Tatler Asia profiles Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan

20 Jun 2025

Tatler Asia deep dives into Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan’s practice and reflects on their solo exhibition Ellipsis that inaugurated Ames Yavuz London.

“Unapologetic in shedding light on Southeast Asian artistry and complex histories, internationally-renowned Filipino artists Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan’s politically-charged exhibition ‘Ellipsis’ inaugurates Ames Yavuz’s new location.

Much like issues of displacement, migration and labour in Southeast Asia continue to escalate and mutate in various forms of discourse, the renowned Filipino husband-and-wife artist-duo Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan relentlessly continue to bring to the fore these complex, intertwined histories for the global art scene to see and engage with. Ellipsis, the title of their exhibition at the new Ames Yavuz gallery at 31-33 Grovesnor Hill in London, not only encapsulates the breadth and depth of their ongoing work but also verbalises the enduring resonance of global capitalism and its polarising effects on humanity.

Semiotically critiqued, the artworks of the Aquilizans open further conversations about labour, capitalism, colonialism, and even contemporary issues concerning the agrarian sector. Through Ames Yavuz, which has roots in Singapore and Australia, they can raise these Asia-Pacific conversations in dialogue with histories and cultural contexts present in the global and Eurocentric arena.

“We hope to offer triggers or questions, especially at this time and age, where we have to bring back the ecology or the importance of art in society amidst its commercial tendencies,” the Aquilizans jointly conclude.”