Meeting a Filipino Jackson Pollock

At the end of our day touring around Baguio, someone suggested we stop at a new art place called Pugad Ni Art Studio. We had to stop a few times to ask directions as it turned out to be hard to find and I can see why after we finally got there. It was essentially in a building that essentially blended in with the neighboring houses and other than a sign on the door, was otherwise unlabeled. 

Even when we knocked on the door we had to wait for a lady to answer it amid a bunch of barking dogs who assured us we could come inside and look around. Immediately inside the front door I saw the above sight, an unworking Volkswagen van sitting in the living room on some dirt scattered over the floor. To one side of the van were the living quarters of the live in artists and on the other side was an art studio where the art was made followed by five small floors or art hung on the walls.

I enjoy looking at modern art and at first, the visit seemed to be like a visit to just about every modern art gallery I have ever been too.

There was art in various styles created by different artists hung on the wall. All well done by artists with obviously a lot of talent.

But soon I realized that this art gallery was a bit different when I found this piece above a jeepney set in some sort of Jackson Pollock like background. It was the odd one out though.

There were dozens upon dozens of similar styled paintings but the rest mostly featured Volkswagen vehicles set in a Jackson Pollock like background.

Then as we got to talking with a Filipino hippy looking guy about my age, we realized he was the artist who created most of these paintings. He just had a love affair of Volkswagens and said he had several that he had fixed up and drove around. The one I had seen down in the living room was his next project he wanted to fix up, presumably using income from selling his paintings. 

The painting above was literally about six feet tall by twenty or so feet wide. Talking with the artist, I learned that his biggest clients were actually the Chinese and he shipped most of them to China. Out of curiosity I asked him the price on one of his smaller ones like the one with the Jeepney which is probably around 3 feet by 5 feet in dimension. He said he would sell it to me for 50,000 pesos which is about $800 U.S. which I thought was likely a deal but there were two issues. I didn't have 50,000 pesos in cash and really didn't want to have to figure out the logistics of getting it home on a plane. 

Still, the whole experience was very interesting and after taking pictures with the artist in front of the large mural above, we made our way home to our suite below street level and after supper, fell justly asleep.