If you have any desire to visit the art centers of the Philippines, I recommend Asiana Air Lines as the quickest and the cheapest way to go. From Chicago, for little over $800 round trip during non-peak seasons you're in Manila in one day. Once in the air most people sleep and at flight's end awaken in Inchon City, South Korea.
Unlike Japan with its long lines and seemingly endless immigration hassles, Korean authorities breeze transit passengers through immigration and security checks. Within two hours you're off to Manila.
One warning: The Philippines can be a rough place. Either travel with a group or have someone pick you up at the airport when you get there. As with all countries most people are very friendly but there are always a few crooks who prey on tourists.
Once in Manila, here's where to go:
*Contreras Sculptures
*Artasia Fine Art Inc.
*Renaissance Art Gallery
*Gallery Genesis
*Art Circle Gallery
*Passion Arts Gallery
All of these galleries are at: Level 4 (4th floor) Art Walk, A-SM Megamall-Julia Vargas Av.-Mandaluyong City, which adjoins Manila. The malls are where the people are and so are the artists.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has residence in the Bangko Sentral (Central Bank) Building. This art house was established in 1976. Though originally a museum for foreign art to make Filipinos more aware of non-native art styles, this prestigious gallery now hosts shows by both top overseas and native artists. It's a must see if you're in Manila.
Ayala Art Center, located at Makati Avenue at the corner of De La Rosa Street, has sixty handcrafted dioramas that form the core of the museum's historical collections and chronicle the rich tapestry of Philippine history. Enhancing these are scale models of maritime vessels that plied the Philippine shores.
The historical collection is complemented by archaeological, ethnographic, and fine arts collections spanning prehistory to the present. The fine arts collection features important works by Juan Luna (1857-1899), Fernando Amorsolo (1882-1972), and Fernando Zobel (1924-1984). If you're not a resident of Manila, you'll pay a little more for admission.
Modern Philippine masters tend to shy away from the Spanish colonial style and subjects with its reflection of the Spanish Catholic artistic experience. However, the San Agustin Museum in Intramuros—once an old Spanish fort—has a superb collection of colonial Spanish liturgical art. A considerable portion of modern Pinoy art is religious. Manila's ancient churches are a must see for art connoisseurs.
Despite inroads into the country by the Color Me Mine ceramic franchise, clay art is largely absent in Philippine art. Colorful ceramic pieces popularized and perfected by ceramic powerhouses Chicago's Lill Street Art Center and Evanston's Midwest Clay Guild are nowhere to be found except for major art museums pieces which display only pre- or early historic functional clay vessels as in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This museum has an excellent gold exhibit on display as part of their permanent art collection. This is a must see for aficionados of serious Asian art. Last year this museum played host to an exhibit that illustrated the Chicago connection between Chicago and Manila.
There were many old photographs and modern display cases that showed how Daniel Burnham along with other Chicago architectural giants designed then built Manila's and Chicago's lake and waterfronts in great similarity a few years after the Philippine-American War.
After the United States and native insurrectionists seized the islands from Spain, another splash of color was infused into the Philippines. Philippine art reflects the Asian-Spanish-American culture mix in the islands.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's website is: http://metmuseum.ph. You can preview the Ayala at: www.ayalamuseum.org.
If readers would like more information on Philippine art, the writer would enjoy hearing from you at: vamaxwell@yahoo.com.
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