PINTÔ MANHATTAN MANILLA
24-Hour Exhibition of Contemporary Philippine Art
Open 8:00
PM Monday 5.22
through 8:00
PM Tuesday 5.23
Urban Zen, 711 Greenwich Street
New York City
New York, NY
Pintô Manhattan Manila will exhibit works by more than 30
contemporary Philippine artists for 24 hours beginning at 8:00
PM on Monday,
May 22, 2017 and continuing until 8:00 the
following evening at Urban Zen, 711 Greenwich Street
(between Charles and West Tenth Streets) New York City. The
space will become a portal to the Philippines with special
programming throughout the night featuring skype
conversations between New York and Manila. The works will be
sold to benefit the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) ’s
Philippines Program and The Pintô Art Museum.
Artists exhibited include “three generations” of
contemporary Philippine artists, including:
1st generation: Manuel Ocampo*, Elmer Borlongan, Gil Batle,
Emmanuel Garibay, Mark Justiniani, Antonio Leano, Joy
Mallari.
2nd generation: Ronald Ventura, José John Santos III,
Kawayan De Guia, Alfredo Esquillo, Nona Garcia*, Gregory
Halili, Riel Hilario*, Geraldine Javier, Erwin Leano, Ian
Quirante, Pam Yan-Santos.
3rd generation: Jigger Cruz, Rodel Tapaya Marina Cruz, Raffy
Napay, Leeroy New*, Dexter Fernandez*, Winner Jumalon, Joven
Mansit, Martha Atienza, RG Habulan, Ryan Villamael, Jaypee
Samson, Reynaldo Samson, Dexter Sy.
*denotes ACC grantees
This exhibition is curated by Federico De Vera in
conjunction with Pintô’s founder Dr. Joven Cuanang, the art
historian Patrick Flores, and Dr. Luca Parolari. Pintô
International seeks to present Philippine contemporary art
beyond the borders of Asia in the manner envisioned by the
philosophy of the Pintô Art Museum, both via their online
gallery, and with forthcoming exhibitions in Milan, Paris,
and Tokyo.
The artists represented by Pintô cover the wide range of
aesthetics unique to the Philippines. Their styles include
Surrealism, Expressionism, Minimalism, Social Realism and
Conceptual Art, all with an attention to identity and
rootedness. Their themes and subjects are both universal and
product of the unique historical and cultural experience of
being Filipino.
Pintô Art Museum is a private museum dedicated to the
exhibition and study of Philippine contemporary art in
Antipolo, a pilgrimage site for the past four hundred years,
16 miles east of Manila. Its name, Pintô, comes from the
Filipino vernacular word for door or doorway and signifies
the role of the institution as a threshold to aesthetic
consciousness and cultural awareness. The museum's
philosophy is defined by its founder and patron, renowned
Filipino neurologist and medical educator Joven Cuanang, who
befriended local artists in the late 1980’s. His extensive
collection was formally presented to the public with the
opening of the museum in 2010.
The collection features more than 200 works of sculpture,
painting, and installations. Initially begun to support the
artists called The Salingpusa, the collection has grown to
include subsequent generations of artists, largely those
working in the figurative tradition. The museum buildings
are designed by Antonio Leaño, himself among the original
group of young stalwarts whom Dr. Cuanang supported.
Surrounding the museum is a two-hectare complex known as
Silangan Gardens, itself an ecological collection of plants
and flora, and a sanctuary for birds and local fauna. The
Museum also operates a gallery for contemporary Philippine
art.
The collection records cultural changes following the People
Power Revolution in 1986. Highlighting this is a large
canvas, “Karnabal,” a collaborative work by the artists of
the Salingpusa group, capturing the mood at the end of the
Marcos regime, depicting the post-revolutionary period as a
carnival.
Works by artists including Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay,
Neil Manalo, Mark Justiniani, Antonio Leano, Ferdinand
Montemayor, and Jose John Santos III reflect the challenges
of empowerment in the 1990s. The collection also traces the
figurative tradition in contemporary Philippine art to its
roots in Spanish colonial and academic art of the 1800s by
way of church art, and its influence on Modern Art in the
years before and following World War II. Works in the
collection illustrate how Filipino artists fused academic
traditions with personal interpretations of international,
but with a vigilance for their unique cultural identity.
Their themes and subjects appeal to the universal human
condition, but expressed in the unique historical and
cultural experience of being Filipino. For more information
see: http://www.pintoart.com/about
The Asian Cultural Council works to advance international
respect and understanding between people and cultures
through transformative cultural exchange. ACC awards
fellowship grants to artists and scholars in three
categories of cross-cultural exchange: Asia to the U.S.,
U.S. to Asia, and inter-Asia. To achieve the goal of
enabling meaningful engagement, ACC develops programs
specifically tailored to the needs and interests of each of
its grant recipients. Additionally, ACC fosters ongoing
dialogue between and among its grantees and artists and
scholars through a dynamic and robust network of individuals
across disciplines and across the globe. The ACC supports
its efforts by seeking funding from individuals,
foundations, and corporations with an interest in and
dedication to strengthening ties between the United States
and the countries of Asia. For more information see:www.asiaculturalcouncil.org |