them discourage you. Instead, view them as lessons learned.

Don’t create art simply because there’s a monetary prize waiting in an art competition. Don’t be tempted to mimic another artist's style just because it won them a prize. And never let auctions dictate your view of art—auctions are not the measure of good or bad art in the Philippines.

About the artist.

CHARLIE CO is a dedicated and incisive artist, recognised for his unique ability to translate his experiences into compelling visual narratives. He masterfully captures his life, surroundings, and the world through his art, creating vibrant canvases abundantly imbued with allegories and symbols. His art gracefully balances personal and socio-political themes, showcasing the sensitivity and sensibility of a true artistic visionary.

Charlie Co has held over 40 solo exhibitions across the past four decades, showcasing his work in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, and the Philippines. His notable awards include the CCP Thirteen Artists Award (1990), the Juror's Choice Award at the Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards (1999), the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan (Pintura, 2003), and the Dr. Jose Rizal Award for Excellence (2007). Charlie has represented the Philippines in significant regional exhibitions, such as the 23rd São Paulo Biennale (Brazil) and the 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial (Australia) in 1996, and the "Asian Modernism" traveling exhibition in Tokyo Japan in 1995. His work is also in some of the most prominent private and public art collections around the world, including the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, the Singapore Art Museum, the Queensland Art Gallery in Australia, the Metropolitan Museum and Lopez Museum in Manila, and the BenCab Museum in Baguio City, Philippines.  In 2005, Charlie Co and businessman-artist Victor Benjamin Lopue Ill founded Gallery Orange, the first professionally managed space in Bacolod City focused on showcasing and supporting emerging Visayan visual artists. Now known as the Orange Project, it continues to offer a vibrant platform for innovative creative developments and impactful artistic presentations.  Charlie is also a key figure in the founding of the Visayan Visual Art Exhibition and Conference or VIVA ExCon, in 1990, which is considered the longest-running biennial in Southeast Asia.

Note: The artist’s statement references the global reopening after the pandemic. To clarify, the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, and the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated in 2023