Jaehwa Bernardo

Works on display at Benjie Lontoc and Jose Tence Ruiz’s Bilibid ng mga Malalaya exhibit, on view at Kaida Contemporary Gallery until April 30, 2026. Photos by Stephanie Mayo

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REVIEW: 'Bilibid ng mga Malalaya' exhibit captures longing for freedom

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17763159178281 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Works on display at Benjie Lontoc and Jose Tence Ruiz&#x27;s Bilibid ng mga Malalaya exhibit, on view at Kaida Contemporary Gallery until April 30, 2026. Photos by Stephanie Mayo</div>Artists Benjie Lontoc and Jose Tence Ruiz create a dialogue of a longing for freedom in &quot;Bilibid ng mga Malalaya (Prison of the Free)&quot; at Kaida Contemporary Gallery, running until April 30. These are stories of the perception of being involuntarily held, where forces beyond their control are dictating their states of mind and heart, their need to make sense of a world they are forced to deal with.Jose Tence Ruiz (1956) is a known social realist whose art practice spans almost five decades. Benjie Lontoc, like Ruiz, was an editorial cartoonist for various publications – both are oriented automatically to observe and editorialize local and international news.In &quot;Bilibid ng mga Malalaya,&quot; Ruiz contemplates and reacts to the current world crisis triggered by the current US-Iran conflict which has rippled to this part of the world as a looming economic disaster. In his typical style of minutely detailed works, tight compositions, using powerful imagery and symbolisms, his sometimes over dramatic approach insists on pulling his viewer inside his deep concerns.He has come up with large scale oils on canvas, majority of which are done in monochromatic hues of orange with the Filipino’s sense of emotional drama and a penchant for the jeepney approach that needs to fill up every space. The current social situation, the rising anxieties in the collective are intrinsically captured by the artist. It is his calling, his role to portray current social tensions that affect his community, his countrymen.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776315534803image2.jpg" style="width:633px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="633"/>Untitled, 2026. Photo by Stephanie Mayo</div>Of particular interest is a work that portrays a person clad in a bikini bottom, standing on a golden blanket holding what looks like a smartphone. This implies that most people live within the comforts of life, of seeing and digitally witnessing world crises but are helpless and without control over events. Lines intersect and connect to various figures, symbolically showing the interconnectedness of events and forces such as a Filipino wearing a top hat wearing a barong Tagalog with a vest that depicts colonial mentality; an all-black clad figure wearing a trenchcoat and a red arm band, that hints of powerful hidden political forces and covert networks. The foreground is a body of water that depicts the contested Strait of Hormuz and a half submerged head of the mysterious and enigmatic Mona Lisa, in Jungian terms, both denote the collective unconsious.While Ruiz turns outside of himself, we find Lontoc’s works turning within. Due to personal life’s events, the artist seems to be forced to confront his new reality – being an immigrant to the cold landscapes of Norway – the land of Edvard Munch (1863-1944) known for his famous emotionally fearful, anxiety-ridden work, &quot;The Scream.&quot;In this show, Lontoc&#x27;s expressionistic works in smaller canvases (dated 2024 to 2026) are executed in quick, almost feverish strokes, with an urgency to capture his experiences. We find nude elderly Norwegians, with sagging chests hanging out in various stages of life and death. It would be presumed that Lontoc’s life is part of the growing Filipino healthcare workforce in Norway today. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776315603384image4.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="633"/>Untitled, 2026 by Benjie Lontoc. Photo by Stephanie Mayo</div>This particular work shows an armless figure with black wings denoting death.To stand before these works feels like the world is bearing down heavily without resolution. They exhibit not to offer solutions but to keep the wounds alive and by merely allowing us to see, already becomes an act of resistance.

Artists Benjie Lontoc and Jose Tence Ruiz create a dialogue of a longing for freedom in 'Bilibid ng mga Malalaya (Prison of the Free)' at Kaida Contemporary Gallery.

Artists Benjie Lontoc and Jose Tence Ruiz create a dialogue of a longing for freedom in 'Bilibid ng mga Malalaya (Prison of the Free)' at Kaida Contemporary Gallery.

Art review: 'Bilibid ng mga Malalaya' exhibit captures longing for freedom

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Art review: 'Bilibid ng mga Malalaya' exhibit captures longing for freedom

Rachel Mayo

Published April 16, 2026 01:33 PM PHT

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art

art exhibit

Benjie Lontoc

Jose Tence Ruiz

Bilibid ng mga Malalaya

Kaida Contemporary Gallery

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