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Angelo Baldemor's "painture" of Our Mother of Perpetual Help
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If you visit the National Museum in Manila, you will discover that Christian art was very common during the 17th to the 19th century when the Spaniards ruled the country. Many of the wooden saints and altar pieces (such as retablo) were done by unknown artists.
However, Isabelo Tampinco’s sculptures, that include
religious images, stand out at the halls of the museum, especially as his
masterpieces occupy a whole gallery – his artistic designs were said to have influences of the neo-classical style.
Nowadays, many gifted religious artists seem to come from
the provinces of Paete, Laguna or Betis, Pampanga. During the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines,
the life-sized Nuestra Senora de Salvacion image that was sculpted for the pope’s
visit and flown to Leyte, was done by Willy
Layug, a sculptor from Betis.
President Aquino also gifted Pope Francis with an image of
the Virgin Mary, the Undoer of Knots.
That sculpture was made by Fred Baldemor of Paete.
I once did an interview with Luis Ac-Ac from Paete, an artist who had been nominated
for national artist in sculpture. He is known for sculptures of Filipino rural
scenes and has been tagged as the “Norman Rockwell of the Philippines.”
At the time of our interview, he told me that
he had been commissioned to sculpt the image of Pope John Paul II that would be
used during his scheduled canonization in Rome.
I realized then that the Philippines had a hidden wealth of
Filipino artistic talent that had yet to be fully recognized all over the
world.
More than the quest for fame and fortune,
however, the role of a religious artist is to inspire reverence and love from
its praying audience. Non-Catholics may not understand the need for such imagery but the purpose is definitely not for idolatry, as some non-believers insist.
How many cheap looking images have we seen sold at the malls
or displayed in parishes? Surely,
finding unique talent does not come that easily.
Another ingenious artist from Paete is Angelo Baldemor who produces
interesting religious artworks he calls “paintures,” designs that pop out from
a painting, akin to a half-painting half-sculpture look.
These are just a few of the excellent Filipino sculptors I have found so far. I am sure that there
are more naturally talented religious artists to discover in the Philippines.
