Rachel Rillo

Photographer and co-founder, Silverlens

 

The gallerist and photographer centres the spotlight on Philippine art

Rachel Rillo studied at San Francisco’s Academy of Art, majoring in photography, before working as a freelance photographer in Los Angeles. In 2007, Rillo returned to Manila, where she continued to show her works.

In 2009, Rillo joined Silverlens, a photo gallery founded by her partner Isa Lorenzo, as its co-director. Under the couple’s joint leadership, the gallery has become one of the Philippines’ most well-known homes for Filipino art. Silverlens has since represented award-winning artists from all over Southeast Asia.

In 2014, Rillo retired from art to focus on running Silverlens. The title of her valedictory exhibition, Flower Flies Mimic Wasps, proved as perplexing as the images on show. The collection was method-driven, with the artist exploiting pre-digital photographic techniques, like solarising, bracketing and photograms, to produce abstract forms.

In September 2022, she and Lorenzo opened a second Silverlens location in the Chelsea neighbourhood of New York City. Their goal is to introduce Southeast Asian diasporic art to an American audience.

In 2023, Rillo and Lorenzo launched the Lubi Art Residency in the Philippines, featuring artists who will produce carbon-neutral installations and sustainable artworks using natural materials found on Kopiat Island. These artworks are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

She hasn’t shown her works since, but a range of Rillo’s photography has been immortalised in a book, Rachel Rillo 2009-2012, published by Silverlens.

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