At the age of 17, after finishing high school, he started studying at the school of Fine Arts, PUC of Santiago, Chile. In this period, he started the realization of various exhibitions and projects with the collaboration of different institutions and galleries. The education was combined with study trips to USA and Europe. In 1999 he moved to Barcelona, Spain, to study Visual Arts at the University of Barcelona.Javier Tapia has been exhibiting in different countries, and has participated in shows combining new strategies and working in collaboration with artists from other media, such as photographers and video artists. In 2001 he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2004 he got accepted at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, since then he has been living and working in the Danish capital.