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Pow Martinez (b. 1983, Manila, Philippines; lives and works in Manila) is a Filipino artist known for his expressionistic style of painting, blending bold colors with demonic, mutant-like characters to create compelling canvases. Often resembling a beautiful nightmare, Martinez combines the mundanities of everyday life with elements of pop culture, resulting in darkly humorous works depicting society’s overconsumption.

🔗 Learn more about Pow Martinez via the link in bio.

 

MANILA: Is Jumalon’s Topography of Seeing opens at Silverlens Manila on 11 April and runs through 16 May 2026. An opening reception will be held this Saturday, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.

What hides in plain sight, submerged beneath these ambiguous forms, are the narratives that make up a place, and in Jumalon’s case, these are the rock formations from the Mount Pulong Bato monoliths in Zamboanga where she grew up. Hearing narratives from her parents about the rice fields, mounds of soil, and blades of grass imbued the place with a sense of mystery, danger even, that persists in the visceral hues and collagistic meldings of these paintings. 

In this new series of works, Jumalon paints an inheritance—a way of looking at the world that prioritizes curiosity and welcomes disruption. A form is never just one thing, these paintings suggest, but a series of possibilities which structure and accident conspire to make real. Linger with these pieces and stay with the feelings that they evoke, and soon enough they begin to behave like an entity of sorts. Within these resonances, Jumalon’s paintings exist as their own topography of perceptions and projections, drawing us deeper into the mysteries that reside within and beyond them.  

Words by Sean Carballo

🔗 Learn more about the exhibition via the link in bio.