Philippines meets Argentina in an art show at Talyer 15
Art knows no borders. Imagination becomes limitless as art connects people. In this connection, an understanding is forged until art becomes a universal expression of different cultures.
The ongoing joint exhibit of Argentinian artist Luca Martini and Filipino artist Jeanroll Calidguid Ejar at Talyer 15, a contemporary art space inside the Henry hotel compound in Pasay City, is proof of the universal appeal of art for cultural understanding. Their exhibit will run until May 31. Some of Luca’s artworks will be exhibited at Manila House in BGC in June.
Both artists are grantees of the Siargao Artiste in Residence, an artist exchange program that grants the opportunity for foreign and local artists to immerse themselves in Siargao island for a period of two months. During that period, they can create art pieces with the island as source of their inspiration.
The Siargao Artiste in Residence, founded by couple Martin and Alelee Andanar in 2023, has a 108-sq.-m. gallery in Santa Monica, Siargao.
“Our mission-vision is to connect Filipino artists to different art centers, residencies, art cooperatives and foundations in Europe and Latin America. And in return, the art centers abroad will send international artists to Siargao and in effect will create a dialog between cultures and best practices,” says Ian Giron, managing director of Siargao Artiste in Residence and curator of the exhibit of Luca and Jeanroll.
Luca and Jeanroll used their fascination for wood as base of their creativity.
“I’m almost married to wood. But I am unfaithful,” Luca told The STAR, laughing. “I am unfaithful to wood—even if I really love it as my base for my artistry — because I also work with glass, tiles, concrete.”
Luca is both a painter and an industrial designer. His works are a blend of modern craftsmanship with cultural and mathematical inspiration. Raised in Buenos Aires, Luca grew up to a family that owns a woodworking factory. Early on, he was exposed by his father to materials like wood, plastic, concrete and metal. His happy childhood included being denied Lego toys. Instead, he was given wood scrap to cut to become a brick set. His versatility enables him to navigate diverse mediums, creating works that fuse technical precision with a Vedic-inspired aesthetic, informed by his admiration for the Fibonacci sequence (a series of numbers where each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers) and the interplay of light and movement.
His fascination for numbers explains why the titles of his artworks normally carry the numerical dates that are significant to him. So one artwork is entitled 3-15-25, to denote the first artwork he did in Siargao when he arrived in the island on March 15, 2025.
Luca leaves most of his work, however, without a title. “I’m not big on giving titles to my work,” he said. Perhaps the tile of his artwork is the interpretation of the viewer to his art.
Nature and technology meet on the canvas of Luca. He creates a scene of infinity and connectedness with the use of a plywood plank whose surface is chiseled by a machine. From a far, the rectangular frame looks ordinary in its web-like design. But closer scrutiny will reveal the intricateness of its patterns. How each little golden canal on the frame connects to the next line until a concerto of infinity is hummed by the artwork dominated by black acrylic.
Jeanroll, on the other hand, is a woodcarver from Iloilo. Born to parents who are both woodcarvers, Jeanroll learned to pick up the craft at an early age. He started using scrap woods from his parents’ furniture shop to carve an art. His toys when he was a kid are the same toys he has now: chisels, carving knives, gouges. And, yes, he still likes to work on scrap woods: molave, kamagong, red narra. The reach of his imagination is his playground.
His Gutay-gutay carving looks like a hallowed stump of wood that is turned into a woven basket. Of course, no weaving was done in the artwork. The artist carved the weaving pattern and created an intricate artwork.
“Their works are a cultural fusion,” said Alelee, now also a councilor-elect of Las Pinas City. “The harmony between them is found in their artistic use of wood.”
Alelee said Siargao Artiste in Residence works with a number of major art centers in Europe and South America. These are the Port Tonic Art Cenetr in the south of France; Centro Cultural de Ambulante, an art cooperative in Lisbon, Portugal; and El Lobby.arte Artist Residency and Gallery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Luca has been accepted at the prestigious Port Tonic Art Center in France while Jeanroll was commissioned to do the walls and entrance of the Siargao Artiste in Residency gallery. He will continue his residency until August.
Alelee said the artist program works two ways. Siargao Artiste in Residence invites foreign artists to Siargao for a grant and through a reciprocity program, Filipino artists also get invited abroad.
“By giving a grant to foreign artists, we also expose the beauty of the Philippines to the world through the artistic experiences and pursuits of the foreign artists in our country. This is love of country and love of artists both foreign and local that we would like to tell the world through our efforts at Siargao Artiste in Residence,” Alelee said.
“There’s harmony in art, cultural harmony,” she added.
Indeed, harmony is an art form. And harmony — like the works of Luca Martini from Argentina, and Jeanroll Ejar from the Philippines — knows no borders, too. *
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