Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo City is a major cultural destination. It is a museum featuring Philippine contemporary art built in stages by Dr. Joven Cuanang with a lot of help from the arts community led by artists like Antonio Leaño and Jim Orencio, among others. There hangs a tale of vision, cooperation, creativity and passion, a collective effort of artists and patron.

Starting as a modest museum incorporated in Dr. Cuanang’s vacation house in Antipolo, Pinto Art Gallery has gone from strength to strength. First of all its location is a dream of rolling hills and tree-populated terrain that sits high on a ridge that overlooks Metro Manila. Second, when the museum expanded to contain its now larger collection, the terrain was put to use as the thematic note for the architecture. The museum consists of large, and long pavilions that hug the contour of the land but keep the integrity of a building. Walking through them is almost as though you were outdoors except for the roof and walls. These are whitewashed with flat roofs that hug the slopes which the museum goer navigates with gentle steps or ramps. The respect for nature goes as far as keeping the characteristic Antipolo boulders in place along the floors.

The architect is Antonio Leaño, who aside from being a visual artist, does much more. Along with his paintings on the walls is every known Filipino contemporary artist i.e. Geraldine Javier, Mark Justiniani, Jim Orencio, John Santos III, Marina Cruz, the Saling Pusa group, Rodel Tapaya, Garibay, etc. I cannot begin to name even a third of those represented from the wealth of works that I saw last Sunday when Pinto Art Gallery opened its latest wing.

It was a feast for the eyes to see angles of the new building juxtaposed with landscaped inner gardens, columns, arches, all in synchronicity along with anitque wrought iron doors, old wooden ones as well as recycled wooden posts. The third pavilion, which is the latest one, is more structured in the sense that it incorporates more niches, small rooms, green areas in different levels. The separate enclaves are dedicated to artists (one for Geraldine Javier showing a film by her and with signature leaves on the walls) and another space for installation art (a stunning bamboo forest created by Antonio Leaño).

I brought my friend from Malaysia for the opening and she could not stop marveling at the whole installation. That is right, we thought that the Pinto Art Gallery as it is with its wealth of contemporary Filipino art, its dramatic buildings and its landscape is in itself installation art.

We wandered up and down, a heavy downpour notwithstanding, and were so mesmerized we forgot we had not had lunch. Not to worry, there was the small café where we had delicious pasta dishes at past 3pm and then spotted Dr. Cuanang’s unique offerings of Ilocos Norte (Batac) empanadas, home-made ice cream, etc. in the garden where people were scattered having a Sunday break amidst Art and Nature.

Dr. Cuanang is the Medical Director of St. Luke’s Hospitals, who is also a neurologist, plus an art lover, art collector, museum creator, resort owner (in the Ilocos) and friend of artists in every sense. I am positive there is much more he is hiding somewhere. Whatever, he has given us the gift of the Pinto Art Gallery. Thank you, Dr. Cuanang.

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