Artist Statement

In the process of making 2-D or 3-D art, I add what makes sense and subtract what doesn’t. That is a process that can take years or realized in a day. What I add or what I keep represents my history, dreams, memories, and personal aesthetic. I want the finished piece to finish the psychological loop and tell a complete story.

Spatter Series Statement

These new Spatter Series paintings address the continued unsafe political environment we find ourselves when making personal medical decisions about our bodily autonomy, including abortion and gender affirmation.

My professional art practice has spanned over 40 years. In that time I received my BFA in painting at Kansas University, two MFA’s in painting and ceramics from Washington University in Saint Louis and taught art at Wash U and Johnson County Community College. My visual vocabulary took on new heights while living in London, Boston, Tucson, Los Angeles and various cities in the Midwest. Most vividly I was a health care provider in an AIDS hospice for 5 years during the frontlines of the disease and through the peak of the pandemic. Those memories garnered from my hospice experience continue to feed my queer abstract language.

I recently had solo exhibitions in the region at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS, Habitat Contemporary Gallery in Kansas City, MO and the Garmin Exhibition Space in Olathe, KS. In the past I’ve had solo shows at the TAI Gallery in New York, NY, Monty et Company Galleria in Rome and Harcourt Brace Gallery in London. The Kansas City Artists Coalition will show my new 2D and 3D work in March 2024.

Biography

Joe has maintained a professional contemporary art practice for over 40 years. In that time, he received a BFA in painting at Kansas University and an MFA in Painting and Ceramics at Washington University in Saint Louis. Joe exhibits widely in the US and Europe. Currently, his indoor/outdoor studio is in Kansas City, Kansas.

The development of Joe’s visual language took on new heights while living in London, Boston, Los Angeles and various cities in the Midwest. Most vividly, he worked in an AIDS hospice for five years. The experiences at the hospice are forever seared into his always expanding queer abstract language.