Change in 2017: Silverlens moves down the street
SILVERLENS Galleries welcomes the new year with a new space just down the street from its former location.
Originally situated at the second floor of the YMC Building at 2320 Don Chino Roces Ave., Exte. in Makati City for the past eight years, Silverlens will officially move to the Lapanday Center, across the same street, on Jan. 7.
The new Silverlens was designed by architect Anna Sy.
“We need to change things up. New spaces, new challenges for artists, because everyone has already shown here several times and it’s time for something new,” Silverlens founder Isa Lorenzo told BusinessWorld.
Ms. Lorenzo pointed out that the new space is bigger, having a dedicated two-storey building with each floor an expansive 600-square meters. The ground floor will be used as storage and studio space where the artists can work while the second floor will be the galleries.
“We will still have very strong programming with Silverlens in 2017,” she said.
The official opening of the gallery’s new doors will be marked with an inaugural exhibition, Translacion, curated by Gary Ross- Pastrana. The group show will be on view from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4. The participating artists are Mr. Pastrana, Pio Abad, Martha Atienza, Gabriel Barredo, Frank Callaghan, Genevieve Chua, Chati Coronel, Corinne de San Jose, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Dina Gadia, Gregory Halili, Pow Martinez, Wawi Navarroza, Renato Orara, Gina Osterloh, Bernardo Pacquing, Hanna Pettyjohn, Norberto Roldan, Maria Taniguchi, Ryan Villamael, Yee I-Lann, and Eric Zamuco.
Translacion will be a major presentation of the artists’ current projects and some of their past works which the gallery has managed to track down and borrow from institutional and private collections, and from the artists’ closely kept archives.
A second show, Gregory Halili’s solo exhibition Echo, will open on the same day. Mr. Halili will showcase life- size skeletons created entirely from uncut, found corals atop a piece of massive raw driftwood, skull profiles and open hands meticulously painted and fashioned on giant clams and mother of pearl shells, among other things.
The opening reception for both exhibitions will be on Jan. 7, 6 p.m.
Silverlens was founded by Ms. Lorenzo and photographer-turnedartist Rachel Rillo in 2004. Silverlens has since been able to promote contemporary art in the country and throughout Asia through artist representations, institutional collaborations, and exhibition programming including art fairs and gallery partnerships. It has also gained recognition from leading contemporary art galleries in Southeast Asia. —