Back in 2005, the country was surprised with a painting of Jesus Christ in his immaculate white robe breaking bread with twelve grimy street children. From one exhibition to another, the heart-wrenching oil on canvas painting, Hapag ng Pag-asa, made quite a stir in the artistic circle, social media, and local parishes. It even replaced Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in Filipino families’ dining rooms. What made it more interesting is that the search for the maker of this modern artwork led to a humble man in crutches suffering from kidney disease.
At EDSA Shangri-La Manila’s Art of Wine event last April 26, guests gathered at the unveiling of Joey Velasco’s Way of the Cross series of cast bronze with the Hapag ng Pag-asa as the month-long exhibition’s centerpiece. Gracing the cocktail affair were Presidential Sister Viel Aquino-Dee and her husband Joseph Dee, Gawad Kalinga chairman and founder Tony Meloto, EDSA Shangri-La Manila’s General Manager Amit Oberoi, and Queeny Velasco.
Art From the Heart
Joey Velasco, husband to Queeny and father to four kids, began painting when he had an operation and saw in a dream an image of the Madonna. With a strong will to remember the image, he got his art materials and painted it—the first of his series of paintings that changed his life, his family's, as well as of the people who have seen his works.
Although Joey didn’t have formal artistic training, he was able to paint on canvasses powerful images of various people representing the many aspects of society as well as Christ in the modern times.
