Art Underground Manila

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Art Underground Manila Art Underground celebrates the extraordinary creativity of artists whose works reflect the Filipino experience and its potential global influence.

ART UNDERGROUND (est. 2014) is a platform for contemporary visual art practice and projects, showcasing visual cutting edge programmes expressed through painting, sculpture, installation, and new media. Centering on dialogue through contemporary art forms and disciplines and its regional, national, and international impact; AU inspires ingenuity, curiosity, and innovation through the experience of art. Art Underground presents an opportunity to its roster of artists to showcase on a premier stage, locally and internationally, through its consistent participation in various art fairs such as Art Fair Philippines, Art Fair Tokyo, Art Central Hong Kong, Art Kaohshiung, and KIAF (Korean International Fair) Art Seoul. Focusing both on discovering and providing new opportunities for young and emerging artists, as well as promoting and advancing established ones, the gallery aims at foregrounding the current commentaries in the field.

Opening Today:Rex Cabaroc’s In Silence considers the quiet that follows experiences which can no longer be altered. Thro...
24/09/2026

Opening Today:

Rex Cabaroc’s In Silence considers the quiet that follows experiences which can no longer be altered. Through branches wrapped in fragments of colored textile, the artist gives physical form to the process of carrying, confronting, and eventually making peace with what remains.

In Silence by Rex Cabaroc is on view until October 2, 2026.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

Opening Today:Kier Buencamino’s Oddly Familiar presents a body of work situated between the recognizable and the strange...
24/09/2026

Opening Today:

Kier Buencamino’s Oddly Familiar presents a body of work situated between the recognizable and the strange. Drawing on the visual language of pop surrealism and the whimsical distortions of Alice in Wonderland, Buencamino constructs scenes in which familiar figures, gestures, and environments take on an unexpected character.

Oddly Familiar by Kier Buencamino is on view until October 6, 2026.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

In SilenceRex CabarocSeptember 24 - October 2, 2026Rex Cabaroc’s In Silence considers the quiet that follows experiences...
22/09/2026

In Silence
Rex Cabaroc
September 24 - October 2, 2026

Rex Cabaroc’s In Silence considers the quiet that follows experiences which can no longer be altered. Through branches wrapped in fragments of colored textile, the artist gives physical form to the process of carrying, confronting, and eventually making peace with what remains.

The branches retain their natural irregularities, each one bearing its own bends, breaks, and variations, while the textiles introduce another layer of human presence. Wrapped around the wood, the fabric suggests memory, attachment, and the marks left by experience. Their cool-toned palette lends the works a subdued atmosphere, allowing color to function less as ornament and more as an emotional register.

In Silence ultimately looks at the space beyond explanation, a state in which acceptance does not require forgetting. Rather than presenting healing as a moment of resolution, Cabaroc approaches it as a gradual process. What has happened remains part of the form, but it no longer dictates its direction. In these quiet constructions, growth is expressed not through transformation alone, but through the decision to remain, endure, and continue.

Text by Deseree Mapandi

Oddly FamiliarKier BuencaminoSeptember 24 - October 6, 2026Kier Buencamino’s Oddly Familiar presents a body of work situ...
21/09/2026

Oddly Familiar
Kier Buencamino
September 24 - October 6, 2026

Kier Buencamino’s Oddly Familiar presents a body of work situated between the recognizable and the strange. Drawing on the visual language of pop surrealism and the whimsical distortions of Alice in Wonderland, Buencamino constructs scenes in which familiar figures, gestures, and environments take on an unexpected character.

A restrained black-and-white palette gives the works a distinct visual coherence. Without the distraction of color, attention shifts toward form, expression, composition, and the subtle peculiarities within each scene. The result is playful without becoming overly whimsical, and surreal without abandoning visual structure.

The title Oddly Familiar reflects the tension at the series’ center: images that appear unfamiliar, yet somehow recognizable. Buencamino plays with this space between recognition and interpretation, allowing ordinary references to become slightly displaced and open to new associations.

As a first exhibition, the series introduces Buencamino through a world that is distinctly his own, curious, composed, and quietly unconventional. His characters and settings invite observation without prescribing a single narrative, leaving room for the viewer to determine what feels familiar, what feels strange, and where the two begin to overlap.

Text by Deseree Mapandi

Closing:Fables of AnotherChei CruzThe artist’s fables offer fragments that allow meaning to emerge through observation a...
21/09/2026

Closing:
Fables of Another
Chei Cruz

The artist’s fables offer fragments that allow meaning to emerge through observation and intuition. The viewer becomes both witness and storyteller, filling the spaces between what is shown and what remains deliberately untold. This is where the title finds its quiet resonance. Each canvas is a fable of another, another place, another consciousness, another version of a story that might somehow belong to us.

In Chei’s worlds, the surreal does not estrange. It beckons, and if we look long enough, the unfamiliar begins to feel strangely like home.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

Art Underground, in collaboration with Ateneo High School Batch 2001, presents Little Boy Blue, a special commissioned s...
19/09/2026

Art Underground, in collaboration with Ateneo High School Batch 2001, presents Little Boy Blue, a special commissioned sculpture by contemporary artist SAIS.

Drawing from the familiar figure of the Ateneo schoolboy, Little Boy Blue marks the 25th anniversary of the blue-and-khaki uniform first worn in 2001. Through SAIS’ distinctive visual language, an everyday symbol of school life is transformed into an object of memory — reflecting youth, identity, nostalgia, and the experiences that shape growth.

The work captures a figure at the beginning of his journey: a boy whose uniform represents not simply a school, but a particular moment in life and the memories carried long after it has passed.

Created as a special artist edition, Little Boy Blue brings SAIS’ contemporary practice into dialogue with personal and collective memory, turning an instantly recognizable cultural reference into a sculptural keepsake.

SAIS
Little Boy Blue, 2026
Resin
13.25 × 4.5 × 4.5 in.

₱29,000
Special Pre-Order Price: ₱27,500 until September 30, 2026

Each sculpture will be hand-signed and numbered by the artist. The final edition size will be determined by the total number of works acquired during the pre-order period, with a maximum edition of 100 pieces.

For inquiries and reservations, please contact Art Underground.

https://01bigfight.com/little-boy-blue

Chei Cruz (b. 1992) is a self-taught artist based in Angono, Rizal. She gets inspiration from her art community and her ...
18/09/2026

Chei Cruz (b. 1992) is a self-taught artist based in Angono, Rizal. She gets inspiration from her art community and her hometown. Cruz started her creative journey through typography, which then developed into black-and-white drawings, a current favorite of the artist. Also inspired by the works of Mark Ryden, Cruz constantly reflects on childhood memories, using them as insights to broaden her imagination.

Fables of Another by Chei Cruz is on view until September 21, 2026.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

16/09/2026

Fables of Another
Chei Cruz
September 8 - 21, 2026

In Chei Cruz’s Fables of Another, quiet worlds unfold in a muted palette, where color recedes just enough for the imagination to speak more clearly. Her subjects inhabit dreamy settings that feel at once familiar and elsewhere, characters caught within stories that seem to have begun long before we arrived.

Stories flutter through gestures, objects, glances, and the delicate peculiarities scattered across each canvas. These scenes hold a particular stillness, yet nothing feels dormant. Chei invites the viewer to linger over these details as clues to narratives waiting to be assembled. What appears whimsical gradually reveals an underlying contemplation of memory, identity, longing, and the strange logic of the worlds humanity constructs within itself.

The artist’s fables offer fragments that allow meaning to emerge through observation and intuition. The viewer becomes both witness and storyteller, filling the spaces between what is shown and what remains deliberately untold. This is where the title finds its quiet resonance. Each canvas is a fable of another, another place, another consciousness, another version of a story that might somehow belong to us.

In Chei’s worlds, the surreal does not estrange. It beckons, and if we look long enough, the unfamiliar begins to feel strangely like home.

Text by Deseree Mapandi

Featured Artwork:Chei CruzHer Silent Guardians24 x 30 inchesOil on canvas2026Fables of Another by Chei Cruz is on view u...
14/09/2026

Featured Artwork:

Chei Cruz
Her Silent Guardians
24 x 30 inches
Oil on canvas
2026

Fables of Another by Chei Cruz is on view until September 21, 2026.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

Stories flutter through gestures, objects, glances, and the delicate peculiarities scattered across each canvas. These s...
12/09/2026

Stories flutter through gestures, objects, glances, and the delicate peculiarities scattered across each canvas. These scenes hold a particular stillness, yet nothing feels dormant. Chei invites the viewer to linger over these details as clues to narratives waiting to be assembled. What appears whimsical gradually reveals an underlying contemplation of memory, identity, longing, and the strange logic of the worlds humanity constructs within itself.

Fables of Another by Chei Cruz is on view until September 21, 2026.

Art Underground is located at 2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini, Brgy. Addition Hills, San Juan, Metro Manila, and is open from 10AM - 7PM, Monday to Saturday.

www.aumanila.com

Address

2/F Mabini180, 180 A. Mabini Street, Addition Hills
San Juan
1550

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 7pm
Tuesday 10am - 7pm
Wednesday 10am - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 7pm
Friday 10am - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 7pm

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