Michael Vincent Manalo is a self-taught digital mixed media artist, a photographer, photo-manipulator and a musician from the Philippines. His works have won several notable awards such as the First Prize in the Digital Art Category given by the Art Museum of Chianciano Terme in Italy, a First Place Award by the Box Heart Gallery in the USA, Best Photography Illustration from The Redmond Digital Arts Festival and a special recognition from the Upstream People Gallery. He has exhibited in several galleries and museums in Australia, Germany, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Great Britain and the USA. He has been featured in several magazines as well such as Blanket, KISMET Magazine, Stone, Carpaccio, Fotoblur, Bayou and Advanced Photoshop amongst others. He has created various artworks as album covers for international bands/musicians such as Presto Ballet, Michael Samson, Shahin Shahida, Sadistik and many others. At present, Manalo is working with both government organizations and NGOs in the Philippines in creating art programs and festivals which will raise cultural awareness towards contemporary art and music. He is currently a coordinator for the Caibaan Art Dwelling in Philippines which works in cooperation with The Bildetage Gallery in Austria. He also is curating a show for the Artlimits Gallery in Istanbul and serving as a jury member for the Benin International Award for Contemprary Art in Nigeria.
His work often revolves around themes of surrealism, pseudo-realism, nostalgia and emotions. In the short series, The Lost Ones, Manalo features explorations of cities in ruins, civilization back to its roots, families torn apart, children wandering streets on their own and new notions of home and memory which can serve as a beacon of hope for survivors of great catastrophe. His aim is to depict in the aftermaths of war in a tone that is gritty but nostalgic at the same time.
