The Good Life: Editors’ Picks of the Week, Art Fair Philippines Edition

In every The Good Life: Editors’ Picks column, we round up our editors’ favorites—restaurants, cocktails, experiences, exhibits, and everything in between. Here is our latest list, featuring exhibitions and pieces not to miss at this weekend’s Art Fair Philippines.

Pacita Abad at Silverlens, Carlo Tanseco at J. Gallery, and Rose Studio

I usually enjoy looking at a wide range of art styles and genres, but at this year’s Art Fair Philippines Collectors Preview, I found myself drawn to bold, vibrant colors in more whimsical works.

I’m a longtime admirer of Pacita Abad and her exuberant pieces that burst with color and joy. Her “Red and Black and in Color” (2003) print at Silverlens Gallery (Level 7, Booth 4) reflects Pacita’s enduring joie de vivre. My little girl and I recently read a children’s book on her life and times, which made me appreciate her work even more.

Carlo Tanseco’s works always draw a crowd, with visitors to J. Gallery (Level 9, Booth 29) often chuckling at his wit. This year’s pieces are very much on point (pun intended). Following earlier series on canned goods and snacks from our childhood, Carlo’s giant sharpened pencils at his “Ibang Label” exhibit once again showcase his trademark humor.

I was also happy to catch up with Claire Thibaud-Piton, whose husband, Marc, was  the French embassy’s counselor for cooperation and cultural affairs once upon a time. Claire is now a Paris-based gallerist whose Rose Studio (Booth 38) features urban art from around the world.

Distort Monster’s eye-catching murals around Metro Manila continue to delight many, and I was also particularly taken by the works of French graffiti artist NASTY, who first gained attention for covering Paris metro trains with his art. – Yvette Fernandez, Chief of Editorial Content

Max Balatbat and Tess Pettyjohn for AFP Special Projects and Hannah Reyes Morales at Tarzeer

I was moved by Max Balatbat’s installation work, “Kapilya,” that was part of the AFP Special exhibits section (Level 6).  His processes and unique approach distinctly highlights the layered grit and textured complexity of Manila’s urban landscape in both the physical surfaces and the macabre stories that lie beneath.

Tess Pettyjohn’s stoneware flowers at her Special Projects booth (Level 6) possess a whimsical and joyful quality to them and are animated by a subtle sense of movement. They are happy and uplifting, and I just love them!

The stunning work “Beira Fisher Folk” by Hannah Reyes Morales’s featured in her exhibition Home Holds Still at the Tarzeer booth (Level 7, Booth 5) immediately captivated me and I am now doing an obsessive deep dive into her work. This London-based photographer is a National Geographic Explorer and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for feature photography. – Alicia Colby Sy, Lifestyle Editor

Fernando Zóbel at Cayón, James Clar at Silverlens, Takashiro Yamamoto at Gallery Kogure, and Jon Pettyjohn at AFP Special Projects

Since visiting Fernando Zóbel’s exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore, I’ve come to appreciate the breadth, depth, and bravery of Zóbel as he broke away from and joined the ranks of modernism, far from the representational schools of artistic thought that had defined the genre for centuries. I always look forward to Cayón (Level 7) and its gray walls—a welcome oasis in a sea of visual excitement.

The idea of light as a medium for sculpture isn’t new, but James Clar wows with his singular vision, original execution, and emotional depth. “The Shape of Silence” at Silverlens (Level 7, Booth 4) is a flat plane of Plexiglass, but his precise use of the medium and geometry is stunning and effective. There are works that move you but are also pieces you don’t necessarily want to possess, but this and Takashiro Yamamoto’s magnetizing pieces in Gallery Kogure, especially “Redemption,” were what I really wanted to go home with.

The idea that ceramicists take a piece of earth, fashion and shape and glaze to the best of their talents, and offer all their efforts fully to fire and heat is nothing short of awe-inspiring to me. Whatever results is happenstance, a fluke of physics—and their artists know this, counting unpredictable elements as part of the medium to which they fully submit.

Jon Pettyjohn is a favorite. His work straddles function and art comfortably (like a teapot I own by the artist that’s patterned after the mythical Loch Ness monster, which I have used to serve tea!). His exhibit, along with his wife Tessy Pettyjohn at Art Fair Philippines’ Special Projects (Level 6), is, as always, a delight: textured surfaces and kinetic glazes in stunning form. Nothing less from someone widely recognized as the Father of Contemporary Philippine Ceramics. – Kimberly Rocha-Delgado, Digital Editor

“Manifest” by Brenda V. Fajardo, Shukado+SCENA, Triangulum, and Ames Yavuz

Brenda V. Fajardo’s “Manifest,” presented as a timely reissue, deals with the tarot as social critique, with each archetype reshuffled into a pointed meditation on power, labor, and history. The pioneering artist reminds viewers that the real reading isn’t about destiny but rather about the systems we keep pretending are fate.

Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Shukado Gallery brings a refined slice of Ginza connoisseurship to Art Fair Philippines, presenting standout works by Sakata Genpei.

The display of uncanny woodcarved animals—by turns humorous, melancholic, and strangely endearing—hover between folk innocence and psychological portraiture.

Founded in 2023 by E.S.L. Chen, artist-run initiative Triangulum returns with The Perception of Self, an inquiry into identity shaped by the pressures of an increasingly digital reality.

Anchored by works from Charlie Co alongside interesting pieces from Jane Jin Kaisen and Pitchapa Wangprasertkul, the presentation frames photography, print, and painting as tools for existential reflection, quietly probing where the self ends and the algorithm begins.

Ames Yavuz is anchored by the quietly powerful works of Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, whose installations transform everyday materials into moving reflections on migration, labor, and collective memory.

Surrounding contributions from a cross-generational roster of artists deepen the narrative. Still, it is the Aquilizans’ meditations on community and shared survival that give the presentation its emotional and conceptual gravity. – Bryle Suralta, Features Editor

Photographs by Medal Elepano