Preview: Wednesday 30 April, 5 – 8pm
Ames Yavuz is pleased to present Ellipsis by Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, the inaugural exhibition at our new London gallery at 31-33 Grosvenor Hill. The 2,600 sq. ft ground floor space in the heart of Mayfair will be the gallery’s first European base, and is set to launch with an expansive new programme in 2025, including renowned contemporary artists from the Ames Yavuz roster and beyond.
For over twenty years, Filipino husband-and-wife duo Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan have interrogated the complex intertwined histories of displacement, migration and labour in Southeast Asia. Using materials and tools embedded in the agrarian traditions of the region, the artists present an immersive examination of these themes for their London exhibition.
Ellipsis brings the products and processes of global capitalism to the fore, weaving together stories of production and artisanship typically omitted from history. The exhibition seeks to expose these exclusions using the politics of work, conquest and material lack to reanimate long-muted narratives that lie at the core of daily life in the Philippines and Indonesia. The exhibition is composed of four major projects: a multi-panel pineapple fibre work, a site-specific cardboard installation, a series of new large-scale wing sculptures, and an interactive project comprising 56 crowns crafted from recycled metal.
Ames Yavuz embraces its diverse cultural background through a strong international focus and perspective. The future programme in London is set to include solo exhibitions by the much-lauded Indigenous Australian painter Vincent Namatjira, leading Thai mixed-media artist Pinaree Sanpitak whose work was included in the 2022 Venice Biennale The Milk of Dreams, and globally renowned Australian sculptor and installation artist Patricia Piccinini. The programme at the London gallery is overseen by Managing Director Ananya Mukhopadhyay.
Special thanks are given to the following collaborators on Ellipsis:
Left Wing Project
Blacksmith: Christian Regalario
Baanan, Magdalena, Laguna, Philippines
Commonwealth
Tinsmith: Efren Villanueva
Pinagbayanan, Pila, Laguna, Philippines
See/Through
Embroiderer:
Lucy L.B. Llantos
Lumban, Laguna, Philippines
Weaver:
Raquel Eliserio
Aklan, Panay Island, Philippines