Ames Yavuz is pleased to return to Art Basel Hong Kong with a selection of artists whose practices reflect the complexity and vitality of contemporary art within the Asia-Pacific region. Spanning both the Galleries and Kabinett sectors, the presentation brings together established and emerging voices in a dialogue shaped by material inquiry, cultural memory, and formal innovation.
Our Galleries booth presentation features: Pinaree Sanpitak (Thailand) sculptures crafted from woven rattan, utilising its organic and tactile qualities to articulate notions of the body, womanhood and nourishment; Tada Hengsapkul (Thailand) works addressing the polarities between control and dissent anchored by both collective and personal histories; Alvin Ong (Singapore) explores queer desire in everyday quotidian moments and surreal bodily compositions, recently incorporating found texts and poetry into his paintings; Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan (Philippines) renown for creating highly detailed installations and sculptures that spark conversations around ideas of identity, migration, journey and displacement; Plet Bolipata (Philippines) paintings rendered in her vibrant, whimsical style that blends figuration with dreamlike narratives and draws from communal recollections as well as her own personal mythology; Khaled Sabsabi (Australia) new works utilising coffee that explore modes of aesthetic resistance against the status quo, and whose practice incisively engages in current geopolitical debates and affirms the place of spirituality in contemporary society; Monica Rani Rudhar (Australia) sculptures exploring themes of longing and loss related to cultural identity, and trace intergenerational stories within her family to create space for imaginative possibilities; Tom Polo (Australia) paintings exploring how conversation, gesture and exchange are embodied acts of portraiture; and sculptures by Emily Floyd (Australia), saturated in her iconic bright palette and expertly rendered in geometric forms — each imbued with hours of research ranging from alternative education, to feminist theory, to typography.
In the Kabinett sector, Ames Yavuz presents Echoes of the Sea, an important solo installation of works by Elmer Borlongan. It traces Borlongan’s evolution over several decades as one of the Philippines’ most celebrated visual artists, known for his distinctive approach to figuration that register gesture, rhythm, and daily life. Informed by the landscapes and shores of his second home in Zambales, Borlongan’s imagery alludes to its numinous mountains and cradling shorelines, forming a humbling expanse — set as the backdrop for the aggressive development and restless urbanisation reshaping rural and coastal communities amidst rituals, work, and play. In these paintings, the interplay of the rural and the urban creates tensions in context, where powerful and honest reflections of the changing terrain and its implications emerge.