Idiots Ballroom Dance, 2022, 36x48”, Acrylic on canvas in artist-built wood frame.
Joe Quinn
Joe Quinn’s work is an outward manifestation of my own internal dialogue and reaction to a tumultuous and information overloaded world. Subject matter flows from the political and societal challenges of today and seeks to confront the absurdities of institutionalized and individual dogmas. His choice of subject matter stems from a culturally diverse, urban, working-class perspective. Visually, his imagery comes from a sort of muscle memory of engagement within the blue-collar environs of New York City during my coming of age in the 1970s and 80s. This has led to a visual language that utilizes symbolism found within, and representative of this environment. A loaded paint brush, marker, pastel stick, or welder in my hand, automatically seeks to create marks, line, shape, and blocks of color tending towards a modernist graffiti, graphic, and neoexpressionist influence. Each of these are ingredients that if taken alone would be truly abstract, but combined form readable imagery that creates a narrative. Though rooted in earlier art historical periods, my work speaks in a contemporary sense to current history and subject matter.
The appearance of absurdity within his work is often employed to confront an even more absurd reality. His intention is to present the irrationality of maintaining the social status quo, and to establish that silence is no longer an option and that we all have a role to play in making a more equitable and just world for all of us. Quinn is engaging in conversation about what he finds important. He is satisfying a long ago embedded curiosity. He hopes it does the same for the viewer, but is in no way required.
Joe Quinn is a multi-medium artist working in painting, printmaking, drawing, and photography. Influenced by the visual landscape of the New York City street art of the 1970’s and 80’s, he confronts contemporary social issues in real time. Quinn holds an MFA in fine art from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a BA in studio art from Coastal Carolina University. A native New Yorker, Joe now maintains a full time art practice living in South Carolina.
