Leslie de CHAVEZ: Thy Will Be Done: Solo Exhibition

ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL is pleased to present Thy Will Be Done, a solo exhibition by Leslie de CHAVEZ (b. 1978), from May 1 (Fri) to June 20 (Sat), 2026. Ten years after his last solo exhibition in Korea, the exhibition features a diverse range of genres including painting, video, and installation. Leslie de CHAVEZ has consistently explored contemporary issues by delving into the complex social and historical contexts of his native Philippines—probing the history of cultural imperialism and colonialism, the realities of contemporary life, and the absurdities of politics and religion. By deconstructing and reconfiguring iconic images, texts, and symbols of the era through biting metaphors, he candidly reveals the social and temporal symptoms of our time. His practice continues to reflect a deep concern for the roles, functions, and ripple effects that art must perform within society.

 

Spanning the third and fourth floors of ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL, the exhibition brings together works that sit at the intersection of various concepts shaping today’s cultural, social, and political environments in the Philippines and beyond. In particular, the exhibition examines how faith functions as a medium that projects, interprets, and at times misreads notions of dominance, control, obedience, and conformity, as well as acceptance and resignation. Through this lens, the exhibition explores how individuals and society continuously negotiate the personal and collective subjectivity they strive to maintain amidst the pressures of faith and authority. The title of the exhibition, "Thy Will Be Done," is derived from the Lord's Prayer and carries a heavy emphasis on obedience and conformity to a divine will. This nuance is closely tied to the unique national identity of the Philippines, where over 90% of the population is Catholic. Representing a trust in a purpose already designed by nature or a deity, this expression presupposes an absolute trust and entrustment to a transcendent order. Leslie de CHAVEZ paradoxically adopts this expression to highlight the contradictions between individual religious devotion and the collective desires fueled by social systems. He questions whether conformity—performed in the name of faith or fate—acts as a mechanism that obscures individual judgment and will. He contemplates how individuals placed under the grand systems of faith and authority negotiate and sometimes resist to maintain their subjectivity, ultimately emphasizing the importance of the self in determining one’s own life amidst external regulations. His works invite us to reflect on the existential modes of both personal and collective selves that we must never lose at the point where faith and reality collide.

 

Born in Manila in 1978, Leslie de CHAVEZ received his BFA in Painting from the University of the Philippines in 1999 and is currently based in the Philippines. He has held solo exhibitions at ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL (Seoul, Korea) in 2026 and 2016; Gajah Gallery Singapore (Singapore) in 2025; Silverlens (Singapore) in 2021 and 2013; ARARIO GALLERY SHANGHAI (Shanghai, China) in 2018; and Liverpool Hope University (Liverpool, UK) in 2015. He has participated in group exhibitions at Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) in 2025; Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum (Bratislava, Slovakia) in 2019; Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art (Jeju, Korea) in 2015; ARARIO MUSEUM in SPACE (Seoul, Korea) in 2014; López Museum and Library (Manila, Philippines) in 2014; and Singapore Art Museum (Singapore) in 2013 and 2012. A two-time award winner (2014; 2010) of the Ateneo Art Awards for Visual Art. Leslie de CHAVEZ is also the director/founder of the artist-run initiative Project Space Pilipinas, in Lucban, Quezon.