In the hills of Antipolo, the Pintô Art Museum beckons art lovers and other guests to the healing experience of art. What started out as…
In the hills of Antipolo, the Pintô Art Museum beckons art lovers and other guests to the healing experience of art.
What started out as a weekend sanctuary for neurologist and art patron Dr. Joven Cuanang has morphed into a center for the arts and sciences and a unique travel destination.
Cuanang has been pushing the envelope, setting up six galleries for Philippine contemporary art. He has also established the Pintô Academy for Arts and Sciences, which holds lectures on the healing power of the arts. He hopes to launch soon an arboretum, a garden of indigenous plants.
Meanwhile, Pintô International aims to raise the profile of Filipino artists. Last year, it mounted the “Pintô Manhattan Manila” exhibit at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Center in New York. The event attracted the chichi crowd. Proceeds went to the Asian Cultural Council’s scholarship programs.
Pintô International will mount the “Pintôkyo” exhibit at Hillside Terrace Annex in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, on June 19. Curator is Antonio Leaño.
Cuanang said the Tokyo exhibit would feature the works of 55 Philippine artists.
In the Manhattan show, best sellers were Jigger Cruz, known for combining classic painting techniques with experiments in textures, and social realist Elmer Borlongan.
Cross section
The Tokyo exhibit will represent a cross section of Philippine art across two generations.
Leaño created an enigmatic painting depicting an astronaut holding the diagram of a toilet.
“It’s as if you are in the future looking at the past and asking what happened to humanity,” the artist explained.
Sculptor Riel Hilario’s “Her Soul is as Light as the Bird” mimics an antique religious icon, with the patina of age, birds perched on its body.
Geraldine Javier’s “Blooms” is an abstraction and an outburst of bright colors.
Sculptor Anton del Castillo has the white naked figure of a man whose face is covered by a black mask. Kawayan de Guia’s painting is a collage showing a skull, a bird and a woman.
Cuanang has always had a soft heart for emerging talents. Second-generation artist Elias Miles Villanueva creates three pedestals with small sculptures encased in glass.
Candice Arellano works with mixed media and installations, combining painting, objects and textiles from her late mother’s chest.
John Paul Duray’s doll, “Boop Boop,” is a toddler with mouse ears and a large mouth on his belly.
Tokyo was chosen because it was recommended by fashion designer Rajo Laurel, a trustee of the Asian Cultural Council. Rajo’s father, José Laurel V, is the Philippine ambassador to Japan. Rajo coined the title, “Pintôkyo.
