16 must-see art shows shaping the rest of 2025
“Hard Rain” by Pete Jimenez
July 12 to Aug. 9
The Drawing Room, Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“Siguro sa take-home ng viewers ng ‘Hard Rain,’ kopyahin ko na lang yung sinabi ni Sting: ‘There is no such thing as a winnable war.’ Totoo naman iyon. Sa gera, lahat talo. Pati ‘yong nanalo, talo rin.”
– Pete Jimenez, visual artist
“Cesar Legaspi: Works From Home” by Cesar Legaspi and curated by Eric Zamuco
July 3 to Aug. 2
West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City
“In ‘Cesar Legaspi: Works From Home’ the audience gets a glimpse of the National Artist’s practice, the mastery of the human anatomy, to the detailed conceptualization and abstraction in his preparatory drawings (bozzetti) to his final paintings with a mere knife. It would be good for an AI generation audience of formulated prompts to glean from the artworks the value of labor, discovery, and process in art.”
– Eric Zamuco, curator
“Galleon Trade” featuring various artists
June 26 to Aug. 23
Silverlens New York, 505 W 24 St, New York, NY 10011, United States
“This painting presents as both an aesthetic object and a historical critique, using visceral decay to confront the hidden putrefaction within colonial systems. The papaya’s fate becomes an allegory for the Philippines: a land rich and fertile, left to rot in the hold of empire. The papaya, a fruit deeply rooted in the tropics, becomes a fragile, decaying vessel—a poignant stand-in for the islands themselves.”
– Elaine Roberto Navas, visual artist
“When Grey Turns Blue” by Pam Yan Santos
July 12 to Aug. 9
The Drawing Room, Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“This exhibition is a meditation on life’s in-between tones: it’s not black and white, but rather in the grey where life unfolds with all its complexities—emotions, relationships, and myriad situations. Working on this show came at a time of midlife changes of the body and mind… To feel is to be human, and my works have always touched on this universal subject through my own personal stories. Even though our experiences differ, I hope my works can create a space where others can connect and reflect—and maybe find some of the healing I felt while putting up this show.”
– Pam Yan Santos, visual artist
“Prose Without Body” by Jao San Pedro
June 26 to Aug. 28
Tarzeer Pictures, 2288 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“Jao took great care in shaping an intervention, contouring it with sound and light. The collaborative nature of the project invited a range of focused contributions, allowing the work to evolve and ultimately breathe on its own. We value that kind of expression, especially when the boundaries between idea, process, and outcome begin to dissolve.”
– Tarzeer Pictures team
“Sa Ilang” by Eric Zamuco
July 19 to Aug. 16
Silverlens Manila, 2263 Chino Roces Ave, Ave, Makati City
“‘Sa Ilang’ is the proverbial wilderness experience, that uncomfortable circumstance both in a physical place and a spiritual plane. I decided to look back at past images, ways of thinking and making, searching for a lift like looking for water. There are possible growth outcomes here: to wilt, to be self-sufficient, to have faith, and/or to pursue a revolution.”
– Eric Zamuco, visual artist
“Conditions of Equilibrium” featuring various artists
July 12 to Aug. 9
The Drawing Room, Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“I wanted to make this iconoclastic gesture by using this specific historical pigment, lapis lazuli, which was exclusively used for the robes of the Virgin Mary in Renaissance painting tradition, as the main pigment or color for this painting. The image painted is of a macro photo of my DNA protein extracted using household chemicals and photographed in a test tube. There is this traversing between the macro and the micro, as the structure of the protein closely resembles the structure of the universe. There is also this tension between the uniqueness of DNA sequences and the image as just a blob of protein, unrecognizable and indistinguishable.”
– Miguel Lorenzo Uy, visual artist
“eatsleepdreamwork” by Lee Paje
Runs until Aug. 3
MO_Space, 3rd floor, MOs Design Bldg, B2 9th Avenue, Bonifacio High Street, Taguig
“In a quiet, yet expansive gesture, Lee Paje reflects on a concept so vital to the creative process that it is often overlooked for its perceived monotony. The notion of witnessing a day in the life of another person might suggest a humdrum slackening into the autobiographical, but in essence it is the core of creation, and here it is bestowed with distinction, as well as the credence and attention it deserves.”
– Cocoy Lumbao, “eatsleepdreamwork” exhibition notes author
“Satisfaction is but a Moment” by Isabel Reyes Santos
July 3 to Aug. 2
West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City
“Picasso once said that it takes a lifetime to paint like a child. That idea really resonated with me when I saw Picasso at M+ Museum earlier this year. For my solo show, I wanted to paint more freely. When painting becomes your work, there’s pressure that comes in, and I think that limits what I do. I wanted to create layers more freely, with the idea that I could erase them later… But as I was working on the show, I started gaining more confidence. I ended up liking the layers, and eventually, I didn’t feel the need to erase them.”
– Isabel Reyes Santos, visual artist
“Gesture In Time” featuring various artists and curated by Janice Liuson-Young
July 22 to Aug. 12
Faculty Projects, 54 Santa Rosa Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig
“The word ‘abstraction’ can sometimes mean ‘removal or detachment from.’ But ‘abstract art’ does not call for a removal from life. Rather, it is an invitation to enter and experience life and things directly, in their rawness, without intervening concepts or the distraction of the familiar and routine. I’m especially proud to have brought together multiple generations of visual artists in this show.”
– Janice Liuson-Young, curator
“Held by the Surface” by Jel Suarez
July 3 to Aug. 2
West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City
“I hope audiences come away with the sense that what erodes, fades, or is lost will always leave behind a trace. And from those traces, life quietly reshapes itself. I wish the works reveal themselves as acts of hope and remembrance. Like a gesture of holding on even as things slowly slip away.”
– Jel Suarez, visual artist
“G-Code” by Zoraya Lua
July 3 to Aug. 2
Artinformal Gallery, Karrivin Plaza, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“‘G-Code’ is about urban decay. Not as pure deterioration, but as a field of signs. It draws from my observations of a vagrant woman walking the same part of the road each day in a trance-like loop. Her presence and my own move from the province to the city opened a speculative lens: what if the city, in all its brokenness, is also alive and has its own intelligence that becomes apparent through what is unintentional, like the marks made by movement.”
– Zoraya Lua, visual artist
“Burgundy Street” by Alvin Zafra
“This exhibition is my way of interpreting everyday scenery. Through drawing, I question what I see and plant seeds of possibility along the way. My body of work has used black and white to delineate figure from ground, a mimetic language to archive streets and worlds. In ‘Burgundy Street,’ I am no longer faithful to what I see but to what I imagine. Modernism, photography, and psychogeography converge.”
– Alvin Zafra, visual artist
“Me Time” by Mimaaaaaaaaw
Opened on July 5
Vinyl on Vinyl, La Fuerza Plaza, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“I hope people are reminded that ‘Me Time’ doesn’t always have to look perfect. Whether it’s resting, dancing alone in your room, or sitting on the toilet scrolling through your thoughts, there’s value in slowing down and being present with yourself. These works are my own versions of pause and play, and maybe they’ll remind you to take yours, too.”
– Mimaaaaaaaaw, visual artist
“Sword Words” by Tyang Karyel Opened on July 5
Vinyl on Vinyl, La Fuerza Plaza,
Chino Roces Avenue, Makati
“Tyang’s recent exhibition is a symbolic interplay between swords and language. It is a tactile exhibition that offers the viewers to interact with the main installation wherein you can choose between a number of swords to draw from, which is the artist’s own version of a tarot reading, it then gives you a duality of words which as tarot goes would be your ‘fate’ whether you choose to live by it or not.”
– Gaby Dela Merced, Vinyl on Vinyl co-founder
