Bo Joseph

The work of Bo Joseph involves the appropriation and mingling of iconic forms from disparate cultures and historic periods, often as layered silhouettes in a fragmented abstract field. It also involves an intuitive, process-oriented methodology where chance and deconstructive techniques partly determine the final outcome of the work. From myriad printed sources, such as books or auction catalogs, Joseph scavenges images of objects that transcend cultural boundaries without losing their intrinsic charge. He transcribes and layers silhouettes or outlines of these reproductions, abstracting them to further strip away any inherent meaning or point of reference, withdrawing any cultural context. Typically, these referential hybrids evolve within environments of intuitive gestural marking. Whether painting on a fragmentary used drop cloth or a sheet of paper, Joseph regards the painting support as a charged found object, more than just a surface. He utilizes abstraction as a means of examining how our beliefs and perception charge the experience of "reality," and affect how we compile collective knowledge. The resulting works are by-products of his exploration and reconciliation of diverse cultures and they assert signs of ideological syncretism and contemporary interdependence.


Joseph has exhibited internationally including Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, McClain Gallery, Houston, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME, Kunsthalle Am Hamburger Platz, Berlin, Froelick Gallery, Portland, and the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn. He was honored as the recipient of the Basil H. Alkazzi Award and received fellowships in painting from Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

Courtesy of the Artist