WHAT is lost in every transfer, each subsequent relocation? What is left in a vacated room that cannot be moved or brought forth? Could there be a specific, intangible aura that is locked within the spatial boundaries, the precise configuration of walls, windows and doors? Or can a place be truly dismantled, packed and rebuilt elsewhere without loss? In our present era of multicity art fairs, weekend pop-ups and countless online and screen-based media, the presentation and distribution of art has become less and less dependent on a singular, physical space.
The contemporary gallery, to survive, must, therefore, be adept at handling these and other yet unforeseen changes, while on the whole keeping its bearings amid the constant staging and restaging of its identity across these varying platforms, year in and year out.
Perhaps there’s a logical argument for keeping things virtual, offsite and impermanent, especially with the current overwhelming sense of vulnerability, as we lay witness to the seemingly unfettered success of misinformation, historical revisionism and the widespread erosion of moral values.
To build a brick and mortar exhibition site is always a huge and risky undertaking but it could take on a deeper significance in these uncertain times. For the artist, it is a welcome act, a bold and reassuring gesture ensuring that his capacity to dream and create will continue to have a place to thrive and grow. That there will still be pockets of spaces to be populated with their ideas, fresh walls to be imprinted with new meanings. That despite the looming fears, there will be people whose resolve to hold ground remains and will continually respond with actions spurred not of flight but of taking root, not of retreat but of surging forth.
This month, Silverlens reopens its doors as it gathers all of its represented artists to collectively inaugurate their new exhibition space. Situated across the same erstwhile street, not a few hundred meters from the compound where it held court for the past eight years and steadily grew and developed into one of Manila’s, if not Southeast Asia’s, leading contemporary art galleries, this with an acute balance of aggressive and forward-thinking programming.
Along with a major presentation of the 22 artists’ current projects, the exhibition will also prominently feature seminal pieces from each artist’s oeuvre, which the gallery has managed to track down and borrow from esteemed institutional and private collections, and lure out from the artists’ closely kept, personal archives.
As these older works shed light on the artists current concerns, they will, likewise, imbue and ground the yet unmarked gallery with a steadfast sense of history. And just for this initial offering, the show will go beyond the main exhibition spaces and spill over to other areas throughout the building, taking the audience to a rare, unrestrained exploration of the new site.
Translación runs from January 7 to February 4 at Silverlens in Lapanday Center, 2263 Don Chino Roces Avenue Extension, Makati City. For inquiries, contact info@silverlensgalleries.com or 0917-5874011.