And the Truth was made flesh (or steel.or wood.or glass. or.)

MANILA, Philippines - Something origami-like and something geometrical are headed our way. Not exactly “headed,” but more of things that are unmoving yet heady, visually arresting and stand for something bigger than all of us: Truth in all its glory.

As The Philippine STAR celebrates its 25th year of championing truth in journalism and unflinchingly presenting all sides of the story, some of the country’s top artists are featured in an exhibit organized by The Crucible Gallery for The STAR’s anniversary party at Makati Shangri-La Hotel tonight at 6 p.m. These artists — National Artist Arturo Luz, Ramon Orlina, Juvenal Sanso, Lor Calma, Joe Mendoza, Claude Tayag, Maxine Syjuco and Igan D’Bayan — are presenting their own interpretations of the values that the newspaper holds dear. 

STAR Lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil approached The Crucible owner Gallery Sari Ortiga to help out in mounting the exhibition. Ortiga recalls, “Millet wanted a way of involving Filipino artists into (an event that marks a) milestone in Philippine journalism, to make it even more special — and so she thought of a sculpture exhibition.”

Why sculptures? Because sculptures are traditionally sturdy, strong, long-lasting and unshakeable (much like what The STAR is); and they give form and en-flesh concepts that are abstract, those timeless values of grace and finesse and beauty. Reminds us what John Keats wrote: “Beauty is truth, and truth beauty.”

Ortiga adds, “And these artists chosen for the show have been friends and supporters of The Star all these years.”

“Tribal” by Arturo Luz from his “Star” series

Involved in installing the artworks at event in The Shang is The Red Barn, a workshop in Calamba, Laguna. The Red Barn was initially set up as Arturo Luz’s sculpture studio.

Luz is a master of the elegant, of order, and of an ultra-contemporary minimalist aesthetics. Nothing is arbitrary in Luz’s work: each line is journeying towards a point (both literal and allegorical), with each form defining its content.    

“Arturo needed a place to work on his sculptures, so he put up The Red Barn in October 2007 with The Crucible and a team of engineers namely Rey Flestado, Edgar Mariano and Mang Ruben. Everything (in The Red Barn) — the system, the discipline, and the technique — is an extension of the National Artist’s work ethic.”

Through time other artists were allowed to work on their sculptures at The Red Barn such as architect-artist Lor Calma. Sculptor Joe Mendoza decided to move into the studio and made it his residence slash workshop in 2008. The Red Barn is currently working with various artists also on one-project basis namely artists Juvenal Sanso and Igan D’Bayan. (Igan has created a sculpture for the exhibition titled “Star-less and Bible Black,” which is about the history of the suppression of press freedom in the country.)

On view at the sculpture exhibition is Luz’s “Tribal” from his “Star” series, a five-foot metal steel plate sculpture in yellow. 

Ramon Orlina is a master glass-man, creating unparalleled emerald abstracts.

Maxine Syjuco’s sculptural portrait, a tribute to The STAR

The sculptor told The STAR last year: “Glass as a medium of sculpture is very different from stone, wood or metal. It has the one unique quality of transparency that allows the play of light such as absorption, reflection, refraction and prism effects that make the sculpture have a fourth dimension — into the material which does not exist in other materials. This makes working on glass fascinating and challenging as I create forms inside, outside, and through the sculpture.”

Orlina admitted in the same interview that he still finds joy in experimenting: creating glass sculptures in colors away from the signature green (blacks, reds and grays), as well as delving into new materials, textures, surfaces and finishes.

His piece at The Shang is titled “Timeless Music” and it is probably a testament as to how truth creates its own music that “comforts the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

Lor Calma is a vanguard of Philippine architecture and interior design since the 1960s. As the notes for his Ayala Museum show last year explain, “Calma presented a vision for stark and simple interior spaces, an integral element in the rise of modernism in Philippine art in the mid-20th century.” And this pure and minimalist outlook persisted in the works on display in Ayala: metal reliefs and sculptures made of mild steel, black iron and bronze with primary colors of black, white, red and yellow.

“Lor Calma works on his sculptures at the workshop weekly, religiously,” describes Ortiga. “He is the most hands-on among all the artists who work at The Red Barn, very spontaneous. Starts with a drawing — but that design evolves while the work is progress.” 

Calma continues with his forays into origami art with his sculpture with a black urethane finish for The STAR anniversary party.

Sculptor Jose “Joe” Mendoza, Ortiga says with a smile, “is the last of the Mohicans.” 

Mendoza’s public sculptures are ubiquitous in the Makati area: Gabriela Silang grapples with destiny along Ayala Avenue, Pio del Pilar contemplates his fate at Paseo de Roxas, and the tamaraw and the carabao lock horns against the winds of change at Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. Mendoza’s mastery of the classical form is awe-inspiring. 

For the show, Mendoza created a figure in brass called, “Nude News.” 

Ortiga says, “Joe is a Renaissance man who works with clay — mold-making, casting. A lot of them centuries-old, lost wax techniques.”

Juvenal Sanso’s résumé is astounding in its scope and breadth.

Sanso — according to the notes from his show titled “Sanso Extraordinaire” — “has done frescoes for aristocrats in Venice, had exhibits in photography, is a renowned printmaker, done sculptures, designed products for no less than Balenciaga in Europe, and was a much respected set designer for theater and opera in France.

Sanso’s “Tablet” sculpture (a row of pills) has an interesting genesis.

“That sculpture is very playful, very contemporary and yet it has a touch of the personal,” explains Ortiga, adding how medicines are a part of the artist’s life nowadays. “And Sanso comes up with thousands of ideas daily.”

So does Claude Tayag, who is a painter, sculptor, furniture designer, writer and chef. He writes a weekly food column for The STAR and in his book, Food Tour: A Culinary Journal, Tayag “chronicles his culinary adventures.” A must-read for foodies everywhere, since this is the guy who later on memorably served papaitan to gonzo food-show host Anthony Bourdain. For his Ayala Museum exhibit last year, Tayag reinterpreted the Station of the Cross with single crossed wooden poles to suggest the human figure, “depicting the scenes through elemental abstractions, by using bare and faceless polished wood.”

His molave piece for The STAR event cuts quite an enigma. It’s called “Upside Down 2,” and the chef slash artist says, “(It) can be turned around, (turned) over, (turned) upside down — to get a different profile each time.” Maybe a parable of how there are several facets to the truth, or maybe something altogether. That is what’s seductive about Tayag’s sculpture.

Poet, photographer and experimental musician Maxine Syjuco says her sculpture is about “unmasking and revealing the Truth.” Her sculpture is a tribute to The STAR and its quarter of a century of fearless reportage.

Maxine explains:      

“Made of hand-carved and hand-painted wood, this sculpture is the first in a series of three. As a self-portrait, it offers intimate and intricately layered pieces of my heart that have been shed from within. The rose petals symbolize the ‘mask’ (or the temporal beauty) that lies on the surface — a facade that, in time, will wither away — while the real person hidden underneath the petals gasps for air, striving to reveal true beauty; one that is rooted not in temporality, but in the permanence of the ever-elusive soul.

“As a tribute to The Philippine Star, this sculpture embodies the very heart of the newspaper. Striving to uncover the truth and reveal its core to the public, The Star understands the importance of unmasking the essence behind every matter. Regardless of beauty, ugliness, temporality or permanence, no aspect of any story — factual or opinioned — is left unshed from within.”

Sculptures, heck, you could look analyze them and come up with several layers of interpretation, but sooner or later — in the evenings, during moments of clarity — the truth comes out.

And then The STAR publishes that in the morning.

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The sculpture exhibition was organized by The Crucible Gallery for The Philippine STAR’s 25th anniversary party.