From nude sketching to biblical triptychs, here\u2019s what to see in the Manila visual art scene this August 2025.<\/b>
\nAugust is many things: ghost month, Lionsgate season, and the month just before the \u201c-ber\u201d months explode into a premature holiday frenzy. It sits in a liminal space. But for the art world in Manila, the days and nights are filled with activity.
Coming up this Saturday, the UP Vargas Museum will open its doors for Family Day. It\u2019s open for children aged six to ten, and will include a morning of zine-making, gardening, and hands-on art sessions led by Patti Ramos.
For the titas, happening from Aug. 7 to 10 at The Peninsula Manila, MaArte Fair is returning with its signature mix of heritage crafts and contemporary design. The fair is a one-stop-shop for collectors or anyone who appreciates beautifully made local pieces.
For practicing artists or art students, The Grey Space in San Juan is holding a live nude figure drawing session. The late afternoon session on Aug. 16 will also offer a safe space to connect with the creative community.
All month long, WHYNoT is collaborating with the special Fotomoto Atelier program. From portfolio reviews to a CULT photo exhibit on Aug. 9, the space continues to act as an incubator for artists. WHYNoT also launches \u201cOn the Verge,\u201d where anyone can present their works-in-progress to an informal panel: the audience.
Beyond the fairs and workshops, there is also a slate of visual art exhibitions. So if you\u2019re looking for art that asks you to linger a little, these visual art exhibits in Manila are a good place to start.
Since opening in late 2019, Modeka has been holding its annual \u201cOpen House\u201d and this year\u2019s run features over 60 established and emerging artists.
The works featured range in medium\u2014spread across the main floor and loft. The gallery\u2019s glassbox also highlights a collaborative project titled \u201cAnimal Bite Center,\u201d which is co-curated by Harn and Arvin Viola.
\u201cOpen House\u201d aims to reinvent the gallery space with each iteration. And this year\u2019s opening night was filled with the electric energy typical of Modeka as a gallery, packed with art, music, and the palpable sense that the space is open\u2014welcome to everyone.
\u201cOpen House\u201d runs from Aug. 2 to 30 at Modeka, Warehouse 20A, La Fuerza 1 2241, Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City
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Jonidel Mendoza, \u201cShadows Between the Lines\u201d at Galleria Duemila
In \u201cShadows Between the Lines,\u201d Venezuelan visual artist Jonidel Mendoza presents a contemplative solo exhibition composed of seven paintings and three sculptural installations.
Subtle yet striking, the works explore faceless human forms rendered through translucent layers, evoking a stillness that invites pause with deliberate interplays of light and shadow.
Exhibition writer Angel Velasco Shaw describes how the \u201cephemeral and contemplative qualities of his works appeal to our visceral senses, conjuring a desire to touch, feel, and visually meander through shifting layers of meaning.\u201d
Throughout the show are textural references\u2014from fine embroidery to braille, Morse code, and a matrix of staples\u2014all of which, according to Shaw, serve as \u201cportals into the un\/conscious awakenings of the human spirit,\u201d meant to be observed from every angle.
\u201cShadows Between the Lines\u201d runs from June 21 to Sept. 6 at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Metro Manila
In \u201cBersikulo\u201d (the Tagalog term for \u201cverse\u201d), Ryan Jara continues his reimaginings of the human form\u2014this time drawing deep connections to Biblical scripture, where viewers will recognize the many Biblical references that reveal the artist\u2019s sincere spirituality.
In his notes, Jara recalls childhood memories of attending church. He recalls how at first, he was there for the free snacks post-rosary. But eventually, he absorbed the lessons. \u201cNatuto akong malaman kung ano ang tama at mali,\u201d Jara says, \u201cAt ngayon ay ikinukuwento ko naman sa aking mga anak.\u201d
Among the highlights of the show is an 18-foot triptych, narrating the story of Gideon. Other works depict scenes such as the joyous wedding at Cana, David and Goliath, Roman soldiers drowning in the Red Sea, and a raw, fleshy figuration of The Lord\u2019s Prayer.
In one particularly affecting piece, a sorrowful Mother Mary cradles the body of Jesus, his magnified wounds in his hands and feet plainly visible. Meanwhile, in \u201cGabay sa Aking Buhay,\u201d angels appear as guides; for Jara, these are deeply personal: \u201cAng pamilya ko ang aking mga anghel, dahil sila ang palaging tumutulong at gumagabay sa akin,\u201d he says.
\u201cBersikulo\u201d runs from Aug. 8 to 30 at Finale Art File, La Fuerza Compound, Warehouse 17, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City
Chati Coronel explores the idea that we are all born with inherent knowledge, thus writing in her artist statement, \u201cWe are born knowing.\u201d
Known for her technique of Figurative Spatialism, Coronel builds her layered compositions with expressive, abstract gestures, later enclosed within color fields shaped like human silhouettes. Her work draws on a broad mix of influences, from thinker Rudolf Steiner to fables, poetry, and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.
This new series of the artist features six large-scale paintings that delve into themes of intuition and inner strength, inspired by Tarot archetypes and ancient Gnostic texts. The show reflects Coronel\u2019s continued exploration of what she calls \u201cHuman Power\u201d\u2014a deep-rooted intelligence often pushed aside by modern systems of productivity and control. Through these works, she invites viewers to look inward and rediscover that forgotten inner self.
\u201cNotes for Exaltation\u201d runs from July 19 to Aug. 16 at Silverlens Manila, 2263 Chino Roces Ave, Makati City
Demi Padua, \u201cLayers and Shadows\u201d at the National Museum of Fine Arts
\u201cLayers and Shadows\u201d opens at the Spoliarium Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts. In the former grand hall of masters, his work will surround Juan Luna\u2019s major art historical piece, the \u201cSpoliarium.\u201d
Presented by the National Museum of the Philippines and the Asian Cultural Council Foundation, and co-presented by DF Art Agency, this exhibition spotlights Padua, well-known for his distinct layering of hyperrealist figures with abstract forms, particularly in fragmented portraiture.
\u201cLayers and Shadows\u201d runs from August 12 at the Spoliarium Hall, National Museum of Fine Arts, Padre Burgos Ave, Ermita, Manila
Gene Paul Martin\u2019s works are always otherworldly, evoking alternate dimensions through his use of color, shape, and figure. And in the notes for his exhibition \u201cGodhead,\u201d the writer describes how his paintings are, \u201cdense islands of color, but he only paints with one brush.\u201d
The notes go on to describe the exhibit\u2019s content as \u201cportraits of the edge of familiarity, zoomed in to show us how archetypes would mingle.\u201d
While there will be only two paintings on exhibit, their monumental scales promise a generous amount of time spent staring into their multi-hued spectrum of space.
\u201cGodhead\u201d runs from Aug. 9 to Sep. 7 at the 3rd floor, Mo_Space, Mos Design, B2 9th Avenue, Taguig City
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Co-presented with Lunas Collective, Delfin\u2019s show explores the urgency of responding to trauma through geometric abstraction. Drawing from the title of Mary Oliver\u2019s \u201cThe Kookaburras,\u201d the exhibit plays with conflicting allegories of confinement and freedom.
As Chesca Santiago writes in the exhibition notes, Delfin \u201cutilizes visual storytelling within the principles of trauma-informed care. Elucidating the challenges that survivors confront when speaking about grave emotional distress, the artist frames her intentions as\u2026 the ability to anatomize lived experience by breaking down line, color, and shape,\u201d transforming \u201cmathematical optics into signifiers of somatic and psychological wounds, presenting alternative ways of articulating the complexity of such ordeals.\u201d
\u201cA Bird, A Cage, A God of Flowers\u201d runs from July 26 to Sept. 27 at Mono8 Gallery, BLK 113, 53 Connecticut St., San Juan City<\/p>\n