Vetted X Borlongan

Once a wellspring of adult entertainment (it still is in some parts), Mile Long is reemerging as a destination for seriously good Asian food. The opening of Vetted, a creative space founded by international interior designer Jonathan Matti, adds another facet to Mile Long’s ongoing reincarnation which was supercharged by an event celebrating Elmer Borlongan’s first sculptures in bronze last 18 May.

A high-wattage crowd descended on Vetted’s intimate space, which was extended to the hallway for the day with Matti creating a dramatic tropical salon where drinks and canapes were served. Art-loving people of power and unfailing taste stayed on despite the humid weather, a testament to the magnetic draw of both Borlongan and Matti. 

Borlongan’s sculptures of two arm wrestling while seated on the shoulders of two figures chest-deep in calm waters is a three-dimensional imagination of Borlongan’s work from 2015 titled Chicken Fight (Shoulder Wars), now owned by landscape designer and collector Bobby Gopiao. The painting was staged with a few of Borlongan’s sculptures (simply titled Shoulder Wars), all sold out, by the way, so the guests can examine the artist’s concept in both a flat and three-dimensional format. 

Borlongan worked on the clay model for two years, making sure that the sculpture remains true to the painting, down to the last sinewy muscle. 

Vetted’s event last 18 May is a marker of new and exciting things to come.