Joshua Meyer (born 1974, Lubbock, Texas, United States)[1] is an American artist, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned his B.A. from Yale University and also studied at the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem.[2]
He is known for his oil paintings of people, and for a searching process by which they emerge, trail off, wander, get lost, experiment and reemerge.[3] This searching quality is characterized by a thick texture in many of his paintings, influenced by Alberto Giacometti, Frank Auerbach, and Rembrandt van Rijn. Every painting emerges from struggle and re-evaluation.[4]
The artist's work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States, Europe and Asia, including Eight Approaches at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,[5] the Worcester Art Museum,[6] a solo exhibition, Tohu vaVohu [7] at the Hebrew College in Boston (2004), and Becoming[8] (2006) at the Yale Slifka Center and NYU Bronfman Center. “Commanding visions,” emerge from the midst of Meyer's thickly layered paint, according to Hebrew College Professor Steven Copeland in the introduction to the 2004 Tohu vaVohu catalog. “He engages...fateful questions concerning the character of art and of Judaism, their possibilities, challenges and problems.”[3]
Meyer's subjects play a hide-and-seek game with the viewer, often dissolving into the paint. According to Allegra Goodman, in the introduction to the 2013 exhibition catalog Rustle, Sparkle, Flutter, Float, these people “will reveal themselves, and they will disappear. Look at them up close and they scatter, self-effacing.” The figures are elusive and appear introspective. “Some artists try to depict our world. Meyer presents people in their own worlds, and invites us to enter.”[9]
Meyer is a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant as well as the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, and two Painting Fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.[10] Meyer's work has been featured in The San Francisco Chronicle,[11] The Forward,[12] The Philadelphia Metro,[13] New Haven Register,[8] Art New England,[14] The Boston Phoenix[15] The Worcester Telegram[6] and The Boston Globe.[16][17]
References
edit- ^ "Joshua Meyer - Dolby Chadwick Gallery". Dolbychadwickgallery.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "U.S. Department of State - Art in Embassies". Art.state.gov. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ a b Tohu vaVohu: Hebrew College presents paintings by Joshua Meyer, catalog, essay by Dr. Steve Copeland (Hebrew College), June 2004.
- ^ Becoming, catalog, essay by Dr. Sharrona Pearl (Yale Slifka Center and NYU Bronfman Center), May 2006.
- ^ Schwartz, Penny (2022-12-08). "'Eight Approaches' weaves light, time and Jewish identity". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ a b Duckett, Richard (December 7, 2023). "The Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Artist Joshua Meyer finds light at Worcester Art Museum exhibition". www.telegram.com. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
- ^ Community Newspapers of Massachusetts, The "Commanding Vision" of Joshua Meyer, June 24, 2004
- ^ a b New Haven Register, Heavily textured 'Becoming' draws from primitive energy, Judy Birke, May 21, 2006.
- ^ Rustle, Sparkle, Flutter, Float, exhibition catalog, essays by Allegra Goodman and Frances Malcolm (Dolby Chadwick Gallery), November 2013.
- ^ "ArtSake". Artsake.massculturalcouncil.org. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "'Everything in Between': Joshua Meyer paintings". SFGate. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ The Forward, 'Paintings That Hang in the Balance,' Renee Ghert-Zand, January 12, 2011.
- ^ The Philadelphia Metro, The Knives Have It, Dorothy Robinson, May 2, 2007.
- ^ Art New England, Rich McKown. April 1999.
- ^ The Boston Phoenix, Christopher Millis. January 28, 2000.
- ^ Boston Globe, Artist finds his inspiration in the time before creation, Denise Taylor, August 26, 2004.
- ^ McQuaid, Cate (April 20, 2016). "Drawn in" (PDF). The Boston Globe.
External links
edit- Official Website
- Tohu vaVohu catalog
- Becoming catalog
- JUXTAPOSITIONS: Joshua Meyer on Chaos, Painting and the Many Shades of Gray. Artist Joshua Meyer discusses his painting process in this studio visit and interview by Evelyn Herwitz.
- Rice Polak Gallery, Provincetown
- Dolby Chadwick Gallery, SF