AVANTI SEMPRE AVANTI FORWARD ALWAYS FORWARD 10 January 2026 Art Director Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz Exhibition Team Thess Ponce Roy Abrenica Mariela Araza Lars Salamante Gabriel Abalos Jose Joeffrey Baba Patrocinio Aguirre Jr. Graphic Designer Jean Isabel Magcamit Exhibition Notes Angel Velasco Shaw Curator Angel Velasco Shaw
This publication © 2025 by Galleria Duemila is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
IN THE SPIRIT OF CAMARADERIE A PHILIPPINE MODERN ART COMPOSITION To love a work of art is to follow the life of an artist
- Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz
December 5, 1975, marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Galleria Duemila, the longest- running gallery in the Philippines today. The story of its humble beginnings is rooted in a great love story. It is a tale about Silvana Ancellotti, a 22-year-old Italian adventurer who fell in love with artist Ramon Diaz, his country, and its multicultural people. Her life in the Philippines began during a time of struggle against a menacing dictatorship—an era that saw an explosion of diverse expressions and visceral passions in the arts, a continuation of the post-WWII burgeoning modern art scene pioneered by the likes of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, founder of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP, 1948) and Lydia Villanueva-Arguilla, founder of Philippine Art Gallery (PAG, 1950). With financial support from Jaime Balthasar Diaz, Silvana’s father-in-law, she and her closest friend Christina Pagaspas Hagedorn pooled together a total of Php 40,000.00 to jumpstart Galleria Duemila 2000, an unplanned venture that neither of them thought would make it to fifty-years-old. It is within this fortuitous setting that Silvana met many of the artists featured in AVANTI SEMPRE AVANTI/FORWARD ALWAYS FORWARD. Of the thirtyseven artists, twelve of them were members of the now legendary Saturday Group (1968 -1978): Benedicto Cabrera (BenCab), Ed Castrillo, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi, Arturo Luz, Justin (Tiny) Nuyda, Hernando Ruiz (H.R.) Ocampo, Romulo Olazo, Onib Olmedo, Juvenal Sansó, Mauro (Malang) Santos, and Solomon Saprid. These artists—many of whom would later be recognized as masters in modern art and national artists amongst other peers—writers, art critics, collectors, gallerists, friends and acquaintances, professional and amateur models came through the Taza de Oro coffee shop doors in Ermita to eat, drink, and talk about daily life, art and even critique each other’s works. Their artworks presented here provide its viewers with insights into Silvana’s early attraction to Philippine abstract, minimalist, surrealist, and expressionist art and their impact in shaping her sense of aesthetics and taste. When asked about the degree of difficulty in selecting the artists included in this exhibition, her response was that she wanted to feature “artworks that speak to the soul.” Clearly an impossible task, nonetheless intuitive choices were made.
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Many of the illustrious artists presented represent symbiotic relationships that blossomed into life-long friendships with Silvana. They, amongst several hundreds of artists, worked alongside each other to shape and influence the current Philippine Contemporary Art scene. This momentous two-month celebration showcases 47 artworks — a range of paintings of acrylic, oil, and tempera on canvas, plywood and cardboard; mixed media collage; watercolor and pastel works on paper; and sculptures made of alabaster, brass, bronze, clay, marble, plaster, plastic, and stone — that have never been or were rarely seen by recent generations of artists, collectors, arts appreciators, art students, and educators. These artworks created in 1957-2018, were culled from Galleria Duemila’s vast collection and archive treasure trove. They are a small sampling of works that mesmerized this trail-blazing woman into promoting Philippine Modern Art unconditionally. Imagine growing up in Mantova, an ancient Northern Italian city founded by the Etruscans in 2000 B.C.—a city which, during the Renaissance period, was second only to Florence as a flourishing region in the arts, architecture, and music with its grand palaces, museums, and 200 churches, surrounded by verdant nature and picturesque lakes. Art and all its magnificent beauty were a ubiquitous part of everyday life. One might assume that this transplanted Italian woman would impose her creative and intellectual sensibilities, shaped by her rich cultural history, as the artistic director of Galleria Duemila. But she did not. Instead, she set out to learn everything she could about Philippine art, primarily to impart her new-found home’s cultural wealth to her three children. She wanted them to be proud of their birthplace and know its value in the ways that her mother had done for her. AVANTI SEMPRE AVANTI/FORWARD ALWAYS FORWARD is testimony to Silvana’s keen sensibilities as a viewer, gallerist, and above all, a lover of beauty and art’s ineffable ability to move the soul and evoke a plethora of emotions that range from elation to wonderment, leading to some form of action. The wall-bound works are arranged by decades beginning with Malang from 1957 to RM de Leon (2018). Conceptually, each piece signifies a musical note in a lyrical composition. Each artist’s distinctive use of materials, techniques, space, visual concepts, and artistic languages resonates within each gallery and between the two. Their intentional placement alludes to the slippage between the modern and the contemporary, transcending rigid categorization.
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Silvana’s life-long education in the arts came not from a classroom but from cultural immersion—through looking deeply into Philippine periods of arts, listening to and interacting with artists every chance she could get. Two Galleria Duemila scrapbooks from 1975 to 1977 containing original exhibition invitations, newspaper clippings, photographs, and artwork price lists and a small archive wall are included in the exhibition. These artifacts are a mere few selected from her huge repository chronicling not just Galleria Duemila’s tenure but also the art scene in the past 50 years. Look at, listen to, and feel the paintings, mixed media, paper works, and sculptures contoured deep within the senses. Lean into each artwork’s title. They are portals for understanding conceptual and artistic expressions. Do not fear that which we may think or see as abstract. These painted, collaged, and sculpted multi-textured shapes and figures are glimpses into these artists’ hearts, minds, and spirits. In so many ways, these formalist and figurative fragments of their visual languages are slivers of life experiences, concerns with the times in which they have lived. They address cultural and social issues including but not limited to nature, gender, ritual, mythology, labor, and the sublime that resist didactic interpretations. Five decades of art history diverge and converge within, across, and between time. This exhibition invites its viewers to experience abstract and minimalist paintings, artworks on paper and sculpture into a convergent world of artists and artistic director Silvana Ancellotti Diaz. A world where the imaginative hearts and minds unite in a wondrous palette of color, light, and textures creating a symphonic composition reflective of a camaraderie of spirit and creativity. AVANTI SEMPRE AVANTI/FORWARD ALWAYS FORWARD invites its viewers into an art world not grounded in fame and market value, but rather in Galleria Duemila/Silvana Ancellotti Diaz’s love for artworks that surprise, create a sensation of bewilderment, and heighten curiosities. At its core, this exhibition is her tribute, each work like music notes of a grand composition and their individual titles like lines in an ode. They celebrate the imaginative impulses, whimsical playfulness, tactile and tacit talents of artists whose careers propelled Philippine Modern and Contemporary Art into today’s vibrancy. Angel Velasco Shaw Curator
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1950s
Barbershop with Chess Players. Mauro “Malang” Santos. Tempera on paper. 12.50 x 25.50 cm / 4.93 x 10.05 in. 1957.
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House for Rent (PAG Series). Mauro “Malang” Santos. Tempera on paper. 14.50 x 9.70 cm / 5.71 x 3.82 in. 1957.
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1960s
Four Seasons. Jose Joya. Oil on paper (4 panels). 19.50 x 33.00 cm / 7.68 x 13.00 in. 1960.
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Seascape. Cesar Legaspi. Oil on marine plywood. 59.00 x 78.50 cm / 23.25 x 30.93 in. 1963.
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Bamboo Plant. Juvenal Sanso. Mixed media on paper. 64.26 x 49.25 cm / 25.32 x 19.40 in. 1963.
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Untitled. Federico Aguilar Alcuaz. Mixed media on wood board. 55.88 x 72.40 cm / 22.02 x 28.53 in. 1966.
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Search. Justin Nuyda. Pastel, acrylic on board on plywood. 76.20 x 51.00 cm / 30.02 x 20.09 in. 1971.
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1970s
White Relief. Arturo Luz. Laminated plywood. 91.50 x 122.00 cm / 36.05 x 48.07 in. 1972.
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Anxiety of Motherhood. Isabel Diaz. Oil on canvas. 126.50 x 89.50 cm / 49.84 x 35.26 in. 1974.
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Number 33. Lianben Lao. Oil on panel. 76.00 x 89.00 cm / 29.24 x 35.07 in. 1975.
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Abstraction in oil #1 (Cat. 80-360). Romulo Olazo. Oil on board. 28.50 x 35.50 cm / 11.23 x 13.99 in. 1976.
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Manila Bay Sunset. Betsy Westerndorp. Oil on masonite wood. 46.00 x 55.00 cm / 18.12 x 21.67 in. 1976.
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Untitled. Hernando Ruiz “H.R.” Ocampo. Oil on canvas. 101.50 x 76.00 cm / 39.99 x 29.94 in.1977.
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1980s
Green Gold & Venetian Red No. 2. Leopoldo “Lee” Aguinaldo II. Acrylic on wood. 52.50 x 55.50 cm / 20.69 x 21.87 in. 1980.
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Life Class Setting. Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera. Oil on canvas. 66.00 x 55.00 cm / 26.00 x 21.67 in. 1980.
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Sea Horizon I. Phyllis Zaballero. Acrylic on canvas. 152.50 x 122.00 cm / 60.09 x 48.07 in. 1980.
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Six Squares. Nestor Vinluan. Mixed media on canvas. 120.00 x 120.00 cm / 47.28 x 47.28 in. 1981.
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Patsulok. Augusto “Gus” Albor. Mixed media on canvas. 122.50 x 122.50 cm / 48.27 x 48.27 in. 1981.
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Misty Violet and Green. Ray Albano. Acrylic on wood. 122.00 x 81.30 cm / 48.07 x 32.03 in. 1984.
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Black Bag, Wall Paper. Roberto “Bobby” Chabet. Collage on paper. 99.06 x 90.17 cm / 39.03 x 35.53 in. 1985.
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Cafe Girl. Onib Olmedo. Acrylic on canvas. 91.00 x 61.00 cm / 35.85 x 24.03 in. 1992.
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1990s
No Other Way but Nirvana. Jerry Elizalde-Navarro. Watercolor on paper. 51.40 x 60.30 cm / 20.25 x 23.76 in. 1993.
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Maid in Negros Goes Global. Nunelucio Alvarado. Oil on canvas. 152.00 x 91.00 cm / 69.89 x 35.85 in. 1994.
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Maestro’s Way to Knowledge. Santiago Bose. Mixed media (acrylic and tempera) on paper. 70.00 x 100.00 cm / 27.58 x 39.40 in. 1994.
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Untitled. Manuel Ocampo. Oil on canvas. 101.00 x 76.00 cm / 39.79 x 29.94 in. 1995.
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I Am a Part of My Mindscape. Charlie Co. Oil on canvas.122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in. 1996.
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Rocentre. Lamberto Hechanova. Acrylic and rhoplex on canvas. 61.00 x 61.00 cm / 24.03 x 24.03 in. 1996-1997.
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2000s
May Ritual. Raul Lebajo. Oil on canvas. 127.00 x 91.50 cm / 50.04 x 36.05 in. 2003.
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Rolling Stones. Pacita Abad. Acrylic, glitter, painted cardboard, collaged on handmade paper. 135.00 x 70.00 cm / 53.19 x 27.58 in. 2004.
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Cosmic Snake. Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr. Paint on T&G board. 211.00 x 30.50 cm / 83.13 x 12.02 in. 2016.
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Untitled Abstraction 6 (Homage to J.W. Turner). R.M. de Leon. Mixed media on paper. 90.50 x 120.90 cm / 35.66 x 47.63 in. 2018.
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Cactus. Julie Lluch-Dalena. Clay. 79.50 x 37.50 x 33.00 cm / 31.32 x 14.78 x 13.00 in. 1992.
Cactus. Julie Lluch-Dalena. Clay. 84.00 x 36.00 x 33.00 cm / 33.10 x 14.18 x 13.00 in. 1993.
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Sculptural Gem I. May Baddour. Plastic. 11.50 x 16.00 x 7.50 cm / 4.53 x 6.30 x 2.96 in. 2008.
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Birth (Gaia’s Womb). Imelda “Impy” Pilapil. Stone, black marble. 76.00 x 55.00 x 18.00 cm / 29.44 x 21.67 x 7.09 in. 2006.
Organic Yin-Yang. Eduardo “Ed” Castrillo. Handcrafted brass sheet gauge 16, oxidized in copper-green patina. 50.80 x 76.20 x 106.70 cm / 20.02 x 30.02 x 42.04 in. 1993. 39
Rite of Safe Passage Supplicant 3 (1/8) Rite of Safe Passage Goddess (1/8) Agnes Arellano Agnes Arellano Bronze Bronze 4.80 x 12.20 x 18.00 cm / 1.89 x 4.80 x 7.09 in. 20.30 x 12.90 x 12.30 cm / 7.99 x 5.08 x 4.84 in. 2007 2007
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Rite of Safe Passage Supplicant 2 (1/8) Agnes Arellano Bronze 10.00 x 11.90 x 14.90 cm / 3.94 x 4.69 x 5.87 in. 2007
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Ancestral Transmutation Supplicant 2 (1/8) Agnes Arellano Bronze 11.20 x 7.70 x 12.80 cm / 4.41 x 3.03 x 5.04 in. 2007
Haliya No. 3. Duddley Diaz. Plaster painted with acrylic. 24.50 x 13.00 x 9.00 cm / 9.65 x 5.12 x 3.55 in. 2019.
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Ina (Study). Duddley Diaz. Bronze. 28.00 x 9.90 x 14.50 cm / 11.03 x 3.90 x 5.71 in. 2001.
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Haliya Enthroned No. 2. Duddley Diaz. Orange utah alabaster. 24.50 x 15.00 x 10.50 cm / 9.65 x 5.914 x 4.14 in. 2013.
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Father Time. Solomon Saprid. Welded brass. 47.50 x 22.00 x 20.00 cm / 18.27 x 8.67 x 7.88 in. 2013.
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50 YEARS OF PHILIPPINE MODERN ART
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Galleria Duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz. Duemila means “twentieth century” and it was this vision that inspired the gallery’s advocacy in promoting and preserving Philippine contemporary art. To date, it is the longest-standing commercial art gallery in the Philippines maintaining a strong international profile. Galleria Duemila takes pride in being the only local gallery to publish and mount retrospectives of artists as part of its advocacy in pursuing art historical research and scholarship.
With the collaboration of institutions, Galleria Duemila has mounted the retrospectives of Roberto M. A. Robles (Ateneo Art Gallery, 2011), Duddley Diaz (Vargas Museum, 2009), and Julie Lluch Dalena (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2008). It has also published a book on Diosdado Magno Lorenzo (National Library of the Philippines, 2009) and produced a major Pacita Abad exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2004. Galleria Duemila is a presumed important cultural property through Article III of the National Heritage Act of 2009 (R.A. 10066) and is listed as a local cultural property of Pasay under City Ordinance No. 4624 series of 2019. Gawad Parangal para sa mga Alagad ng Sining ng Pasay (2023) Plaque of Local Cultural Property (2023)
210 Loring Street 1300 Pasay City, Metro Manila +63 908 307 9972 +63 2 8831 9990 +63 2 8833 9815 gduemila@gmail.com art@galleriaduemila.com