Initially the acquisition of artworks began as support for the development of artist's careers of the group called The Salingpusa. But since then the collection has grown to include other pieces of the subsequent generations of artists, largely from those working in the figurative tradition. The collection features more than 200 works of sculptures, paintings and installations. The buildings that house the art pieces are designed by Antonio Leaño, himself among the original group of young stalwarts whom Cuanang supported in his early career. Surrounding the museum is a two hectare garden complex known as the Silangan Gardens, which in itself an ecological work with its variety of plants and flora, and a sanctuary for birds and local fauna. The Museum also operates a gallery, whose programs include exhibitions of contemporary Philippine art. Pintô Art Museum is located in Antipolo, a city known for being a pilgrimage site for the past four hundred years.
The collection is a veritable record of the changes of the cultural milieu following the People Power Revolution in 1986. Highlighting this historical context is the large canvas Karnabal painted as a collaborative work by the artists of the Salingpusa group. This painting captures the critical mood of the period following the end of the Marcos regime and describes the post-revolutionary period as a carnival.
Works by artists such as Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay, Neil Manalo, Mark Justiniani, Antonio Leano, Ferdinand Montemayor and Jose John Santos III also append to the reading of the state of transition of the society to the challenges of empowerment in the 1990s. The collection also plays a large part in describing a direction in Philippine contemporary art through the figurative tradition. This tradition traces its roots in Spanish colonial and academic art in the 1800s by way of church art, but found its unique form through the influence of Modern Art in the years previous to and following World War 2. Works in the museum show how Filipino artists were able to fuse academic art formation with personal integrations of modernist persuasions such as Surrealism, Expressionism, Minimalism to Social Realism and Conceptual Art but with a vigilance in identity and rootedness. The themes and subjects featured in the works appeal to the universal human condition, but expressed in the unique historical and cultural experience of being Filipino.
Opening hoursTuesday – Sunday9 am – 6 pm
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Pintô Art Museum1 Sierra Madre St. Grand Heights Rd,Antipolo, Rizal, Philippines
T +63 2 697 1015museum@pintoart.com