GALLERIES and art. Manila has lots of both. So what makes the latest kid on the block, Manila Contemporary, different?

?Size, looks, light, color,? said National Artist Arturo Luz, who inaugurated the 300-sq-m gallery housed at White Space, a converted warehouse at Makati?s Pasong Tamo Extension.

?It?s the best space that I?ve ever seen in Manila,? said Luz.

With fellow artist and national treasure Anita Magsaysay-Ho, joined by Manila Contemporary owner Valentine Willie, Luz scattered white rose petals on the white floor of the all-white warehouse.

As the lights dimmed, the art-loving trio navigated their way along a candlelit path which illuminated the way to the works of 50 artists from the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

That evening of Dec. 13 gathered under one roof some of the country?s most distinguished and exciting artists whose age range spans more than half a century.

?All I Want For Xmas?, the inaugural show of Manila Contemporary, features the works of artists Pandy Aviado, RM de Leon, Jay Ticar, Amy Aragon, Cris Villanueva Jr., Jerry Araos, Julian Araos, Arturo Luz, Don Salubayb, Elaine Navas , Clairelynn Uy, Jucar Raquepo, Alvin Villaruel, MM Yu, Romulo Olazo, Jonathan Olazo, Soler Santos, Popo San Pascual, Pardo de Leon, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Louie Cordero, Anthony Palomo, Geraldine Javier, Jonathan Ching, At Maculangan, Norberto Roldan, Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, Valeria Cavestany, Francisco Pellicer Viri and Costantino Zicarelli.

But what distinguished this opening from others in Manila was the cool breeze wafting through the gallery that night. This guest had the distinct feeling that international winds were blowing through the gallery, enlivening all those present, and by extension, the Manila art scene.

Manila Contemporary has sister galleries in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Yogyakarta, all run by veteran art dealer Valentine Willie.

Other regional artists

In ?All I Want For Xmas,? Willie introduces the work of other contemporary Southeast Asian artists such as Manit Sriwanichpoom, Kokok Sancoko, Stefan Buana, Agus Purnomo, Yee I Lann, J. Ariadithya Pramuhendra, Dedy Sufriadi, Chong Siew Ying, Popok Tri Wahyudi, Natee Utarit, Jimmy Ong, Eko Nugroho, Agus Suwage, Putu Sutawijaya, Mella Jaarsma, and Heri Dono.

In 2000, Willie curated an exhibit of Southeast Asian contemporary art which traveled all over the region.

What he is doing in Manila Contemporary is more of the same, except now his vast Southeast Asian network has an official home in Manila. In his own words: ?There is the Malaysian, the Thai, the Indonesian that you would not otherwise have seen and we?re putting them side by side with the Filipinos, not separating them. There are no labels. Visually, you look at the art and you don?t think about where it comes from. You just think: Does it resonate with you??

?When you look at our art,? said Willie?s local partner, Evelyn Lim Forbes, ?it talks volumes: How different we are, yet how much the same we are.?

?We can?t forget that Valentine Willie was the first one who brought Filipino art and exposed it to other Asian countries,? pointed out collector Trickie Lopa.

?We are going to promote Filipino artists abroad with catalogues,? said artist Valeria Cavestany, who is Willie?s other local partner. ?And we are going to bring in other artists form all over the world.?

Artists at the opening looked forward to the artistic exchange encouraged by the larger perspective Willie brings to the Philippine art scene.

Regional gallery

?It?s a regional gallery so that makes it a notch higher,? said artist Ringo Bunoan. ?It?s bringing other Southeast Asian artists to the Philippine scene, and hopefully vice versa.?

?Sana this would be a good place for Southeast Asian artists to interact,? said artist Lena Cobangbang. ?I can?t think of many other Asian dealers who have come to Manila to view the region as a whole, which is so valuable and which to me is the real mark of a global gallery,? said artist Anne Wizer.

Guests that evening also marveled at the possibilities provided by the largeness of the space, in depth, breadth and height.

?This is a relief from the Megamall kind of art!? declared artist Pandy Aviado. ?When you see the spaces in Megamall, they are claustrophobic. This space breathes.?

Cesar Caballero, a Spanish artist who organizes exhibits of contemporary art and design from Spain, Mexico and the Philippines, was taken by ?the luminosity of the space.? ?You give importance to the art in a space like this,? he said. ?It?s ginormous!? said collector Rina Ortiz. ?It allows for installation art and performance art.?

?It allows a lot of artists to create art that they would otherwise not do because there wouldn?t be a space appropriate for it,? said collector Patrick Reyno.

The ever witty Willie put it nicely at the end of the evening. ?Space is not difficult to do,? he demurred, ?but filling it is, and in Manila that?s not hard because there?s so much talent here.?

Manila Contemporary is at White Space, 2314 Chino Roces Ave., Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati. ?All I Want for Xmas? runs until Jan. 10, 2009. Visit www.manilacontemporary.com.