Ames Yavuz Spreads Its Wings Across the Globe with London Launch

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Ames Yavuz debuts its London space today in Mayfair, marking the gallery’s transition from a leader in the Asia Pacific to a major player on the global stage.

Originally founded in Singapore in 2010 as Yavuz Gallery, they became the first Asian commercial gallery to establish a permanent Australian location after opening in Sydney in 2019. The gallery now makes history again with its unique position between Australia and the U.K.

Gallery founder Can Yavuz emphasised the ‘unique offering and perspective’ the gallery can bring to the London art world.

‘Having worked extensively with artists in Asia Pacific for 15 years, our expansion to London and Europe has been a long time coming,’ Yavuz told Ocula.

The gallery has shown significant growth in the past few years, along with its name change to reflect both directors in early 2024.

The rechristened Ames Yavuz opened its second space in Sydney that March. Since then, the gallery has significantly increased its roster, announcing the representation of Julia Trybala, Pinaree Sanpitak, Brook Andrew, Thania Petersen, Betty Muffler, and the Estate of Rosemary Laing.

Located on Grosvenor Hill with Gagosian and Almine Rech as neighbours, the gallery is in good company for its international ambitions.

Ironically, it’s the refuse of these and other nearby art and luxury businesses that will feature in the gallery’s first show, Ellipsis, a solo presentation of Filipino husband-and-wife artists Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan.

Passage (2025) welcomes visitors to the gallery, incorporating cardboard collected around Mayfair as well as materials from the artists’ travels around Asia. This site-specific installation of cardboard dwellings continues the conversation on home and migration that has become a cornerstone of the Aquilizans’ practice.

Alfredo said collecting the cardboard of Mayfair was a different experience to their usual installation procedure.

‘Rimowa, Brunello Cucinelli, or Fendi—just walking around it’s a totally different experience compared to what we usually collect in developing countries or Korea, for example,’ he explained. ‘Generally cardboard already has a history of travel, and interestingly it ends up in the Ames Yavuz gallery space.’

On the choice of artists for the opening, Yavuz said the Aquilizans exemplify the gallery’s values, ‘providing a platform to make the invisible visible, and helping us shed light on histories and practices which have not yet taken centre-stage in this part of the world’.

Commonwealth (2024), for example—a collection of recycled tin crowns—is made in collaboration with tinsmith Efren Villanueva, one of the many Filipino artisans the duo supports. The crowns are arranged in a map, each signifying one of the 56 Commonwealth nations and referencing the United Kingdom’s imperial history and present monarchy.

This exhibition is also a kind of homecoming for the artists, with London-based family members contributing to the installation and Alfredo having never imagined a solo show in the city when he completed his MFA in Norwich over two decades prior.

Isabel told Ocula it was an honour to do the inaugural exhibition for Ames Yavuz London.

‘We have done several exhibitions in the U.K., but more institutional projects, so this is really a bit daunting but exciting for us.’

The Aquilizans are the first of many Asian and Australian artists that the gallery will be showcasing in London to reflect what Yavuz called ‘the city’s truly international, multicultural, and forward-looking identity.’

The move also reflects the growing ties between London and Singapore, as Ames Yavuz follows Sundaram Tagore with presences in both art hubs. After adding a London outpost at Cromwell Place in 2023, Sundaram Tagore will move to a new space on the Pall Mall later this year. —[O]

Main image: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan. Exhibition view: Ellipsis, Ames Yavuz, London (1–29 May 2025). Courtesy the artists and Ames Yavuz. Photo: Eva Herzog.