Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Landscape: (fragmented) Mabini Art Project (2008-23) (detail). 101 framed paintings. Dimensions variable. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Lodge: Project Another Country (2023). Used cardboard. 67 x 18 x 40 cm. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Left wing series (Magdalena version) 1 (2022). Hand forged metal, wood. 140 x 61 x 22 cm; Left wing series (Magdalena version) 2 (2022). Hand forged metal, wood. 155 x 70 x 16 cm. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Pilgrim: Project Another Country (2010) (detail). Suit, vintage souvenir spoon, plinth. 50 x 25 x 80 cm. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Pilgrim: Project Another Country (2010). Suit, vintage souvenir spoon, plinth. 50 x 25 x 80 cm. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
In 2006, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan relocated with their family from the Philippines to Australia. Their exhibition at Sydney‘s Yavuz Gallery, Past & Present Tense (29 April–24 June 2023) continues their exploration of the effects of migration and tourism on art and production.
In Landscape: (fragmented) Mabini Art Project (2008–2023), this exploration is expressed through a salon style hang of 101 recomposed works of ‘Mabini Art’. This genre of conservative Filipino landscape painting, made mostly for the tourist market, rejected the rise of modernism.
Another key contribution is ‘Left Wing Project’ (2015–ongoing), a series of bird wings fashioned from hand-made sickles. The artists collaborate with craftspeople to create the works, and in doing so propose a more sustainable and reciprocal way of making art.
Other works in the exhibition use materials such as cardboard boxes, packing tape, and personal belongings—items representative of the migratory experience.
Main image: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Landscape: (fragmented) Mabini Art Project (2008-23) (detail). 101 framed paintings. Dimensions variable. Exhibition view: Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, Past & Present Tense, Yavuz Gallery, Sydney (29 April–24 June 2023). Courtesy the artists and Yavuz Gallery, Sydney.
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