On its fifth year in Art Basel Hong Kong, Asia's premier art fair, SILVERLENS is pleased to present a selection of artists the gallery represents and one guest artist whose work was most recently seen in the Philippine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
On July 13, 2016, the warehouse facility that served as storage for Silverlens burned down. On this recent history, Silverlens presents Even if you kill me, portraits of power. Power is often held in numbers. For good measure, we gather two sets of artists—a hard quadrivium, and a soft trinity.
The hard quadrivium. Manuel Ocampo, Gabriel Barredo, Norberto Roldan, and Pow Martinez. Four horsemen of the apocalypse: three powerhouse artists who have shaped the contemporary baroque in the region and one young irreverent, farcical, fantastic painter. Anchored by a large painting from 1992 by Manuel Ocampo (b. 1965, Manila), Porco Dio (Para Eso Habeis Nacido/Tanto Y Mas) of the devil beheading a kneeling skeleton against a landscape of a floating cross, the desert sun setting. Gabriel Barredo (b. 1957, Manila), with his flawless representation of reused material and amusing light and electric circuitries; but in fact, his work very severe. It is littered with details that remind us of the endless horrors and hypocrisies of life: hunger, war, death, decay. Norberto Roldan (b. 1953, Roxas City), through paintings and installations combining objects, text and imagery, explores issues ranging from collective memory to the balance of power in geopolitical encounters. Pow Martinez (b. 1983, Manila), a believer of painting, whose images range from improbable, cartoonish scenes executed in rough strokes to heavy impastos that near abstraction. Like Bosch and Breughel, these four continue art's long tradition depicting the monstrous and the malign. In such acts, we are confronted with blade-sharp truths. We include YEE I-Lann (b. 1971, Kota Kinabalu) as the plus one in this group, with her Untitled (Self-Portrait).
For Silverlens, we claim Even if you kill me, I do not die.
The soft trinity. Wawi Navarroza, Gregory Halili, and Chati Coronel. Three artists whose light touch and practices are rooted in the lush tropical. Anchored by large photographs from 2017 by Wawi Navarroza (b. 1979, Manila) from the marble island of Romblon. The dominant images are of labor, masculinity and hard stone; with ideas of lightness and immateriality just as important to consider. Gregory Halili (b. 1975, Manila), his miniature paintings of eyes on mother of pearl shells from Philippine seas creating memento moris. Chati Coronel (b. 1970, Manila), draws on the divine to make multilayered paintings of raw strokes, rough lines, and soft colours to arrive at a primal core. As Coronel wrote in 2009, 'I thought about the simplicity and the magnitude of the history of my hand. And how all that history goes into each brushstroke. I blessed this painting with the power of all my ancestors. More importantly, with this painting I blessed all the hands that made mine.' We include Maria Taniguchi (b. 1981, Dumaguete City) into this as Trinity plus One. Her art practice alludes to 'building skins', using the brick, the simplest pattern in masonry.
For Silverlens, we claim Even if you kill me, I live.
The SILVERLENS presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong is on view in booth 1D05 from 27 March to 31 March 2018 at HKCEC, 1 Expo Dr., Wanchai, Hong Kong.
Artist Talks
This year, Art Basel Conversations has invited the participation of SILVERLENS gallery director, Isa Lorenzo and SILVERLENS represented artist Yee I-Lann in the following:
Art Market Talk | Working Models: Developing Gallery Structures
Moderated by Isa Lorenzo. With participants: Vanessa Carlos, Hormoz Hematian, Mimi Chun, Young Chung
Thursday, March 29, 2018, 3 pm to 4 pmRoom N101B, HKCEC
Artist Talk | Decolonizing 'Ethnography': Contemporary Representations
Moderated by Qinyi Lim with participants Charwei Tsai, Gala Porras-Kim, Lisa Reihana, Yee I-Lann
Friday, March 30, 2018, 1pm to 2 pmRoom N101B, HKCEC
Artist Attendance
The following represented artists who are showing their work in the SILVERLENS booth are expected to be in attendance:
Chati Coronel
Gregory Halili
Pow Martinez
Wawi Navarroza
Maria Taniguchi
HOURS
Private View (by invitation only)
Tuesday, March 27
Wednesday, March 28
Vernissage
Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 5pm to 9pm
Public Days
Thursday, March 29, 1pm to 9pm
Friday, March 30, 1pm to 8pm
Saturday, March 31, 11am to 6pm