Silverlens is pleased to announce its first participation in Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) 2025, presented in collaboration with Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery (Osaka). Known for its emphasis on partnership, ACK is one of Japan’s leading contemporary art fairs, pairing local and international galleries in shared presentations. Silverlens will participate in the Gallery Collaborations sector, exhibiting two Filipino artists who push the bounds of materials to explore cycles of life, death, and lineage: Gregory Halili and Ryan Villamael. For ACK, the artists engage in dialogue around fragility and the natural world, creating a poetic exchange between reflection and resilience. Art Collaboration Kyoto will take place at the Kyoto International Conference Center, Kyoto City, from 13 - 16 November, 2025. 

Gregory Halili presents new oil on capiz shell miniature paintings that extend his study of nature’s fragility and humanity’s delicate ties to it. In the Philippines, capiz shells have long been associated with windows, their translucency allowing light to filter through homes. Halili pushes this material to its most fragile state, thinning each shell to near transparency. The double-sided paintings depict land and seascapes, butterflies, human faces, and orchids—symbols of ephemerality—rendered in exquisite detail. “These new miniature paintings evoke the stillness of time, the cycles of life, and the sense of inevitable loss,” says Halili. “What at first may look like simple, beautiful works of flora and fauna are actually a commentary on the fragile state of the environment and its unpredictable future.” Halili’s presentation at Art Collaboration Kyoto precedes his upcoming solo exhibition at Silverlens New York, opening in January 2026.

Ryan Villamael presents new paper-cut map sculptures encased in glass bell jars, alongside two wall-bound works. Known for transforming paper into intricate sculptural forms, Villamael uses colonial and contemporary maps of the Philippines to trace the nation’s long history of migration and displacement. His layered compositions—delicate ecosystems of flora and cartography—reflect on the intertwined lives of those who leave and those left behind, revealing how migration fosters both resilience and loss. Villamael’s presentation at Art Collaboration Kyoto coincides with the opening of the ninth iteration of his major installation Locus Amoenus at Sesc Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, following presentations at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), the Singapore Biennale, and other international venues.

Silverlens is honored to be invited to Art Collaboration Kyoto by Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery, a leading Japanese gallery founded in 1989. The Osaka-based gallery will present works by Etsuko Nakatsuji, Hiroko Inoue, and Toshio Shibata from its program. The partnership between Silverlens and Yoshiaki Inoue Gallery began with Etsuko Nakatsuji: Where are you from?, the pioneering Japanese artist’s first U.S. solo exhibition, held at Silverlens New York from September 4 to November 1, 2025. The ongoing partnership reflects Silverlens’s continued effort to foster meaningful exchange across the Asia-Pacific.

Gregory Halili (b. 1975, Manila, Philippines; lives and works in Manila) is an artist specializing in the intricate art of miniatures. He meticulously carves and paints mother-of-pearl shells, creating memento moris that capture contemporary concepts of memory, life, death, and cycles. Recently, he has broadened his practice to include miniature oil paintings. Transforming capiz shells into canvases, he delicately presses them to their most fragile state, nearly reaching the point of breaking. These thinned-down, glass-like pieces offer a reflection on the intricate and fragile state of the environment and the future. His work has appeared in numerous exhibitions and shows, including the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin; The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio; The Hammond Museum and Sculpture Garden in Salem, New York; Ayala Museum in Makati City; Jorge B. Vargas Museum at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City; West Gallery in Quezon City; Silverlens in Makati City and Nancy Hoffman gallery in New York. In 2016, Halili presented at the Singapore Biennale.

Ryan Villamael (b. 1987, Laguna, Philippines; lives and works in Los Baños, Philippines) is one of the foremost artists working with paper as a sculptural medium. With works ranging from stand-alone soft sculptures to large-scale pieces to immense installations, he has been exploring the themes, tensions, and trajectories of his chosen material for over a decade. Employing a rigorous dedication to technique and precision, Villameal uses the traditional Philippine art form of paper-cutting as a way to meditate upon history, collective memory, and the interpenetrating layers that constitute a locality. He has exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai; Para Site in Hong Kong; Mizuma Gallery in Tokyo; the Arts House in Singapore; ROH Projects in Jakarta; and the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. Opening November 2025, Villamael will present the ninth iteration of his foundational Locus Amoenus at Sesc Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. Now in its tenth year, Locus Amoenus is an ongoing, site-specific installation that transforms maps of the Philippines into a sprawling canopy, with previous iterations shown at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, the Singapore Biennale, and other international venues.