Connecting to art through the heart
Over 30 years ago, a group of artists known as Salingpusa launched their careers with a series of shows on the grounds of what is now the Pintô Art Museum. The artworks were displayed casually, hanging on clotheslines, referred to fondly as “sampayan art.” Those artists are now some of the brightest lights in Philippine art.
Through the years we have nurtured so many of the talented artists that our country never ceases to produce. We have celebrated these talents and hosted them at Boston Gallery and at Pintô Art Museum. And we have witnessed the growing interest in
Philippine contemporary art, driven not only by their quality and ambition, but their broad range of subject matter and spirit of innovation.
From a handful of connoisseurs, the number of art collectors has multiplied exponentially. Art in the Philippines has enjoyed an unprecedented boom, marked by the establishment of numerous galleries, art fairs and events. But while this burgeoning has been beneficial to artists and collectors, we feel that the focus has shifted away from art itself — the very thing that united our passions in the first place.
In the frenzy of acquisition and publicity, art has become a commodity — a product whose value comes from the name of its artist rather than the quality of the work itself. The public seems to be more concerned with the reputation — and bankability — of the artist rathe
r than what the art is saying. We fear that this attitude threatens the creativity, vision and pure imagination that is the soul of art.
Pintô wishes to address this trend by recapturing the spirit of youth and playfulness of the Sampayan Art shows all those years ago. Our next show, “Connect With Your Heart,” is a sampayan show with a novel concept: the artworks will not be signed until they are bought. Prospective buyers will acquire pieces not on the basis of who made them, but on their personal emotional and aesthetic response to the work — the connection with their hearts.
All of the artists whom we have hosted at Boston Gallery and Pintô from early in their careers have agreed to this format. Many share our concern over recent developments in the art world. Most of them are the same people who have made Philippine art what it is today: the most vibrant in Southeast Asia. We continue to nurture this vision.
As of now, 165 artists have signed up for the eighth series of “Connect With Your Heart.” The pieces on exhibit will be 18 x 24 inches, in different media, and affordable, with a maximum price of P30,000.
As a keen observer of the Philippine art scene, I think this is what both artists and art enthusiasts really need: Art that truly connects with the heart.
“Connect With Your Heart 8” opens at Pintô Art Museum in Antipolo on Sunday, May 8, 10 a.m., and runs until May 29. We are blessed with a less-restrictive environment, but we urge visitors to comply with health protocols — vaccinations, masks, and social distancing.
The proceeds of this exhibition will go to the completion of the Pintô Arboretum, a rescue center for endangered Philippine plants and trees; the establishment of an ecologically-sound water conservation program at the Arboretum; and the establishment of a Pintô Underwater Sculpture Museum for Marine Ecosystem Regeneration in Currimao, Ilocos Norte, a much-needed new project by the El Refugio Arts and Sciences Foundation, Inc., the non-profit foundation supporting the Pintô Museum of Philippine Contemporary Art, the Pintô Museum of Indigenous Art, the Pintô Arboretum, and the Pintô Academy for Healing and Wholeness.
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Contact 0916-3746347, 02-8697-1015 or [email protected].