Sunday, December 10, 2006

From Antipolo to Timog

After weeks of same old, same old, the Sunday Club resumed with a bang. We had a full afternoon of exploration, Kuya Dondi, Bam, and I. Wappy came later on. Plus the weather was nice, like Baguio with a bit of rain.




First off was a relaxing drive to Antipolo. We went to the "Pinto Gallery" owned by Dr. Joven at the Sierra Madre Grand Heights to take a look at the paintings. They were of very interesting contemporary art by budding young artists, most of whom began their craft during their teen years in the 80s. The main gallery showcased a fusion of western and Filipino oil paintings by Joy Mallari (see photos above). The most amazing was the one entitled "Ama Namin" in which she painted a series of the same face with the mouth moving to the words of the "Ama Namin". (Click on black and white painting above for larger view.)

We toured the compound of Dr. Joven, which I find very picturesque. We weren't quite able to explore the entire area due to the rain, but we were able to visit his house which displayed more paintings by young Filipino artists, some of which have gone around the world and back. Afterwhich we visited his chapel that housed a replica of the statue of the miraculous Christ who swung his poisoned feet in order to save the man who kissed it daily.

The story behind Dr. Joven was that he befriended a group of these young artists back in the 80s (please correct me if I'm wrong). During that time, these artists would hang out at his place in Antipolo and they would just paint and draw together, probably like a jamming session with canvass and paint. He then developed them into national artists who are slowly making their mark as icons in the real world, who knows, maybe someday like a Baldemor or Manansala.

After that interesting art tour, we drove around U.P. to kill time before an early dinner. We went to the observatory to look through the telescopes. Unfortunately, it was closed due to the rain. Never mind that, we went to the Bahay ng Alumni to check out the art gallery there. More of those interesting paintings, this time by more known artists. And then we stopped by this restaurant just to look at the menu and the place, still somewhere in U.P., which is a less expensive alternative to Chocolate Kiss. It looks similar to Cafe by the Ruins in Baguio.

After picking up Wappy at Tomas Morato, we ended the day with dinner at Behrouz in Timog. The food was good - beef kebabs with humus, yoghurt sauce, roasted tomatoes and onions, in pita bread. Thanks, Kuya Dondi!

- As told by Caren
Posted by Caren Carlos :: 10:31 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------