He paints in a style that, at first glance, is cutesy, but becomes increasingly surreal upon closer examination. What is surreal, however, is the disinterested look on his subjects’ face—as if the word “fun” has been thrown out the window. This is the sort of nuanced discourse that Jomar Delluba presents in “For Your Amusement”, exhibiting at ManilArt 2018.
Delluba will once again delight art aficionados with his trademark naïf-like doll-children set in fantastic and humorous locales. Inspired by lowbrow and populist predecessors, Delluba juggles humor and austerity, skill and levity, canon and kitsch, to subvert the viewers’ demand for consistent novelty.
Jomar Delluba’s practice is one of excruciating detail within a highly-developed technique. After a year of learning drafting technology in college, he started joining and winning drawing contests in his province of Laguna. It wasn’t long before he started apprenticing under renowned surrealist Jerry Morada. Delluba has since gained numerous recognitions, which include him being named Juror’s Choice at the GSIS Painting Competition.
Jomar Delluba sees his art as an intensely personal experience. His works use metaphors to articulate the idea of everyday people in his characteristically-brilliant style. Figuration dominates his works, oozing with pop-art sensibilities. Delluba is truly an artist thoroughly engaged in his practice: he relates to the consequent imagery that inevitably represents a consistently fascinating, quirky, and highly-technical aesthetic visual.
The artworks will be on exhibition at the 10thAnnual ManilArt Fair. This 10thedition of ManilArt will run from October 17-21 at the SMX Convention Center, Taguig, with the theme “Celebrating a Decade of Artistic Excellence”. The fair headlines the celebration of Museums and Galleries Month. For the whole month of October, in partnership with the Intramuros Administration, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) includes activities and showcases around Metro Manila.
ManilArt is co-presented by the NCCA and Bonafide Art Galleries Organization (BAGO) with support from SMX, SM Aura Malls, BDO, I Love Taguig, The Manila Bulletin, Lifestyle Asia, Art+ Magazine, Don Papa Rhum, Giffard Liqueur & Syrups Philippines, Savaroso Inc, Via Mare, Manilascope and Ladder Events. Tickets are available online at www.ticketbooth.ph. For details, visit www.manilart.org.