Gallery of Philippine Contemporary Art

Maria Taniguchi

Even before you reach the second floor landing, you hear her beckon, “Come in,” and then you are given a glimpse into artist Maria Taniguchi's current state of mind.

The walls of the Saguijo Café in San Antonio Village that afternoon were mounted with her monochromatic studies and paintings of mountains, fences and landscapes.

The first piece you see upon entering is “Future Skunk,” a painting of a mountain made of grey glass “panels” overlooking an industrial landscape. Two small, rural scenes consisting of bahay kubo (thatched houses) and coconut trees rendered thickly in grey, black and white oil paints are mounted beside it as if to continue the monochromatic theme.

And yet Maria deplores the way some people come in, look around a bit, and then come to her and ask for something that will “go with the color scheme of (their) living room.” While it might bother her at times, she gets over slights like these rather quickly. Her resilience is common in someone as young and talented as she is.

Seven years ago, Maria—who had just graduated from the Philippine High School of the Arts in Laguna and was enrolled at the University of the Philippines' College of Fine Arts in Diliman—received a letter from one of her former PHSA teachers.

Sculptor Gerry Leonardo wrote her asking her if she was willing to donate two body casts made of fiberglass that she had submitted when she was still studying in Laguna. She agreed to the request, but little did she know the huge brouhaha that would result in something so seemingly harmless.

In a nutshell, Leonardo tinkered around with the body casts, incorporating them into a sculpture entitled “The Meaning of Peace” that he then submitted in the annual Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) competition that year. It won first prize in the sculpture category but Leonardo's victory was short-lived as the judges revoked the award.

At first, Maria supported her former professor but when she saw Leonardo's subsequent work that incorporated other body casts—something he supposedly hadn't done before—she chose to distance herself from him and the relationship soured.

Fast-forward to the present and Maria's pixie-like features look none the worse for wear. Credit goes to her strong background and a childhood spent in Dumaguete with her artist-mother Cristina “Kitty” Taniguchi. Ms. Taniguchi put up and continues to run the Mariyah Gallery.

Asked whether it was this and the fact that she was exposed to her mother's artist-friends early on that led her to become an artist herself, Maria replied, “You really don't decide on getting ‘into' art. It just happened.”

The lush breeding ground aside, Maria said she had to “work her ass off” to get to where she is right now.

And where exactly might that be? To date, she has won several art competitions including that sponsored by the Metrobank when she was still in high school. That year, she became the contest's first female grand prize winner.

Unlike many of her contemporaries who are struggling to make ends meet, Maria is already earning from her talents.

“The people who like what I do are usually young collectors. I enjoy talking to these people. Sometimes when I sense that they get what I wanted to convey, I'm tempted to give them the painting or piece,” she said.

Her “graffiti-ed” paintings were also a hit with a Singapore museum that went on to snap up a series of similar pieces. Although she has no immediate plans of returning to her hometown of Dumaguete to run her mother's gallery, she's giving herself 10 years to experiment with different media like video.

“As a female artist, I don't think there's really a need to struggle (for your voice) to be heard,” she claimed.

However, it would certainly help if, like Maria Taniguchi, you have several art awards tucked firmly under your belt.

Kulay-Diwa  is a venue for Philippines and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art. Inaugurated on February 7, 1987, Kulay-Diwa, is strategically located within a cluster of communities South of Manila.  It has five independent exhibition areas able to accommodate large-scale works and a garden ideal for programs, performances and sculpture installations.  The goals of the gallery are to discover and promote the works of young, talented but deserving Filipino Artists and to foster cultural interaction and exchanges with the local regions and other countries.

Kulay (Colour)

Diwa  (Spirit, Thought)

Works currently unavailable. Please contact us if you are interested in her works.

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