Joey de Leon to showcase paintings he accomplished during quarantine in solo exhibit

Joey de Leon will be holding a one-man show at the Finale Art File on Chino Roces Avenue in Makati.

Called “Joey de Leon. In the House. Artwork from Home,” the exhibit will showcase 30 paintings the comedian accomplished from his house, all through quarantine.

According to the exhibit notes, the comedian’s work will showcase have puns, idiomatic expressions, and sometimes even Biblical verses — not unlike what we’ve been seeing on his Instagram account.

The exhibit happened by chance, Joey tells GMA News in a virtual interview. “Itong exhibit ko, dahil nagkausap kami ng friend ko na taga-Finale. Tinatanong niya, 'Oh kumusta?' Sabi ko, 'ito walang ginagawa. Pinta nang pinta'.”

“'Oh! Halika, mag-exhibit ka.' So du’n nabuo,” he shared.

Holding an art exhibit is nothing new for Joey, who has been showcasing his artworks in group exhibits since the 1980’s.

“Sumasama lang ako kasi may Eat Bulaga, ang dami kong ginagawa. There was a time, anim ‘yung shows ko! Ngayon, semi-retired na ako. Eat Bulaga na lang.”

According to the Eat Bulaga pioneer, he simply enjoys painting. On quarantine, Joey suddenly had all this time to paint. His creativity peaked.

“Pag nagpipinta ka kasi, gumagana ang ano mo e, ang lahat. Ang pag-iisip mo. So baka ito nga ang gamot sa…knock on wood, Alzheimers, di ba? Kailangan gumagana. Kaya mas masarap pagod ng isip mo, mas masarap matulog,” he added.

According to Joey, his paintings were inspired by his own humor and ideas. “Sa iniisip ko lang. Lahat ng mga kapilyuhan ko at kabaitan ko. Du’n lang nagmumula lahat ng lumalabas duon sa canvass. Basta, magpinta kayo,” he said.

He doesn’t like painting common subjects, instead preferring controversial ideas that would make people think, or at the very least, entertainment them.

“Naalala ko, isa sa mga una kong [painting] yung tinuli ni Abraham. Si Abraham, ‘yung tinuli ni Abraham yung sarili niya. Ganun ang gusto ko, hindi yung mga Mother and Child, na common subjects,” he narrates.

Apart from puns, numbers often make their way into a Joey de Leon painting. “Pwede mong sabihin na ‘yan ang signature ko, numbers. Pero kahit ano, ina-ano ko eh. Basta may pumasok sa isip ko. Tulad nito. Para kasi ‘di ba face mak, kung anu-ano dumating. Ito ang mask niya, face shield. Face shielf niya, e pakwan. Ang title niyan, 'Bathing Pakwan.' Naliligo eh. 'Bathing Pakwan.' ‘Di ba nakaka-entertain?”

Joey shares how back in the ‘80s, he would buy P200-paintings from vendors on the road in Tagaytay. He would hang them up on their walls, and then start adding details to them. “Maya-maya, umi-interact na ako [sa mga paintings]. Pinipintahan ko na. Dadagdagan nang mga tutubi, ganun lang.”

Clearly, his creativity knows no bounds — as when he calls himself a “playnter,” a portmanteau he believes he originally coined from “play” and “painter.”

“I paint and I play. Naglalaro lang ako eh. Ba’t hindi mo sasabihin na naglalaro? Minsan naka-briefs ka lang o naka-socks, nakahubad or naka-t-shirt. Hindi ka pa naliligo, tapos nag-e-enjoy ka na. When you say enjoy, you’re playing,” he tells GMA News Online over a Zoom interview.

“So tapos ano ka, hindi ka nag-iingat when you play. Sabi ko, “ano pala ako, playnter. I play and I paint. Palagay ko orig ako ru’n,” he added. — LA, GMA News

Joey de Leon. In the House. Artwork from Home will run from February 11 to March 5 at the Finale Art File, Warehouse 17, Chino Roces Avenue, Makati.