Portia Placino

Biography

Portia Placino is a curator and independent arts writer based in Manila, Philippines. She currently runs the JCB Gallery at the Philippine Women’s University. Her writing has appeared in ArtAsiaPacific, ArtReview, ArtSG, Art+ Magazine, Spot.ph, Esquire Philippines, and various local and international academic publications. She received the Ateneo Art Awards–Purita Kalaw Ledesma Prize for Art Criticism in 2021 and has been awarded writing and research residencies and grants in the Philippines, Germany, Korea, Belgium, and Singapore. Her work focuses on marginal and off-center art practices, including regional contemporary art, feminist perspectives, and sociopolitical critique. She examines the place of contemporary art in a society marked by precarity and struggle.

As curator of the JCB Gallery, Portia led its transition from student- and alumni-based shows to critically engaged and socially responsive programming. She presented Jomar Galutera’s politically charged White Elephant Project, addressing remnants of the dictatorship, and curated a posthumous exhibition of Brenda Fajardo’s prints and archives, exploring the contributions and challenges of women artists in a still male-dominated art world. For 2025, she initiated projects featuring Aze Ong’s experimental fiber installations and Veejay Villafranca’s documentary photography, among others. She believes institutional spaces—especially those free from market pressures—are crucial for fostering experimentation, discourse, and critical engagement. Continuing critical perspectives and practices expressed in her curatorial vision and projects remain key to growing both her practice and the space she runs.

Portia earned her BA in Art Studies from the University of the Philippines and completed her academic requirements for an MA in Art Studies (Art Theory and Criticism) at the same institution. She currently lectures at the Center for International Studies at UP Diliman and the School of Culture, Arts, and Performance at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde.

Portia Placino, Gallery Administrator and Curator at JCB Gallery, Philippine Women's University in Quezon City, Philippines, has been awarded by Fernando Zobel de Ayala.