The Answers: Jun Villalon
It’s one thing to meet Jun Villalon, director and founder of The Drawing Room, as a gallerist, and another to meet him as a collector. Ask him about the gallery and he speaks with the measured focus of someone who has spent more than two decades around artists and their work. Ask him about what he collects, and the energy changes. There is a spark, a quickening, as he moves from one interest to the next.
At the back of the Drawing Room is a glimpse of that other side of Jun. Typewriters sit on top of boxes. Vintage bicycles are parked beside a desk. There is mid-century furniture, art, and the evidence of a collector whose interests span multiple categories.
It was Kathleen, Jun’s wife and partner at the gallery, who told us about his bicycles. When we asked to see them, Jun even got on one and pedalled through the gallery, and it seemed only fitting that he did.
“I was shocked to learn he had over 50 of them. I only found out about the full collection recently!” Kathleen says with a laugh.
Jun had been collecting art since the 1980s, while working in sales at Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson. After 10 years in the corporate world, he left to pursue what he really wanted to do, and in 1998, he opened The Drawing Room. For its first five years, the gallery dealt almost exclusively in drawings before expanding into other mediums.
More than 25 years later, Jun and Kathleen run The Drawing Room as a team, championing Filipino artists in the Philippines and abroad. The collector and the gallerist have always seemed to come from the same place, curiosity, instinct, and a willingness to follow what catches his eye.
His son, Enzo, put it best: “The Drawing Room is my father’s eye, his life’s work. We support as a family wherever we can.”
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
I pray.
Favorite clothes to wear?
I like Real McCoy denim and chinos, Danton clothing, and jackets from Le Mont St. Michel and vintage Ralph Lauren.
What apps do you use the most?
Instagram, Viber, and Facebook.
What do you do that’s still analog?
I try to use my vintage typewriters. I also have turntables at home, and when I have the time, I spin records.
What do you most crave at the end of the day?
A relaxing dinner with my wife and kids.
What is your exercise routine and how often do you do it?
I take morning walks as often as I can throughout the week.
How do you find calm?
I pray the rosary.
What’s your favorite cocktail?
I don’t drink much anymore, but I like a good gin and tonic.
What’s the most impressive dish you cook?
I can cook a mean omelette, but I need my wife to turn on the stove for me.
What do you collect?
I collect a lot of things: mid-century furniture, functional art, vintage typewriters, and even vintage bicycles. I have a wide range of interests.
Is it true you have over 50 bikes?
I have over 50 bikes and maybe over 30 typewriters.
How many watches do you own?
Probably over 20 that I collected in the early 1980s.
Which one’s your favorite?
A 1960s Omega Seamaster that belonged to my father.
Any other favorite accessories?
At the moment, I like wearing Navajo turquoise bracelets and beads.
What’s the most recent addition to one of your collections?
A vintage Ralph Lauren jacket.
What is the most recent thing you regret not buying?
A Guild D55 acoustic guitar.
If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?
It’s not new, but I’d like to brush up on my Spanish and French.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
My father gave me the best advice. He always told me, “Do good, be good.”
Favorite city?
It’s a toss-up between Paris and Venice.
Favorite hotel?
The Hudson in New York City, which closed in 2020. The Francesco Clemente ceiling fresco there was stunning.
If you could go anywhere now, where would you go?
Bangkok or Tokyo, mainly for the vintage stores there.
What’s always in your hand luggage?
My medicines.
What are you reading right now?
The Brutalists: Brutalism’s Best Architects by Owen Hopkins
How much do you trust your gut instinct?
100 percent.
What trait do you admire most in other people?
Kindness.
What trait in yourself are you still working on?
I usually look at the bigger picture, so it’s probably picking up on the smaller details.
What car(s) are you most attached to?
The Jimny, my daily driver.
Drive or be driven?
Drive.
Last box set or Netflix binge?
I don’t watch Netflix, but I follow Major League Baseball. I’m a Dodgers fan.
Bowie or Dylan?
Neither. I like Don McLean, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Boz Scaggs, and James Ingram.
What song is currently in your head?
“Terminal” by Rupert Holmes.
What kind of music makes you happy?
Disco!
What was the first artwork you bought?
In the early 1980s, I bought a Norma Belleza painting done on an old window frame.
Is there a work you sold that you still think about?
An old work by David Medalla.
How can you tell if an artist has staying power?
The artist has to have integrity, vision, and dedication.
What’s harder: discovering talent or nurturing it?
Nurturing it.
Up-and-coming artists to watch?
You might want to take a look at the Gossamer group of young artists.
What have you learned from artists that you couldn’t have learned anywhere else?
Creativity has no limits.
What’s one mistake you see collectors make repeatedly?
You can’t go wrong if you genuinely love what you collect. I think some collectors tend to follow trends too much. Just trust your gut and your eyes. If you like it, then buy it.
How has your eye changed over the years?
It hasn’t changed. How I appreciated art in the 1980s is still how I appreciate art today.
This article originally appeared in Robb Report Philippines’ Watches & Jewelry Issue, August 2026.