Elmer Borlongan

Elmer Misa Borlongan (born January 7, 1967)

He rose to prominence as a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Thirteen Artist Awards in 1994, and his works have since become one of the most widely exhibited and most sought-after at auctions among Southeast Asian artists.

He is married to fellow artist Plet Bolipata.

Style When asked about his visual approach, Borlongan describes his style as figurative expressionism. and grew up in the Nueve de Pebrero area of Mandaluyong.

Recalling Sena's influence in a 2012 interview,

The following year, 1995, Borlongan agreed to serve as Artist-in-Residence at CASA San Miguel, San Antonio, Zambales. There, he met Plet Bolipata, whose brother, acclaimed violinist Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata, had founded the art center.

In 1996, he took up a posting as Artist-in-Residence in ARCUS Ibaraki, Japan.

Borlongan received a lot of exposure during the 1998 Philippine Centennial celebrations, notably being part of "At Home and Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists", a centennial celebration exhibit that opened first at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and then moved to the Houston Art Museum and the East-West Center Museum in Honolulu before finally closing at the Metropolitan Museum in Manila.

In the same year, Borlongan married Plet Bolipata, and the couple settled in the Borlongan family property in Mandaluyong.

Borlongan exhibited widely in the late 1990s and around the early 2000s, with shows in Tokyo, New York, Sydney, Singapore, Irvine, Brisbane, Honolulu, and Kuala Lumpur, among others.

Zambales period In 2002, the Borlongan couple decided to move from their residence in Nueve de Pebrero, Mandaluyong, and settled in San Antonio, Zambales.

Illustrator and designer Lisa Ito, writing in 2011 about this transition, notes: "In terms of style and subject matter, the transition from Manila to Zambales is evident to those who are familiar with his earlier works. There are subtle shifts, from urban to rural themes (as well as subjects treading the hazy line dividing these two in the Philippine context), as well as lighter tonal changes in his palette and the freeing up of background space compared to his earlier works."

Other activities While a student at the UPD, Borlongan was the guitarist for a rock band called Is It Safe?, playing punk-influenced sets in a bar in Malate.