NEW YORK, NY.- Silverlens proudly announces its representation of artists Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Keka Enriquez, and Catalina Africa. Committed to showcasing Southeast Asian artists, Silverlens remains steadfast in its mission to enhance global awareness and facilitate access to the narratives and histories of these pivotal artists and the region overall. In 2024, Endaya will unveil a solo exhibition at Silverlens Manila and debut at Art Basel Hong Kong. Both Africa and Enriquez will participate in Silverlens’ Art Fair Philippines presentation, while Enriquez will also showcase an accompanying exhibition at Silverlens New York.
“As the gallery turns 20 years old in Manila, we continue to represent who we feel are excellent visual voices from the Philippines and her diaspora. We have had deep respect for Imelda Cajipe Endaya’s work for decades and are excited that we can bring her work to new audiences.” said Silverlens co-directors Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo. “We have been fans of Catalina and Keka for over 10 years. We met Catalina at her thesis defense at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, and have been collecting her work and watching her practice mature. Keka, who had stopped painting in the early aughts, became a friend in 2012 when we sought her out in San Francisco. At the time, she had completely left the art world and was doing meaningful work in the Tenderloin area. We asked her then if she would come back to painting. Now, over a decade later, we have her answer. We look forward to all the good things that will surely come out of these partnerships.”
Filipino artist Imelda Cajipe Endaya (b. 1949, Manila, Philippines; lives and works in Manila, Philippines) centers her art and advocacy on socio-political issues, the postcolonial legacy, and women’s empowerment. Acknowledged as a feminist trailblazer, her paintings, prints, and installations bear the distinctive visual language of her Filipino heritage and feminine perspective. Co-founder of the feminist artists organization Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan (KASIBULAN), she played a pivotal role in establishing the influential arts journal Pananaw. In 2022, the Cultural Center of the Philippines hosted a 50-year retrospective exhibition of her life titled Pagtutol at Pag-asa.
Endaya’s works are in the collection of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philippine National Art Gallery, National Gallery of Singapore, Metropolitan Museum Manila, Okinawa Prefectural Museum, and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. Among her awards are Ani ng Dangal from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2009, Republic of the Philippines CCP Centennial Honors in 1999, Araw ng Maynila Award in 1998, and the CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1991. Beyond fine art and community organizing, she is also an author and independent curator.
Keka Enriquez (b. 1962, Manila, Philippines; lives and works in San Francisco, California) is a distinguished and widely acclaimed artist recognized for her signature interiors rendered in thick expressionistic brushstrokes. A student of Roberto Chabet, widely known as the father of conceptual art in the Philippines, Enriquez graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting at the University of the Philippines. Her early works were influenced by ‘80s Neo-expressionist artists, particularly Baselitz, Clemente, Basquiat, and Schnabel, who were known for their aggressive brush strokes and emotionally-charged subject matter. Through her works, she questioned the value and purpose of painting, exploring the appropriation of imagery and the traditional application of paint. A recurring theme in her artworks is the portrayal of the homescape, traditionally the domain of women. She vignettes her canvases with images of objects or spaces within the house, resembling a “quilt” of scenes. Through a reconfiguration of pigment, texture, and surface, Enriquez contemplates the home, evolving from its more innocent origins into the psychological and social dimensions.
Enriquez has exhibited her work in the Philippines, the United States, England, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Under a grant from UNESCO, she obtained her Masters degree in Fine Arts at the Norwich School of Art and Design, England in 1995. Before becoming an artist, Enriquez was a ballet dancer taking classes with the likes of prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. In 1994, she was a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Thirteen Artists Award. She eventually moved to San Francisco where she dedicated herself to recreational therapy. After a long absence, she returned to the Philippine art scene in 2023.
Multi-disciplinary artist Catalina Africa (b. 1988, Manila, Philippines; lives and works in Baler, Philippines) considers shapeshifting to be her primary mode of expression. Working across mediums including painting, sound, sculpture, video, text, and performance, her artworks are invocations to the natural landscape. Resembling spells, songs, love letters, prayers, and maps, her spatial visualization of an environment pays testimony to the Earth’s mysteries and magic. Raised in Manila, the artist now lives and works in Baler, Philippines, along with her husband and child, where she cultivates a devotional practice to Spirit, transmuting Earth song and collaborating with the living land.
Africa’s solo exhibitions include Shrine in the Shape of Shadow, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (2022); Spiralling in Starlight Vision, ArtInformal, Makati, Philippines (2022); Time Moving in All Directions (Featuring Conversational Adornment by Tanya Villanueva), Finale Art File, Makati, Philippines (2018). Select group exhibitions include Shrines, Silverlens, New York (2023); Phantasmapolis x Manila: Select works from the 2021 Asian Art Biennial, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines (2022); Phantasmapolis, Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan (2021); Wild Legend, Juming Museum, Taiwan (2015); The Philippines Contemporary: Directions, Metropolitan Museum Museum of Manila, Philippines (2015).
Silverlens is an international gallery with locations in both Manila and New York. Through its artist representation, institutional partnerships, art consultancy, and exhibition programming including art fairs and gallery collaborations, Silverlens aims to place its artists within the broader framework of the contemporary art dialogue. Its continuing efforts to transcend borders across art communities in Asia have earned it recognition as one of the leading contemporary art galleries in Southeast Asia.
Silverlens was founded in Manila by Isa Lorenzo in 2004, and in 2007 she was joined by co-director Rachel Rillo. In September 2022, the gallery opened its doors in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, broadening its international scope and bringing its diverse roster of artists to a new global audience.
