Leo Valledor’s Art Gets Spotlight at ‘Frieze New York,’ Silverlens Gallery
/One gallery and the artist it chose to feature stood out the most, creating an impact and drawing a crowd to the Silverlens Booth. Silverlens Gallery was established over 20 years ago in Manila by Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo. 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.
Isa Lorenzo : Founder and Owner of Silverlens Manila and New York (Photo by Studio Elizalde)
In September 2022, Silverlens opened the doors to its Chelsea Gallery in New York. The new gallery on the ground floor at 505 W 24th Street has a 2,500 square-foot space with 20-foot ceilings. The expansion was necessitated by the growth of the gallery’s program and drive to bring a broader representation of Southeast Asian, Asian Pacific, and Diasporic artists into the contemporary art world. The New York gallery activates the space with both gallery-curated and curator-led exhibitions, along with artist talks, panel discussions, film screenings, and events.
Silverlens New York Director Katey Acquaro explained the importance of the gallery having a booth at Frieze, describing it as a top-tier art show that is well attended by an international audience. Curators across the United States and a noticeable number from Europe attend Frieze New York. This is Silverlens’ second time to participate at Frieze, which is tightly curated with 60 galleries. Silverlens has done a solo show twice, allowing the gallery to further an artist’s presence. This was part of the plan to continue the conversation around Leo Valledor. Both Leo Valledor and Carlos Villa grew up in the same neighborhood in San Francisco and were best friends. Silverlens exhibited a dual artist show for Valledor and Villa in September 2023 in their New York Gallery.
Leo Valledor (Photo by Mimi Jacobs | wikiart)
Leo Valledor, Pow Wow Now, 1980 displayed at the Silverlens Booth at Frieze New York (Photo by Studio Elizalde)
The Silverlens booth was set among top galleries such as Gagosian, Perrotin, and Hauser & Wirth. According to Katie, a great shot at getting a well-located booth is by presenting strong art work by an important artist. Silverlens chose to keep its exhibit space sparse, allowing Leo Valledor’s art its very own presence. Leo’s work is large- scale and best viewed one-on-one with the body, giving one the feeling of stepping into a portal of color field and geometric abstraction. Most of the art shown was made during the last decade of the artist’s life in the 1980s.
Among several reasons Silverlens chose to feature Leo Valledor’s art is that he was an institutional artist who is a part of incredible museum collections such as the Whitney, SFMOMA, and other institutions in the Bay Area. The collaborative exhibit in 2023 of Valledor and Villa opened many doors; the solo exhibit of Leo Valledor in Frieze this year, culminated in July 2024 with a solo exhibit at Silverlens Manila.
Leo Valledor, Sunstrut, 1982 (Photo by Studio Elizalde)
There was much talk around the gallery circuit about featuring living artists, so I asked Katie what Silverlens would like to get across to people when viewing Valledor’s work. She spoke of a growing hunger for “re-historizing” artists who were overlooked during their time for various reasons, and to illuminate such visions as Valledor’s, whose work was crucial to American Modernism. Advocating for Leo’s work now creates a spotlight for contemporary artists.
Leo Valledor, Straight & Still, 1982 (Photo by Studio Elizalde)
Leo Valledor was born in San Francisco in 1936. In 1955, as an orphan in San Francisco, he embraced art. Leo had a pivotal role in developing the art scene in the 1960s and was an influence in American Modernism. In 1961 he moved to New York and was one of the founders of The Park Place Group, an artist-led collective that gave numerous artists a platform for creating a vibrant art world in downtown Manhattan. The collective included many artists such as Sol LeWitt, Eva Hesse, and Robert Smithson.
The Valledor works exhibited at Frieze New York were created in the 1980s, after decades of exploration and experimentation and geometric abstract and shaped canvases. His pieces had sat in storage for 40 years before being chosen for Frieze.
Also on view at Silverlens New York Gallery until June 15, 2024 were Norberto Roldan: How Not to Win a Revolution and Filipino Bay Area artist Keka Enriquez: Odds and Ends.
Norberto Roldan changed the cultural landscape of the Philippines. In 1986, he established Black Artists in Asia, a collective that united progressive artists who were free of political affiliations, allowing them to develop their distinct styles. In 1990, Roldan started VIVA EXCON, which has developed into the longest-running artist-led biennale. Currently, he is the artistic director of Green Papaya Art Projects, a cultural exchange of Southeast Asian artists.
His recent exhibit at Silverlens New York, How Not to Win a Revolution, is inspired by history, warfare, religion, media, and contemporary society. His tapestry work weaves together Filipino history. Roldan said, “My exhibition is a post-colonial hang-up. While other formerly colonized countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere have moved forward with better economies and remained culturally resilient, the Philippines is still waging revolutions and remains frozen.”
Norberto Roldan, Artist featured at Silverlens New York.
Exhibit title: How Not to Win a Revolution.
(Photo by Studio Elizalde)
Norberto Roldan, Title: Born Again Revolution 01, 2024
Textile assemblage with religious panyo (handkerchief), hand-dyed fabric, soft amulets, and Philippine demonetized centavo coins. (Photo by Studio Elizalde)
Norberto Roldan, Title: Pasión y Revolución 01, 2024
Textile assemblage with 19th century amulet vest, hand dyed fabrics, amulets, and Philippine demonetized centavo coins.
(Photo by Studio Elizalde)
Norberto Roldan, Title: West Philippine Revolution 02, 2024
Textile assemblage with found Chinese blankets, textile and wind chimes.
(Photo by Studio Elizalde)
Keka Enriquez was at the forefront of artists from her generation, creating art that evoked social facets of home, memory, identity, and displacement. In 1998, she moved from the Philippines to San Francisco. After 20 years in the Bay Area, she has returned to painting. Enriquez’s show, Odds and Ends exhibited at Silverlens New York. Her style has a looseness and freedom to it while still remaining sensuous and bold.
Keka Enriquez : Odds and Ends Exhibit at Silverlens NY
Title of work from left to right: Push and Pull, 2024, Bits and Pieces, 2024, Incidental Details, 2024
(Photo by Studio Elizalde)
According to Keka, “I have always been interested in form, brushstrokes, color, and experimentation to the point that subject matter becomes only incidental -- the past, the home, and every physical, psychological, sociological aspect of it. Now the people who have been part of my home are included, whereas in the past, I would depict the home without people. Places were always empty. My painting process uses mostly intuition in composition, color, form, and symbols, both hidden and exposed in the paintings.”
Sources:
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/05/02/single-artist-stands-punch-above-their-weight-at-f rieze-new-york
https://www.frieze.com/article/unmissable-solo-shows-frieze-new-york-2024?fbclid=PAZXh0bgN hZW0BMQABpiNaFUnXGhRz9IzOuZMGqg-XVYTmxtypsHRSDkJ8fAKWfp-CD5wXmXb-rA_ae m_AXOeMsbIIVF6iCIaUwavLqE_ham7_Unjm3Uab_c2JZojLOTLG60agbQFfVyOIwSmVpg
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/norberto-roldan-artist-profile-1234688305
Katrina Lopez
Life+Style. Music. Art.
FRIEZE NY 2024.
Instagram: @sixtoandclem
