Pampanga sculptor Layug’s wood and marble nudes on exhibit in Intramuros

Willy Tadeo Layug, a renowned imaginero from Betis, Guagua, Pampanga, is exhibiting his latest sculptures in wood and marble at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery in Manila.

Entitled "Naked Truth," the exhibition is only his second solo foray.

"Naked Truth" is on display at the NCCA GAllery until January 11, 2018. Photos: Ruston Banal

Layug is a recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, an honor given by the Papal office of the Roman Catholic Church, and the 2009 Presidential Medal of Merit. Since the 1980s, he has created retables and sacred images in relief and in-the-round for churches nationwide, including in Tuguegarao, La Union, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Metro Manila, Laguna, Catanduanes, Leyte, Butuan, and Pampanga.

The retable of Pedro Calungsod and San Lorenzo Ruiz at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome was also created by Layug. In 2015, he was tasked to create the image of the Lady of Hope of Palo and the Crucifixion, seen in the Papal Masses.

Layug has also created artworks in important sites such as the heritage district of Vigan, the Monastery of Transfiguration Museum, the Marcelo H. Del Pilar National Shrine in Bulacan, and the portal of the Fort Santiago complex in Intramuros, among many others.

His first solo exhibition was staged in 2010 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A group exhibition entitled El Guernica followed in 2011 at the Ayala Museum under the auspices of the Spanish Embassy.

A book on the artist’s life and select works was launched at the Arzobispado de Manila last September 11 upon the endorsement of Cardinal Luis Tagle.

Secular sculptures

Layug's "Naked Truth" is an exhibition that features female nudes. Because of the nuances and complexity of language, there is no direct translation to Kapampangan that can represent an equivalent concept. While the direct translation lubas a katutuan may be used to refer to the subject matter, the expression oyta ing katutuan or plain truth is apt for the layers of meaning in the exhibition.

Curator Laya Boquiren said of the exhibit:  "The works are from the artist’s lubas or nude series, not so much a depiction of the profane but a range of instantiations on the beauty of the human figure in a non-ecclesiastical context. The title also implies the idea of world disclosure, or the artist’s dynamic life world revealed in the work. A scrutiny of the sculptures, for example, will reveal elegant embellishments previously absent in Layug’s oeuvre."

This idiosyncratic approach may well be considered Layug's personal contribution to the dynamic woodcarving tradition of Betis, Pampanga. — BM, GMA News

Willy Layug's exhibit "Naked Truth" may be viewed at the NCCA Gallery at 633 General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila, through January 11, 2018.

The NCCA Gallery (527-2192, local 324  or 328) is open Mondays through Fridays, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Email nccagallery09@gmail.com for inquiries regarding guided tours and other activities.