24-HOUR EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY FILIPINO ART

Open 8:00 PM Monday 5.22 through 8:00 PM Tuesday 5.23 | Urban Zen, 711 Greenwich Street, New York City

Pintô Manhattan Manila will exhibit works by more than 30 contemporary Filipino 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 Filipino 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: http://www.asianculturalcouncil.org/