biography Chito Salarza was born in Mindanao in the Philippines. He started painting seriously when he moved to Saudi Arabia in his twenties, taking as his starting point the folklore of the country, with its rich historical culture, expressing this in his paintings through bright, vibrant colours. Chito lives and works in London; although a self-taught artist, he has studied at Westminster College for his City and Guilds qualification in Life Drawing, Central St Martins for Mixed Media Painting, Kensington & Chelsea College for Picture Framing and Gilding, and Morley College for Printmaking. He exhibited at the first ‘Affordable Art Fair’ in Battersea Park, the Air Gallery in Dover Street, and at the Royal College of Art as a finalist in the Red Bull ‘Stimulation Arts 2000’ competition. In 2004 his etching Duckling’s Dilemma was accepted for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, where it won the British Institution Award. He holds regular exhibitions in different London venues. Chito was accepted to exhibit at the 2006 Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, and at the 2006 Great Art Fair, where he showed, for the first time, both his earliest works (mainly oil paintings) and a selection of his recent work. For the latter he has developed a technique using bottle tops and glue stick on board, as a canvas. His respect for the environment is paramount, hence his use of recycled materials wherever possible. He works in diverse and mixed mediums, favouring originality and inventiveness over artistic conventionality. education 2005 - Kensington & Chelsea College, London: Picture Framing and Gilding 2003 to present - Morley College, London: Printmaking 2002 - Central St Martins, London: Mixed Media Painting 2001 - Westminster College, London: City & Guilds in Life Drawing 1987 to 1989 - Interface Computer Institute, Manila, Philippines: Computer Programming 1982 to 1985 - Mindanao State University, Iligan City, Philippines: Diploma in Electrical Engineering Technology