HERALDED as the annual convergence of modern and contemporary art movements in the Philippines, ManilArt fair bridged the gap between the regional and the international art scenes with this year’s edition that carried the theme, “Crossing Borders,” at the SMX Convention Center of SM Aura, Taguig City, last Oct. 16 to 19.
The sixth edition saw several exhibits and events featuring Thomasian artists. Easily one of the important highlights was the launch of two books from the UST Publishing House in which visual artist and UST graduate Wilfredo Offemaria, Jr. played a prominent part.
The new titles are “Kritik/Critique: Essays from the J. Elizalde Navarro (JEN) National Workshop in the Criticism of the Arts and Humanities, 2009-2012," edited by Oscar V. Campomanes, and "From the Major Arcana" by Ralph Semino Galán.
Critic and scholar Campomanes is a professorial lecturer at the UST Graduate School while Galan teaches at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
Since the JEN criticism workshop is named in honor of J. Elizalde Navarro, National Artist for the Visual Arts and a writer-critic, Offemaria drew from Navarro’s abstract works using primary colors to paint “Ode to Jerry Elizalde Navarro III,” which became the cover of “Kritik/ Critique.”
“I was captured by how he (Navarro) uses colors,” Offemaria said. “The combinations were incredible. Since I am also doing abstraction I kept my own forms, texture and elements in my composition but using J.Elizalde’s colors.”
From abstract painting, Offemaria turned to pen and ink-drawing to illustrate Galan’s verse-contemplations on the Tarot card in “From the Major Arcana.” Out of the 78 cards in the Tarot pack, Offemaria illustrated 22, the same number as Galan’s suite of poems.
“What I did was use Filipiniana images, details and elements in each piece,” Offemaria explained.
Galan’s poems served as his guide and inspiration for the message of each tarot card.
Tackling Filipino resilience and great survival capability, “The Fool” displays a young man clad in barong and wearing a salakot, the traditional wide-brimmed hat, instead of a jester’s garb. He is seen carrying a messenger bag tied to the end of his staff while an “askal” (local mongrel), his loyal dog, accompanies him.
Shying away from the commonplace of tarot reading, Offemaria said he decided to be different and added a new twist instead.
“It seems like all has been done to interpret the cards.” Offemaria said. “Then I realized I’m a Filipino and told myself I will do a Tarot card with Pinoy flavour in it.”
Meanwhile, “The World” illustrates a woman wearing Filipiniana and a crown while a sash with no label covers her traditional gown. From each side of her body, the heads of an angel, carabao, hawk, and lion were drawn, signifying the different aspects of a Reyna Elena, the traditional muse of the Santacruzan.
Offemaria also displayed other women characters in his paintings such as in “Temperance” and “Strength.”
Offemaria majored in painting at the College of Architecture and Fine Arts. He won the grand prize for the Annual Benavidez On-the-Spot Painting contest before he graduated in 1993.
From his humble beginnings in Bulacan where he discovered art at the young age of three through scribbled lines and mismatched colors, he went on to exhibit his works in various places in Europe such as Belgium, Austria and Germany.
Meanwhile, other Thomasians also graced the art fair.
Museo Orlina, the recently launched museum of established sculptor Ramon Orlina, displayed his glass sculptures along with the works of the other artists from the Galley Nine's 9th Sculpture Review which showcased 80 sculptures.
Orlina, who finished architecture in UST, is the sculptor behind the Quattromondial, the monument at the Quadricentennial Park erected to mark UST’s 400th anniversary in 2011.
Raul Isidro, a UST Fine Arts alumnus, was distinguished by his painting, “Garden Z,” featuring blobs of flowers in the dark shades of purple, red and orange on the right quadrant and vertical curvatures of the same mixture of colors on the opposite side.
Another Thomasian artist highlighted in the fair was Janella Tang who imprints her feminine touch on the markings of the typical playing cards of different embellished suits: hearts, clubs and spades. Her “Ace of Spades” featured the head of a fox inside the floral patterned template of the spade and the intricate calligraphy of the letter A.
The paintings of world-renowned artist, Manuel Baldemor, were also on exhibit. Baldemor, another Fine Arts graduate, vividly portrays the Virgin Mary at the center of a worshipping crowd in “Homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe.”
Baldemor is a much-travelled artist who has rendered the landscapes of Chile, Estonia, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and Portugal in his canvases.
Works of Thomasian National Artists such as Navarro, Victorio Edadez and Ang Kiukok were also featured.
