Silverlens Gallery is expanding—all the way to New York City. The Makati-based studio announced its trans-continental expansion on July 19 after 18 years of housing contemporary Asian and Asian Diaspora artists.
Its new gallery is a 2,500 square-foot space with 20-foot ceilings located on the ground floor at 505 W 24th Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The gallery will open on Sept. 8.
Representation and diversity have been important issues in the common consciousness, but the emphasis on Southeast Asian, Asian Pacific, and Diasporic artists have only come into light recently.
“Opening a New York gallery has remained a consideration for us since 2004, but I felt invisible when I lived here then — the wrong gender, the wrong Asian, the wrong minority,” founder and co-owner Isa Lorenzo said in a statement.
“The past few years have shown strong demand for Southeast Asian art in the US, so this felt like the perfect moment to expand to a global art hub packed with discovery. We are Asian, we are Latin, we are American, we are brown, we are queer — there is energy here for us and we are thrilled to show our artists in the world’s biggest market,” added co-owner Rachel Rillo.
Silverlens’s New York space aims to hold both gallery and curator-led exhibitions, as well as artist talks, panel discussions, film screenings, and events.
The gallery’s inaugural exhibits are two solo gallery shows by Martha Atienza and Yee I-Lann. Both artists are of mixed descent and work collaboratively with their respective island communities.
