QC gallery accused of not paying artists — and not returning their works

Gravity Art Space co-founder previously apologized, saying he sought legal advice over pending issues.

A public apology from art gallery Gravity Art Space has brought renewed attention to unresolved concerns from artists claiming they haven’t been paid for sold artworks—or had their works returned—after the Quezon City art space permanently closed.

Ged Merino, a former Gravity Art Space artist, reposted the space’s Sept. 8 statement on Facebook on Sept. 19.

“If you have unreturned artworks or have not recieved payment for artwork sold. There is an email to reach out to them. It’s unfortunate, but a lesson to artists especially young artists,” Merino wrote.

The post drew comments from people raising allegations involving the gallery, including claims that some artworks remain unpaid for or have not been returned to their owners.

Others claimed that the recovery email provided by Gravity Art Space—recovery.gravityartspace@yahoo.com—was not working or had not responded to requests concerning payments or the return of artworks.

There were also comments alleging the involvement of illegal substances.

Gravity Art Space was co-founded by artist Indy Paredes and his partner, Melai Matias. Paredes served as gallery director, while Matias served as head of collections.

radar sought Paredes’ response to the claims but received no response yet.

‘Isang taos-pusong paghingi ng tawad’

In a Sept. 8 statement titled “Isang Taos-Pusong Paghingi ng Tawad,” posted on Gravity Art Space’s Instagram page, Paredes apologized for his “matagal na pananahimik” and acknowledged that people had been “nasaktan, nadismaya, nagalit, nalito, at naiwan na may mga tanong.”

The statement doesn’t explicitly or categorically admit to any specific wrongdoing or identify the particular issues behind the gallery’s situation.

Instead, Paredes referred to “mga nakabinbing usapin matapos ang pagsasara ng GAS,” saying he wanted to communicate with concerned parties, explain what happened and, if possible, resolve the outstanding matters.

He said he had consulted a lawyer and other experts and acknowledged that addressing the concerns would require time, documentation and proper procedures.

“Hindi ko maipapangako na lahat ay agad-agad maaayos,” Paredes said. “Ngunit maipapangako ko na hindi ko nais iwasan ang mga bagay na kailangang harapin.”

Paredes took responsibility for the situation, but did not specify what wrongdoing or issues he was referring to. At the same time, he sought to clear others from involvement.

“Walang sinumang indibidwal, grupo, organisasyon, institusyon, o kompanya ang damay sa mga pangyayaring ito dahil wala silang direktang kinalaman dito,” he said.

He provided the aforementioned email as a channel for people with concerns about the gallery’s pending matters.

Pandemic gallery

Gravity Art Space was established in March 2021 along Mother Ignacia Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City. It operated alongside Nanka Japanese Steakhouse, which eventually shut down. The steakhouse’s last Instagram post was in August 2021.

Among the prominent contemporary artists who exhibited at the gallery were Elaine Navas, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Maya Muñoz, Allan Balisi, Dex Fernandez, MM Yu, Jonathan Olazo, Isabel and Jose Santos, Soler Santos, and Khavn.

In February 2025, Gravity Art Space expanded to Bangkok, opening a branch at V20 Boutique Hotel. Its last announced show was a solo exhibition that ran from April 20 to July 20, with its most recent Instagram post dated April 19 promoting the exhibition.

radar reached out to Gravity Art Space through the recovery email provided in Paredes’ statement and its Instagram account. radar also contacted Gravity Art Space Bangkok and V20 Boutique Hotel regarding the status of the Bangkok space.

Paredes’ Facebook account could not be reached through Messenger, which displayed the notice: “Indy can’t access this chat yet. You’ll be able to send messages when Indy next logs into Messenger.” His personal Instagram account is also set to private.

Comment on the Instagram post of Gravity Art Space’s statement also turned off.

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