Melted City 5
From the very first Melted City in 2012, its current re-staging has evolved into an immense assembly of over 300 artworks hailing from two cities and even beyond—Manila and New York. Beginning with two pioneering artists and longtime collaborators, Louie Cordero and Jordin Isip, who first recognized the parallel trajectories of raw, boundary-pushing artworks reflecting the two cities’ complex histories and shared atrocities, Melted has become an anticipated event, offering a survey of where contemporary art stands across these two regions.
From the original works on paper to the now-predetermined 7 x 7’s, the show’s latest iteration is a sprawling grid of networks designed to include as many artists as possible from different places, while allowing artists to explore the impossibilities within the given frame. The fifth version embodies the connections between artists—the linkages, ties, and meshwork formed through interactions and affiliations. In this chapter, both curators expanded their reach to include recommendations and discoveries from other artists, broadening the matrix that defines the sensibilities of both cities.
Melted City 5 is the continuation of a fortuitous meeting between artists and their imaginations. It is an imaginary tradition for an imaginary place. Emitting blended pasts and futures, it is a space formed by merging indexes, figures, characters, and landscapes. It is what others might refer to as a congregation.
To say that this gathering has reached an unprecedented scale may not be far from the truth. Never before have two origins come together to form an assembly of this magnitude, to represent as many individual artists coming from opposite directions. Never before has the muddle and disarray coalesced into something more jumbled. Never before has what was melted become a solid mess of mesmerizing chaos.
/CLJ
Works
Aaron Guadamuz - Serial #F5R0E0S0N1O
Ae Pastrana - Petroica Rosea (Rose Robin)
Anthony Castro - Krises
Anthony Macbain - Mama Tried
Apol Sta. Maria - Gemini Swim
Béa Anctil - The End
Beatriz Cifuentes - Systems & Grids Study 7
Bembol Dela Cruz - Paltik
Bill Zindell - Untitled
Brave Singh - Untitled Landscape
Bulan Luna - Light
Calef Brown - Happy Griffin
Cameron Mizell - Inner Urge
Catrin Morgan - Fibonacci Swamp Cabin
Cris Casanova - Santo Slogo
Dakota Knicks - Can't Remember
Dani Manning - Untitled
Danilo C. Lizada - Inspired
Danilo Lizada - Dorm 2
David Ryan Viray - A Man of Wisdom
Dehon Taguyungon - Bibiyo
Deo del Rio - Grey
Distort Monster - Nervous Breakdown
Dominique Vitali - Idea
Edward Del Rosario - Boneshaker Without The Skull
Elmer Borlongan - Take Me to the River
Epjey Pacheco - The Reaping
Erica Mao - Night Watching
Erik Foss - Black Out Snake
Eun-Ha Paek - The Recital
Francis Bejar - Bananaism
Gary-Ross Pastrana - Static Swimmers
Gene Paul Martin - New Portrait
Gregory Benton - Welcome to the Family
Gregory Nemec - The Old West
Harvy Armada - Surface Tension
Hunter Heckroth - Strawberry Rhubarb
Iddy Pastrana - Food, Come to Me!
Ikoy Ricio - Redeeming Time
Iya Barrioquinto - Deep Colors
Jamael B. Sarip - Music in the Fire
Jared Yokte - Belief
Jeremy Sorese - Chalice
Joan Cornella - Time Heals Everything
Johanna Goodman
John Frank Sabado - Sacred Heart of Nature
Jonathan Ching - Dusk
Josh Cochran - Luna
Julio San Jose - Gates 23
Julio San Jose - Gates 24
Kawayan de Guia - New Ideas
Kayla Berry - Devil and I
Kayla Rask - Swan Song
Lao Lianben - Monk's House
Li Xin Li - But First Let's Have a Talk
Lije Morgan - Anxiety Portrait
Liz Lee - Ellie
Maritsa Patrinos - 2 Emblems
Max Burlingame - Oversee Pressure
Melissa Ling - Murmur
Micaela Benedicto - Cubes
Monica Ramos - Dormant
Neil Pasilan - Buradong Mukha
Nona Garcia
Rene Bituin - Intention
Roxie Vizcarra - Best Friends (For Never)
Ruth Marten - #65
Ryan Wallace - Untitled, 2025
Sam Lindenfeld - Hum in Solitude
Sarah Tonra - Gutter
Skyler Martin - Complementary Worms
Sto Len - Cause for Alarm
Tamina Green - My House
Taylor Bielecki - Final Rescue Attempt
Thomas Campbell - Der
Tifenn Python - Little Fish
Tim Kerr - A Love Supreme
Tyang Karyel - Perpetual Blessing
Victor Balanon - Untitled (Self-Portrait)
William Magtibay - Anatomy of a Seat
Yeo Kaa - Happy Birthday Darling
Yuna Akabane - A Vase's Secrets
Documentation
