To feature compelling contemporary Filipino art in Southern California, and to showcase varied artifacts of culture from the Philippines, Linda Nietes-Little has decided to open an art gallery adjacent to her Philippine Expressions Bookshop (established in 1984) which is located on Suite 105 of the beautiful 1928 art deco building called "The Arcade." This new art space, (located at Suite 107) was named after the PINTADOS (the painted people)- the name designated by early Spanish colonizers to the early inhabitants of the Philippines. Ancient Filipinos had a sense of color, design and aesthetics long before Spain arrived in the Philippines in 1521. They "painted" their bodies all over with colorful and elaborate tattoos and with exquisite gold ornaments derived from the natural wealth of the country; thus, Pinta*Dos Gallery was named to honor the Pintados, ancient, unnamed and unknown artists of ancient Philippines.
The play of words brings attention to the largely unrecognized and unchartered yet highly developed and advanced Philippine civilization, which was also known as: the 600 years of Indianized Kingdoms in the Philippines (900 AD-1565). PINTA (paint) and DOS (second or two) also references the two walls allotted for art in the new gallery; and the fact that the new space also functions as a twin or annex of Philippine Expressions Bookshop. Pinta*Dos Art Gallery was inaugurated on June 24, 2017.