It was a usual Thursday night for me - on my queen size bed with 4 pillows surrounding me under the comfort of darkness and nothing but light through my phone. As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across Vin Quilop's tweet about his first ever solo exhibit. I immediately sent a message in the group chat with my college friends on who is up to go with me on the opening by the next day. Unfortunately, no one responded to my invite and I was decided then to go by myself. However, throughout the day that I was messaging my friends one by one, I finally got a hold of Jenny, one of my artsy friends.


The opening of In Between Manila started at 6PM last September 6. Jenny and I decided to go to the exhibit by 7PM so we grabbed some coffee first before walking going to the Picasso Serviced Residences. The exhibit was at the Altro Mondo Gallery, on the 3rd floor of the establishment. As we were walking, I felt a little intimidated since I was definite that most of the people that would be coming over will be his friends but we still went.



We entered the gallery. It was small but it was packed with people, peering at the paintings, talking to Vin, and eating all at the same time. We started from the left side of the gallery. As I was walking through the gallery, I was reminded by the different experiences I've had in those places. I may have been living here in Manila for a year, I can say that I have experienced most of what Manila can offer.



One of the first paintings that struck me was the Pila, a glimpse of what it's like commuting via the MRT/LRT. It was a visual representation of my daily life working in Manila. MRT and LRT have probably been every person working and living in Manila especially those who live in the North and work in the South and vice versa.


You probably have noticed that there post-its under a number of paintings. Whether they are call to action for the society, a memory, or a quote you probably heard in an IG story before. I tried to put a sticky note of mine as well but chose not to anymore.


Other people tend to just look at the painting and proceed onto the next but I prefer to check what it's called and I enjoyed how Vin named some of his paintings. One of which that I simply had to take a photo of is his painting of coconuts being sold through the carts of the manglalako. But most of the names were outright names of the places or of the buildings.


Among the beautiful paintings in the whole gallery, one that would probably stick in my memory is his painting of a jeepney. It was the jeepney I usually take going to my friends' place or going back home on a Sunday after weekend of drinking from their condo . I loved it so much I bought the postcard version of this painting.



Another feature that I got to see in this exhibit were Vin Quilop's mini artwork notebook where he had sketched during his travels. May it be landscapes from different countries, random things, or a view from his seat on his flight to Bangkok, it gave me a glimpse of his art process and how detailed his artworks can get.



In Between Manila was my first ever exhibit opening that I went to and I can say that it has been memorable. Memorable not only that I will never forget how every painting was beautiful but also memorable because it brought me memories of how I went to some of those places by myself just to wander around. But if you are only new in Manila and probably have never visited any of these places, his art just gave you all the possible stories it can tell.


I can say that Vin Quilop's artworks were the first paintings that I can say moved me. It brought me to places that made me feel something else. And I hope he does more exhibits in the future.


Lastly, before you go to his exhibit there is a small detail that is fun to discover in most of his paintings. Hope you can also find it just like how I did.

In Between Manila by Vin Quilop runs from September 6 to November 10 at the Altro Mondo Gallery, Picasso Serviced Residences, Salcedo Village, Makati City.