Baldemor at the Podium/The importance of Juvy

Here are announcements in alphabetical order. On March 31, Manuel D. Baldemor’s 150th one-man exhibit “Travel Diary” will be shown through April 22 at the Podium.

A major item will be a study of a mural in mosaic of St. Therese for the St. Therese Basilica in Lisieux, the most famous shrine in France next to Lourdes. Last May 7, Baldemor, accompanied by Ambassador to France Jose A. Zaide, presented the archtype to the ecclesiastical authorities who enthusiastically approved it. The mural will be converted to a mosaic, enlarged to three by five meters, and installed in the St. Therese Basilica on Oct. 18, 2009, the 20th year of Filipino Chaplaincy in France.

Painter, sculptor, printmaker, writer and book illustrator, Baldemor has for 17 years designed more than 20 UNICEF Christmas cards – a feat in view of countless submissions from all over the world.

Baldemor has given one-man shows in Asia and Europe — Germany, Spain, France, Austria, UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, among others, and the US. He has received 24 local and international awards and grants, and has been artist-in-residence in Japan, Israel, Chile, Portugal, Estonia, Singapore and Switzerland. “Travel Diary” will include paintings in the countries visited.

As a tribute to Juvenal Sanso, Galerie Stephanie has calendared “The Importance of Being Juvenal” which opens Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m. at Galerie Stephanie.

The title was thought of because many Sanso collectors and art lovers have been intrigued by the name Juvenal which is assumed to mean many things. Nick Joaquin thought it means youth as it is close to juventud (in Spanish) or even juvenile in English. Others have thought it to be synonymous to spring. The unique name has been important enough for several French and Italian cities, and places of interest to bear.

Even a garage calls itself Juvenal.

Sanso himself explains that Juvenal came from his father’s favorite satiric writer born circa 55 AD. The writer Juvenal, from Monte Casino south of Rome, wrote scathing satirical commentaries about the corruption and the rotten social fabric of imperial Rome. His works were said to have encouraged criticism, debate and reform by their stinging rebuke of politicians and the Roman way of life. (Does this not have a counterpart here? — RLO)

The name Juvenal can also be said to have come from Jupiter, note the expression “By Jove!”, god of gods in the Roman religious hierarchy. It is also related to Thursday or Giovedi in Latin and Jueves in Spanish which again comes from the Italian equivalent of Jupiter.

“The Importance of Being Juvenal” — This calls to mind Wilde’s play “The Importance of Being Earnest”, RLO — has some 30 works by Sanso culled from the past two and a half decades. In many of these works, one will note the introspection and deep inspiration of the artist while in others, the joy of summer, providing an inspired interpretation to the artist’s favorite subjects.

Returning to Manila after residing in Paris for some 20 years, Sanso was conferred the Cross of Isabela by Spain’s King Juan Carlos, the Presidential Medal of Merit by PGMA, and France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for his exemplary contribution to the arts.

As a student painter, he won a major award from Shell, and two AAP grand prizes. After a career spanning decades and continents, he was ranked among the best along with Matisse and Dali, his work having been adjudged Print of the Year by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Sanso is the subject of two books by Alfredo Roces and Rod Paras Perez. The works of the internationally renowned Sanso are represented across the globe.