Accompanied by a certificate issued by Pinto Art Museum
and signed by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

Exhibited:
Pinto Art Museum, East of Eden, Antipolo City,
November 20 - December 4, 2016

ABOUT THE WORK

Antonio Leaño's extensive theological and scientific knowledge resulted in recent works addressing the fascinating questions concerning our identity. Leaño fuses the sacred and the profane into his art, producing a series of intriguing pieces that serve as reinterpretations of our genesis. Genetic Eve depicts an appropriated photograph of a turn-of-the-century Filipina dressed in the traditional baro't saya. A genetic illustration of the mitochondrial DNA encircles her head. For Leaño, dissecting our origins involves understanding the DNA, the cell's genetic material. The human genome, composed of approximately three billion base pairs of DNA, is principally the same for every person. All humans are 99.9 percent identical in their genetic makeup. Hence, Leaño presents the woman's image as representative of our species. The artist said: "Since we are all genetically connected to the source, there's no difference if I represent a contemporary picture. Our DNA connects us. We are one and the same." The superimposed images of prehistoric creatures evoke the overwhelming scientific evidence that all life forms descended from a common singlecelled ancestor. Leaño also integrates scriptural concepts to consolidate his expressive grasp of our past. Archaeological studies strongly point to an area extending from the Middle East to Africa as humanity's birthplace. Coincidentally, a location in the region may have inspired the biblical Garden of Eden. Leaño then uses the biblical first woman, Eve, as an archetype to encapsulate his artistic apprehension on human origin and oneness, hence her name in this work's title. This piece also delves deep into the contradictions in our existence, notably the struggle between virtue and iniquity. The image of the brain symbolizes the forbidden fruit from the biblical "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." Leaño argued: "The only thing in this world that can discern good and evil is the brain." Since inherent contradictions between the two define our existence, this perpetual conflict profoundly and unquestionably binds us as humans and makes us humans.