Silverlens' Online Exhibit Shows What Lockdown Is Like for Artists

(SPOT.ph) Art galleries and museums are probably the last places to reopen even after the lifting of the quarantine. These venues draw a crowd, are in enclosed and small spaces, and encourage dialogue among patrons—things that need to be avoided in the middle of a pandemic. Silverlens in Makati is adapting to this absence of physical space by holding its first ever online exhibit Anticipating the Day, which opened on June 2. It's available on the gallery's website until June 20.

Anticipating the Day features digital copies of works by 21 artists, including Martha Atienza, Frank Callaghan, James Clar, Chati Coronel, Nicole Coson, Corinne de San Jose, Patricia Perez Eustaquio, Dina Gadia, Gregory Halili, Mit Jai Inn, Pow Martinez, Wawi Navarroza, Elaine Navas, Renato Orara, Gina Osterloh, Bernardo Pacquing, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Hanna Pettyjohn, Norberto Roldan, Ryan Villamael, and Eric Zamuco. The collection comes with an image of the artist in his/her studio: for Atienza, that's the middle of the sea on Bantayan Island; for Coson, it's a spacious workshop with her dog; and for Halili, that's his organized workspace surrounded by corals and capiz shells.

"Instead of installing the works in the gallery, they are installed in the artists' studios, in situ. Showing a more raw, but also more alive and organic part of the process," Silverlens co-founder Isa Lorenzo said in a press release. The title of the show, according to her, is taken from Coson's description of what lockdown is for her. We are all anticipating the day that when we can finally hug our friends, hang out with beer on hand on exhibit openings, and talk to our favorite artists about a new work. Until then, Silverlens' exhibit hopes that the future gives birth to a "new civility, flourishing respect, and deeper appreciation for what we all do in our daily lives."

Anticipating the Day runs from June 2 to 20 on Silverlens' website.