Artinformal in Makati: A Space for Contemporary Art

Artinformal in Makati is a contemporary art gallery presenting works by Filipino artists across painting, sculpture, pottery, installation, multimedia, performance, and other art forms.

Artinformal was established in 2004 by Tina Fernandez together with a group of contemporary Filipino artists. It began as an initiative to bring art and artistic practice closer to the community through exhibitions and art education.

Salvador Joel Alonday and Christina Quisumbing, Installation view of Mementos from the Waste Land , 2022/IMAGE from Artinformal’s Facebook page

Two years later, in 2006, Artinformal established its gallery space in Greenhills, San Juan, providing a venue for a broad range of artistic practices. Its exhibitions were developed around creative exchange and encounters, allowing different forms and approaches to contemporary art to be presented to the public.

In 2018, Artinformal expanded with a new space in Makati City. The Makati location has three exhibition spaces, primarily featuring solo exhibitions by selected artists.

Artinformal, Makati City / IMAGE from Philippine Primer

From September 9 to October 9, 2026, each of the three exhibition spaces at Artinformal Makati presents a different exhibition.

At Gallery 1 and the Lobby, Invasive Species by Filipino-American artist Tosha Albor uses the natural world to examine otherness and the perception of resilience as a threat to established norms.

Albor draws from plants transplanted from their native environments, including Rhododendron ponticum introduced to the United Kingdom and Opuntia cacti in Spain. Their movement and adaptation become references for examining displacement and the effects of colonial conquest.

The paintings also look at how organisms and identities can establish roots across borders. Through these natural forms, the exhibition considers spaces of loss and grief alongside the development of resilient ecosystems where life and meaning continue to take hold.

Tosha Albor, To wilt and try again, Invasive Species, 2026/IMAGE from Artinformal’s Website

At Gallery 2, Greatest View by Zean Cabangis focuses on impressions of built and natural landscapes, including buildings, structures, roads, atmospheric conditions, and natural environments. His large-scale paintings record terrains that transform and gradually change over time.

The works combine images Cabangis gathers and remembers while moving through different places. Some originate from fleeting encounters, while others come from prolonged and deliberate observation. Using emulsion, image transfers, and layers of acrylic paint, Cabangis further abstracts the landscapes through lines and geometric elements.

The exhibition also includes an installation created with his brother and fellow artist Aaron Cabangis. A makeshift room constructed from hollow blocks obscures light pieces inside, with their glow visible through openings between the blocks. The work comments on limited or complete lack of access to scenic views because of physical barriers or economic circumstances.

IMAGE from Artinformal’s Instagram account

At Gallery 3, Atlas in a bright room marks the beginning of an extended project of the same name. The exhibition centers on the presence, visual characteristics, and legibility of animals depicted on paper banknotes from around the world, including currencies both in and out of circulation.

IMAGE from Artinformal’s Instagram account

The project uses collection, emphasis, erasure, and presentation to examine this particular form of visual information. Through the representation of animals on currency, it considers how people understand and relate to other forms of life and the natural world through systems of knowledge shaped by art, design, and the accumulation and circulation of visual material.

Lesley-Anne Cao, Atlas in a bright room, Setof 32, 2026/IMAGE from Artinformal’s Website