Solo exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

Bo Joseph: Holding Spaces

September 21 – November 2, 2023
Artist Reception: Thursday, September 21, 5 – 7 PM
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 23, 2 PM


"McClain Gallery is pleased to announce Bo Joseph’s fourth solo exhibition with us: Holding Spaces, including new works on paper from two bodies of work, a wall relief and a Corten steel sculpture. Joseph mines ever deeper as he finds novel ways to re-contextualize cultural icons and navigate the interdependence and interconnectedness between diverse worldviews and belief systems. The artist will be in attendance at the opening reception.

This exhibition takes its title from the primary series of works on paper in the exhibition, Holding Spaces. In this new series, Joseph transcribes, abstracts, and merges imagery from photographs of interiors he appropriates from online sources, many of which depict collections of tribal art or decor that leverages the energy and aesthetic of tribal art, whether authentic ritual objects or “fakes” made specifically for trade. Some of these sourced images capture celebrated collections such as those of Helena Rubenstein, Peggy Guggenheim, and Wifredo Lam. The term “holding space” can be read as both an action and a place: a method of reserving and cordoning off a safe space for emotions and ideas, and a location in which things are admired, coveted, secured, or detained. Joseph states, 'since much of the imagery in my work is of cultural objects that have come into purview because of societal friction points, conflict, and outright plunder throughout history, and many of those objects are “held” in public and private collections, I adapted the term as a means of opening discussion and conflict resolution around issues of cultural appropriation, authorship, artistic autonomy, and visual sovereignty.'"

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
713.520.9988
info@mcclaingallery.com

Exhibition page at McClain.com

Work exhibited at Dallas Art Fair, 2023

Work Exhibited at Intersect Palm Springs Art Fair, Feb. 9-14, 2022

Several works by Bo Joseph were exhibited at the Intersect Palm Springs art fair with Sears-Peyton Gallery, including the large scale work on paper shown above, entitled Conjuring by the Uninitiated, 2021 (oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper, 56 x 80 1/2 inches, Private Collection, Indian Wells, CA).

Works Exhibited at Dallas Art Fair

At the Dallas Art Fair, November 12-14, Sears-Peyton Gallery exhibited recent mixed media works on paper from two ongoing series and McClain Gallery exhibited two new wall reliefs from the series Catching Ghosts, first exhibited at their Houston gallery, Fall 2020.

Work published in AD Italia
Work Published in Luxe Interiors+Design

Bo Joseph's large work on paper A Season of Psychic Noise, 2016, was published in Luxe Interiors+Design, March/April 2021 Pacific Northwest edition. Special thanks to Susan Marinello Interiors and Sears-Peyton Gallery for the placement of this work.

Joint Virtual Artist's Talk with Julia Kunin for Holocaust Museum Houston now on Vimeo

On December 7, 2020, the Holocaust Museum Houston hosted a joint virtual artist's talk for its Art Circle members on two concurrent exhibitions at McClain Gallery, Bo Joseph: Feeding the Beast and Rainbow Dream Machine by Julia Kunin, moderated by Lea Weingarten of Weingarten Group. That lively discussion is now available on Vimeo at the link above.

Glasstire.com Review of McClain Gallery Exhibition

Bo Joseph’s “Feeding the Beast” at McClain, Houston
by Lydia Pyne, December 7, 2020

"...One of the themes that underscores the exhibition is appropriation, reinterpretation, and how stories are told and retold over time. The Battle with Sagittary and the Conference at Achilles’ Tent, for example, is the ancient Greek myth told through the experiences of 15th-century artists; shadows of those same stories appear in Joseph’s work more than five and a half centuries later. These oft-told stories form tropes (like The Illiad, or the myth of the simorgh) that in turn become cultural palimpsests — social texts where each telling is superimposed on its previous iteration..."

Read full article at link above.

Zoom Artist Talk, Now on Youtube

On October 24, McClain Gallery hosted a Zoom artist talk between Bo Joseph's studio in Brooklyn and his current McClain Gallery exhibition, Feeding the Beast, on view through December 30, 2020. In the talk, Bo provides context for his work, reveals aspects of his process, and discusses long-standing ideas in his practice. Follow the link above to view a recording of the talk on Youtube.

"Feeding the Beast" Exhibition Video

At the link above, take a brief video tour of the exhibition Bo Joseph: Feeding the Beast, at McClain Gallery through December 30, 2020, with commentary by the artist.

Solo Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

Bo Joseph: Feeding the Beast
September 29-December 30, 2020

"In Feeding the Beast, Bo Joseph's third solo exhibition at McClain Gallery, the artist presents two parallel bodies of work: works on paper, which layer imagery from Renaissance scenes of battle, mythology and religion, and a new series of wall reliefs depicting composites of divergent historical, religious, and ritual objects that span the globe." 

VISIT ONLINE VIEWING ROOM

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
713.520.9988 
info@mcclaingallery.com

Dallas Art Fair Online with McClain Gallery

McClain Gallery included the work of Bo Joseph in the DALLAS ART FAIR ONLINE, April 14-23, a new platform allowing collectors to digitally explore and collect works in advance of the fair’s twelfth edition, which had been rescheduled to October 1-4, 2020 but was subsequently suspended due to the ongoing pandemic. McClain Gallery's curated selection also included Dorothy Hood, Julia Kunin, Henrique Olveira, Elaine Reichek, and Shane Tolbert.

"Thinking of Art" Interview with Kipton Cronkite

Art advisor Kipton Cronkite launched the Instagram Live series Thinking of Art on March 27, 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as a way to share his conversations with artists, designers, real estate advisors, fashion experts and many others for whom art plays a central role in their work and lives. Kipton interviewed Bo Joseph on April 20. A YouTube video of their IGLive session is at the link above (*there are some technical issues with the connection a few minutes into the interview but it clears up, so please be patient and keep watching until the end!)

Article in Kolaj magazine

In the final of four articles on the concept of "uncollage," Todd Bartel further explains its meaning and recounts when he first coined the term during a studio visit with Bo Joseph.

Download a PDF of the article at the link above.

New work at EXPO Chicago with William Shearburn Gallery

At EXPO Chicago, September 19-22, William Shearburn Gallery will present the large scale work on paper pictured above, alongside works by Milton Avery, Donald Baechler, Deborah Butterfield, Alexander Calder, Richard Diebenkorn, Michael Eastman, Eric Fischl, Hans Hofmann, Catherine Howe, Bo Joseph, Ellsworth Kelly, Tony Lewis, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Andrew Millner, Robert Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, Julies Olitski, George Rickey, Donald Sultan, Bernar Venet, Esteban Vicente, Andy Warhol and Cayce Zavaglia.

EXPO Chicago
William Shearburn Gallery
Booth 200
9/19-9/22
Navy Pier, Chicago

Image: Fog and Friction, 2019
oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper, 55 7/8 x 80 3/8 inches

Group Exhibition at Concord Center for the Visual Arts

unfoldingobject
June 20—August 11, 2019
curated by Todd Bartel

"unfoldingobject
showcases the art of 50 artists selected for the varying ways in which they couple and cobble together composite images. The collected works on view celebrate the myriad ways that collage artists listen to the picture to find opportunities and possibilities within found materials. unfoldingobject is an exhibition of artwork that values the slow read, and it showcases imagery that reveals and provokes connections over multiple viewings."

Concord Center for the Visual Arts
37 Lexington Road
Concord MA 01742
concordart.org

Group Exhibition at Cristina Grajales Gallery, curated by Stephanie Ingrassia

Encounters I, curated by Stephanie Ingrassia

Cristina Grajales Gallery
April 25-June 28, 2019

Three bronze sculptures by Bo Joseph are included in this inaugural annual guest-curated exhibition dedicated to the meeting of minds, spirit, and soul. For the inaugural installment, renowned collector and philanthropist Stephanie Ingrassia works with pieces from the gallery collection and beyond to create an environment that celebrates the fuzzy intersection between art and design.

Cristina Grajales Gallery
152 West 25th Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001
(212) 219-9941

Work exhibited at Dallas Art Fair with McClain Gallery

At the Dallas Art Fair this year, April 11-14, the large work on paper Souvenirs from Nowhere: Rovelli's Antelope, 2018, and a bronze sculpture Caput Mortuum: Create Yourself from Darkness, 2018, both pictured above, were exhibited in McClain Gallery's booth along side works by Dorothy Hood, Louise Nevelson, Anne Deleporte and Julia Kunin.

re:construction at Design Miami 2018 highlighted in Galerie magazine
Work included at Design Miami 2018

In the "Curio" section of Design Miami, December 4-9, 2018, Malcolm James Kutner presented re:construction, "a dynamic collaboration among makers and collectors, this presentation accommodates makers’ preoccupation with creating functional forms and collectors’ fascination with telling aesthetic stories. re:construction not only energizes a cross-disciplinary design dialogue, it also expands our understanding and appreciation of simultaneously formal, intuitive, and malleable relationships."

Derivative 1, 2015, a manipulated antique Chinese rug, was be presented alongside French Reconstruction furniture from René Gabriel, Marcel Gascoin, and Gustave Gautier, as well as a textile by Laura Kaufman, a mirror by Maureen Fullam and Radisay/Szarek, and a site-specific intervention by Aleksandar Duravcevic.

re:construction was presented by Malcolm James Kutner with Simone Joseph of SGJ Fine Art, New York, and with special thanks to Jean-Baptiste Bouvier, Paris.

For more information, contact design@reconstructiongallery.com

Group Exhibition at albertz benda, New York

Under the Night Sky

October 25-December 15, 2018

In a unique group exhibition combining art, design and tribal rugs, this new bronze sculpture will be presented along side such artists as Baselitz, Bengston, Doig, Goldin, Guston, Katz, Kusama, Sherman, Tobey, Wool and others.

Under the Night Sky explores the numerous ways in which the frontier of the night sky influences the human psyche and continues to hold artists in its grip. Curated by New York based private dealer and collector Michael Black and spanning the spaces of Friedman Benda and albertz benda, the exhibition brings together significant works by modern, post-war, and contemporary artists and designers with a selection of seminal Central Asian rugs. The works in the exhibition engage with the night sky on both conscious and unconscious levels, featuring the interplay between literal homages to the night sky and works with looser interpretations of the theme, whose makers innately channel the emotive presence of night.

Albertz Benda
515 W 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 244-257

albertzbenda.com


Image:
Bo Joseph
bronze, 20 1/4 x 24 5/8 x 11 inches
State Proof outside the edition of 3 plus 2 APs

Group Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

RE:CONSTRUCTION
January 27-March 31, 2018

A group exhibition that explores and encourages the dialogues between form and function, art and design, abstraction, extraction and representation by bringing together three-dimensional works by Donna Green, Sheila Hicks, Bo Joseph, Julia Kunin and Thaddeus Wolfe; paintings and works on paper by Ruth Asawa, Nicolas Carone, Claire Falkenstein, Leon Polk Smith, André Lanskoy and Julian Stanczak; with furniture by Marcel Gascoin.

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
T. 713.520.9988
F. 713.520.9955
E. info@mcclaingallery.com
W. www.mcclaingallery.com

Solo Exhibition at Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Bo Joseph : House of Mirrors
October, 12-November 24 2017

LEE EUGEAN GALLERY, Seoul, South Korea, will present a solo exhibition of New York artist Bo Joseph from Oct 12th to Nov. 24th, 2017, featuring paintings, small and large-scale works on paper, bronze sculpture and a perforated antique carpet. As his first exhibition in Korea it includes works from 1997 to 2017 that elucidate Joseph’s career-long use of process-based abstraction to recontextualize cultural icons.

Work exhibited at Expo Chicago 2017

Disunified Theory: Hoarding Voids, 2016, a large work on paper, was exhibited at Expo Chicago by William Sheardurn Gallery, September 13-17, where it was acquired by a local collector.

"Satisfying Psychic Noise," RISD Blog Article by Simone Solandz

Simone Solodnz posted this article about Bo Joseph's solo exhibition A Season of Psychic Noise, Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, October 27-December 10, 2016.

Interview by Suzy Spence on Artsy.net

A Season of Psychic Noise: An Interview with Bo Joseph
by Suzy Spence, Nov. 16, 2016

On the first day of his exhibition, A Season of Psychic Noise, I had the pleasure of speaking with fellow painter Bo Joseph. Bo and I were born the same year and attended New England colleges where our initiation to art history in the late 80s was through Louise Gardner's encyclopedic tome, Art Through the Ages. We were in agreement that the book had been useful (we still own our copies), and that it was regrettable to have professors skip entire chapters on Africa or Asia in the service of presenting a linear Western leaning history. I was fascinated to learn that he'd remedied this with extensive travel and research, a journey that has enabled him to define art on his own terms.

Read full interview

Solo Exhibition at Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York

Bo Joseph
Continuity in Cryptic Signs, 2016
oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper
39 7/8 x 50 3/8 inches (101 x 128 cm)

Bo Joseph: A Season of Psychic Noise

October 28 – December 10, 2016
Opening Reception: October 28, 6–8 p.m.
 
Bo Joseph’s fifth solo exhibition at Sears-Peyton Gallery, A Season of Psychic Noise, plies the lively intersection of diverse cultural forms and symbols, interweaving appropriated imagery in a complex interplay of allusive signs that refuse to resolve into soundbites. Instead, Joseph’s process of layering, stenciling, painting, and subtracting offers a site of profound visual meditation amid the commotion of our current cultural moment. Read full press release

Sears-Peyton Gallery
210 11th Avenue, Suite 802
New York, NY 10001
T. 212.966.7469
F. 917.305.1910
E. info@searspeyton.com
W. www.searspeyton.com

Artsy.net article on solo exhibition at McClain Gallery

In “Souvenirs from Nowhere,” An Alchemy of Oil and Water
Artsy Editorial
By Molly Osberg
Oct 19th, 2015 2:49 pm
image © Nash Baker

"Bo Joseph considers his abstract works to be closer to found objects than mixed-media paintings. They begin as a series of spliced-together photos, culled from the artist’s expansive archive, that Joseph deconstructs, builds up, and deconstructs again in an unusual, labor-intensive process."

Follow link above to read full article.

Must-See Art Guide: Houston, ArtnetNews
Solo Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

Bo Joseph
Pangaea: Terra Nullius, 2014
oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper
55 5/8 x 80 1/4 inches

Bo Joseph: Souvenirs from Nowhere
September 12-October 22, 2015
Artist Reception: Saturday, September 12, 12-2 pm
Artist Talk: 2 pm

McClain Gallery is pleased to present our premier exhibition for Fall 2015, Bo Joseph: Souvenirs from Nowhere. This is the New York-based artist's second solo exhibition at McClain Gallery and will highlight his new works on paper. The work ranges from medium to large-scale drawings, including a new series of oil pastel, acrylic and tempera works with punctured, stencil-like cut-outs. Joseph draws upon a myriad of cultural references and shared histories, reimagining and decontextualizing the familiar into abstract forms.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a forthcoming catalog with an essay by artist and critic Matthew Weinstein.

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
T. 713.520.9988
F. 713.520.9955
E. info@mcclaingallery.com
W. www.mcclaingallery.com

Group Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

Bo Joseph
Derivative 1, 2015
antique Chinese rug with acrylic and nails
48 x 83 x 1 1/2 inches

Warp & Riff: Unraveling Rugs as Raw Material

September 12 - October 24, 2015

McClain Gallery is pleased to showcase in their west annex gallery, a group exhibition exhibition focused on selected international contemporary artists who appropriate rugs and vintage Oriental carpets as subject and/or material. The show runs concurrently with New York-based artist Bo Joseph's solo exhibition in the main gallery; Joseph co-curated the show with McClain Gallery Director Erin Siudzinski.
Artists include: Andisheh Avini, Alfred DeCedico, Bo Joseph, Michael Oatman, Ruairiadh O'Connell, Antonio Santin and Nevet Yitzhak.

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
T. 713.520.9988
F. 713.520.9955
E. info@mcclaingallery.com
W. www.mcclaingallery.com

Article on Artsy.net: Accentuate the Negative: Bo Joseph’s Painted Silhouettes Reveal Hidden Connections within Blank Spaces

"Bo Joseph’s complex, patterned paintings are the result of a process of deconstructing and reconfiguring forms and materials, often leaving the results up to chance. He plucks images from auction catalogues and books, traces them, lathers them with paint, then peels off said layers of paint, and outlines the fragments that remain. Several of these works, currently on view at Sears-Peyton Gallery, explore…"

To read article, follow link above

Solo Exhibition at Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York

Bo Joseph
Co-opting Cryptic Signs, 2014
oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper
55 5/8 x 80 5/8 inches (141 x 205 cm)

Bo Joseph: Hiding in Plain Sight

April 16-May, 16, 2015
Opening reception: Thursday, April 16, 6-8 pm

In the eight works on paper presented, Joseph continues to seek commonalities among disparate ideologies by subjecting imagery from diverse cultures and historic periods to a barrage of inventive drawing methods. Read full press release.

Sears-Peyton Gallery
210 11th Avenue, Suite 802
New York, NY 10001
T. 212.966.7469
F. 917.305.1910
E. info@searspeyton.com
W. www.searspeyton.com

Work included in book marking 20th anniversay of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art


A work by Bo Joseph was included in the book Marking 20 Years: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, published to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this Kansas City museum.

Work and collection featured in recently published book "The Collectors"

Bo Joseph was featured in a book recently published in Korea by Christina Kang and 1984. Ms. Kang is the founder of Paradigm Art, who first encountered Bo's work at the Rhode Island School of Design, where they were classmates. This book includes beautiful photographs by Jason River inside the homes of several collectors around the world, with interviews and commentary by Ms. Kang.

University of Maine Museum of Art Acquisition and Exhibition

Terra Nullis, 2012, was recently acquired by the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor, and will be included in the exhibition Looking Back Six Years-Part Two, Selected New Acquisitions, on view June 20-September 20, 2014.


Auction donation to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

A Lexicon of Persistent Absence: Opposites Collapse, 2012, was included in the CAMH 65th Anniversary Gala and Art Auction on April 4.


Kolaj magazine article on exquisite corpse collaboration

W. David Powell asked three groups of artists to collaborate for this article in issue seven of Kolaj magazine on the past and present of so-called "exquisite corpse" drawings. Bo Joseph worked with Todd Bartel, Michael Oatman and James Scott to create the four variations published in the article. Follow link above to view a PDF.


Kemper Museum / NPR Podcast Interview

Barbara O'Brien, Director of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, recently interviewed Bo Joseph as part of the Be Inspired! exhibition podcast series (in association with NPR station KCUR).


Download and listen to podcast.


Work published in new Rizzoli book

Bo Joseph
The Cunning Captures Himself, 2006
acrylic and tempera on panel
55 x 40 inches
Collection: David Epstein, New York

This work was recently published with images of collector David Epstein's homes in Heirloom Modern by Hollister Harvey, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York.


1800 Tequila Limited Edition Bottle

Bo Joseph was among six artists who each collaborated with 1800 Tequila to produce limited-edition bottles inspired by Mayan culture, Aztec mythology, and Mexican heritage.

Work Published in Italian Architectural Digest

A large scale work on paper Atavisitc Empires, 2011, was pictured in Architectural Digest, Italian Edition, February 2013. A PDF can be downloaded from the Bibliography.

Group Exhibition at Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York

Bo Joseph
A Lexicon of Persistent Absence: Collapse, 2012
acrylic and transfer on paper mounted on canvas
30 x 22 1/2 inches (76.2 x 57.2 cm)

Geometry Interrupted
February 21-March 23, 2013
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 21, 5-7 pm

Sears Peyton will present Geometry Interrupted, an exhibition curated by Simone Joseph of SGJ Fine Art LLC, on view February 21–March 23, 2013. Artists are notorious for manipulating the challenges of creating and deconstructing space and form. Planes collide, new images are born and fissures become more than just air. Through their respective practices, an intense visual discourse ensues between Patrick Brennan, Bo Joseph, Sara Eichner and Vincent Szarek, addressing and confronting these fundamental yet complex concepts—each in their own way exploiting and straining "geometry," whether the geometry of the picture plane or the geometry of space.

Sears-Peyton Gallery
210 11th Avenue, Suite 802
New York, NY 10001
T. 212.966.7469
F. 917.305.1910
E. info@searspeyton.com
W. www.searspeyton.com


Group Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston

Bo Joseph
Surveying Cryptic Signs, 2011
oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper
39 7/8 x 49 3/4 inches (101.3 x 126.4 cm)

Portal

Kent Dorn, Cameron Gainer, Rashid Johnson, Bo Joseph, Kohei Nawa, and Aaron Spangler

January 24 - March 2, 2013
Opening Reception: January 24, 6:30 - 8:30 PM

Concurrent with Rosa Loy's show, McClain Gallery will present a group exhibition of six male artists in the West Gallery space. A presentation of diverse media, Portal will feature works by contemporary artists Kent Dorn, Cameron Gainer, Rashid Johnson, Bo Joseph, Kohei Nawa, and Aaron Spangler.

The works in the show were chosen due to a shared allusion to a transformative space or experience, and also with a keen focus on varied interest in mark-making, escapism, materiality, and the mystical. All six artists uniquely and poignantly address art as possessing the potential for altering one's experience of self, perception, appearance, or place.

McClain Gallery
West Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
T. 713.520.9988
F. 713.520.9955
E. info@mcclaingallery.com
W. www.mcclaingallery.com

Group Exhibition and Lecture at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art at the Crossroads

Bo Joseph
Return to Plato's Cave, 2009
ink, watercolor, acrylic, oil pastel, tempera and pencil on joined paper
36 1/2 x 76 1/2 inches (92.7 x 194.3 cm)

Return to Plato's Cave,
2009, (above) will be exhibited in Be Inspired!, September 2012-May 2013, at the Kemper Musuem of Contemporary Art at the Crossroads, Kansas City, MO, along with other works recently acquired by the Museum. Artists include Nicole Awai, Angela Dufresne, Bo Joseph, Matt Rich, Jim Sajovic and Stacey Steers. The Museum will host a lecture by each artist during the show, with Bo Joseph speaking March 1, 2013, 6:00 p.m., 33 West 19th Street, Kansas City, MO.

Solo Exhibition at McClain Gallery, Houston, TX

Bo Joseph
DETAIL: A Lexicon of Persistent
Absence: Opposites Collapse
, 2012
acrylic and transfer on paper mounted on canvas
29 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches (75.9 x 56.8 cm)

Bo Joseph: Empire of Spoils
May 12-June 23, 2012
Opening Reception: Saturday May 12, 2-4 pm

In his first solo show at McClain Gallery, New York-based artist Bo Joseph presents a group of recent work ranging from large scale tonal drawings to bold hi-contrast paintings. Out of the dense organic linearity of Joseph's drawings, rise ambitious abstractions and a sophisticated body of work that deftly straddles the line between the evocative and cryptic. Bo Joseph will be in town for an artist reception, open to the public, on May 12, 2-4 PM.  The exhibition will be on view May 12-June 23, 2012.

McClain Gallery
2242 Richmond Avenue
Houston, TX 77098
T. 713.520.9988
F. 713.520.9955
E. info@mcclaingallery.com
W. www.mcclaingallery.com


Group Exhibition at Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin

Installation View with onlooker:
Bo Joseph
The Party\'s Over or When Wisdom Expires, 2012
inkjet printed poster pasted directly on wall
82 x 36 inches (208.3 x 91.4 cm), Edition 1/5, 2 APs

Shelf Life

A BERLIN COLLECTIVE PRODUCTION

April 25-May 13, 2012
Opening Reception: April 25, 7-10 pm
Berlin Gallery Weekend Reception: Saturday, April 28, 2-5 pm

Curated by Nicole Cohen, this exhibition will addresses \"works that relate to how over time objects, organic entities, technological materials, such as: film, light bulbs, projectors, to name a few deteriorate and while they are doing so they unravel and take an in-between form...the process of deterioration and how it can be understood in a visual capacity to observe the transformation of these very different processes. Each artist uses this concept in a unique way.\" The main space will highlight four Los Angeles selected artists: Ellen Birrell, Morgan Fisher, Kevin Hanley, and Stephen Prina. A group of Berlin Collective affiliated artists will show works in the Project Space: Amelie Chabannes (NYC), Bo Joseph (NYC), Katrin Kampmann (Berlin), Elena Lyakir (NYC), Mira O’Brien (Berlin), Adam Raymont (Berlin), Sandra Peters (Berlin/Los Angeles), Matthew Weinstein (NYC), Holly Zausner (Berlin/ NYC), Alexis Zoto (Los Angeles)

\"The Party\'s Over or When Wisdom Expires\" is about failed ideas, incomplete thoughts and antiquated belief systems that subsist in historical visual language. The imagery is appropriated from a relatively insignificant 19th century still life painting from the Louvre, a genre of \"game\" paintings alluding to transitory existence, that was once poignant in its brutal confrontation. Today, a hand painted oil-on-canvas reproduction of this work can be ordered from a manufacturer in China, in several sizes, now a thoroughly valueless decoration, easily dismissed as banal. The initial concept for this project involved carving this appropriated silhouette of a dead pheasant directly onto a painted section of a wall, which would eventually be plastered over at the end of an exhibition or when the owner of the piece relocates. It would then be \"reincarnated\" upon subsequent re-installation, representing a microcosmic cycle of creation and destruction. In the case of this show, that application was not possible due to the concrete walls of the venue. Thus, this site specific poster acts as both a surrogate of the original concept and evidence of its failure. Like so many concert posters, or subway advertisements, plastered by the millions on city walls around the world, this work is an ephemeral testimony to the transience of artistic investment.\" —Bo Joseph, 2012

Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz
Weissensee, Germany
Gustav-Adolf-Str. 140
13086, Berlin

Print Edition and Museum of Fine Arts Houston Acquisition

Bo Joseph
Displaced by an Accumulation of Culture, 2011
archival digital print on rag paper
11 x 8 1/2 inches (27.9 x 21.6 cm), Edition of 150

November 2011, McClain Gallery, Houston, TX, commissioned this print edition incorporating digitally manipulated imagery co-opted from printed material such as auction catalogues, encyclopedias and antique scrap booking clip art. A private donor gifted a print from this edition to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, marking the second work by Bo Joseph to be added to the Museum\'s permanent collection.

Kemper Museum Acquisition

Bo Joseph
Return to Plato\'s Cave, 2009
ink, watercolor, acrylic, oil pastel,
tempera and pencil on joined paper
36 1/2 x 76 1/2 inches (92.7 x 194.3 cm)


This winter, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, acquired Return to Plato\'s Cave, a recent large-scale work on paper, marking the second work by Bo Joseph in the Museum\'s permanent collection.

Bo Joseph interview on Artlog.com

An interview with Bo Joseph about his current exhibition Fragments of a Worldview, at Sears-Peyton Gallery through April 21, 2012.

Solo Exhibition: "Fragments of a Worldview"

Bo Joseph: Fragments of a Worldview will be on display February 23 to April 5, 2012 at Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, opening reception Thursday, February 23, 5-7 pm. This exhibition will include seven large scale works on paper from an ongoing series.

Bo Joseph writes exhibition essay for "Ted Gahl: Night Painter" at Dodge Gallery, NYC

Bo Joseph wrote an exhibition essay for Ted Gahl\'s first solo exhibition at Dodge Gallery, at 15 Rivington on the Lower East Side, which opens October 6, 2011. Follow the link above to read the essay and go to dodgegallery.com for more info on the show.

Bo Joseph exhibiting at Pulse Los Angeles Art Fair

Sears-Peyton Gallery will exhibit recent work by Bo Joseph in their booth at the Pulse LA art fair, Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2011, Downtown Los Angeles. Included in the installation will be three new large scale drawings and four small works on paper from the series A Lexicon of Persistent Absence.

Fair location:
Event Deck at the L.A. LIVE complex
1005 West Chick Hearn Court
Downtown Los Angeles
Booth A-15

Group Exhibition: "Scalding Hot"

Sears-Peyton Gallery, New York, July 7-August 19, 2011. A selection of recent works by Eugene Brodsky, Celia Gerard, Sara Eichner, John Huggins, Bo Joseph, Kim McCarty, Patti Oleon, Jane Rosen, Peter Schroth, Wendy Small, Alison Van Pelt, Katherine Wolkoff, Andrew Zimmerman.

The New York Times website: Bo Joseph Table Project for Brooklyn Museum Artists Ball

Bo Joseph was one of 14 artists that created tables for the Brooklyn Artists Ball at the Brooklyn Museum, April 27 2011. Bo\'s table and silkscreened suit were highlighted in a New York Times website slideshow.

NPR Broadcast re: Bo Joseph's 1994 Drawing Course

Jenna Fournel: A \'Brave Experiment\' Creates An Artistic Breakthrough
March 30, 2011 - Commentator Jenna Fournel, from the D.C.-based Center for Inspired Teaching, reflects on how a teacher in a high school summer program turned her into an artist.

Bo Joseph solo exhibition at Pulse NY Art Fair

Sears-Peyton Gallery will exhibit recent work by Bo Joseph in a solo booth at the Pulse NY art fair at the Metropolitan Pavilion, March 3-6, 2011. Included in the installation will be paintings and large scale drawings.

Fair location:
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
Booth I-2
Second floor, Impulse section

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Acquires Large Drawing

In December, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, acquired a large drawing (Memory Gives Us) the Illusion that Something Just Happened, 2009, oil pastel, acrylic and tempera on joined paper, 55 5/8 x 78 1/4 inches.

Alison de Lima Greene, the Musuem’s Curator of Contemporary Art & Special Projects who initiated the acquisition, stated: “What strikes me most about these pieces is how Joseph balances appropriation, layering of imagery, and dialectical content. His work addresses what it means to be an artist in this global environment, without ever losing sight of the delights and rewards of the individual imagination.”

This acquisition was made possible by gracious donations from Mr. and Mrs. James R. Carnes of Mission Hills, KS, and the Ceres Collection, Norwalk, CT and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Click the image or link above to read a full press release about this acquisition.

Solo Exhibition: "A Lexicon of Persistent Absence"

Bo Joseph: A Lexicon of Persistent Absence will be on display October 5 to October 30, 2010 at Froelick Gallery in Portland, Oregon. This exhibition will include ten new works on paper from the series A Lexcion of Persistent Absence, begun during a three month stay in Berlin in the Fall of 2009.

Exhibition Review in Art in America Magazine, September 2010

The exhibition Bo Joseph: A Persistent Absence, at Sears-Peyton Gallery February 11 to March 13, 2010, was reviewed in the September issue of Art in America magazine by Gerard McCarthy. Follow the link above to read it on the gallery website or find it in the Bibliography section of bojoseph.com.

Solo Exhibition: "Attempts at a Unified Theory"

Bo Joseph: Attempts at a Unified Theory, Part I of the History as Medium series, will be on view September 7 to November 10, 2010 at the Thompson Gallery at The Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts.

Attempts at a Unified Theory, the first exhibition of the three-part series History as Medium, examines drawings, paintings and sculptures by Bo Joseph. In his visually arresting work, Joseph scavenges and combines imagery from disparate cultures within fields of intuitive and gestural mark-making. Through unpredictable processes of layering and abrading silhouettes and outlines, Joseph’s methods of abstraction strip away references and contexts inviting new meanings.

The Thompson Gallery is a teaching gallery dedicated to exploring a single theme through three separate exhibitions, offering differing vantages of the selected topic throughout the school year. Named in honor of CSW trustee John Thompson and family, the Thompson Gallery promotes opportunities to experience contemporary art by local, national and international artists and periodically showcases the art of the alumni/ae, faculty and staff of The Cambridge School of Weston.