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Artist Interview with Joe Wardwell: Through the Empires of Eternal Void

Posted in Features on September 30th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

To look at the paintings of Massachusetts-based Joe Wardwell, it would seem like juxtaposition is the center of what he does. Having developed an aesthetic over the years that marries quintessential American landscapes with snippets of lyrics from classic and heavy rock, on the surface, he seems to be working with disparate elements. And maybe he is on that level, but there’s something political and subversive about it too — a questioning of what it is that makes these sunsets, streams, forests and mountaintops what we think of when we think of the American pastoral.

Wardwell‘s technique, as seen in work like that featured in his current Untied We Stand showing in New York — the name is taken from a Weedeater chorus lyric to “God Luck and Good Speed” — or the collective gallery show We Still See the Black (named for Candlemass‘ “I Still See the Black”) running to Oct. 14 at the New Art Center in Newton, MA, in which artists like Seldon Hunt and Nader Sadek are also taking part, borrows as much from propaganda and advertising art as from rock and metal, toying with these visions of the ideal and undercutting them with evocative half-phrases. Pieces like “You Must be Blind” and “Never be Strong You Can Only be Free” offer more than cultural references to Black Sabbath and Guided by Voices, commenting on the authority given to art to speak for us as consumers of it and pulling new meaning from the lyrics around which they’re based.

Also a member of the heavy rock trio TAJ, Wardwell discusses in the interview that follows how he got his start in the graphic arts, the move from Seattle to Boston that resulted in his living in Massachusetts to this day, where he teaches at Brandeis University in Waltham, how he discovered Sabbath and came to incorporate so much of what they did in their early days into his work — yet another confirmation of the scientific fact that Master of Reality is the greatest album of all time —  his appreciation for the aural and visual work of Japanese trio Boris, the direct relation between music and his painting, and much more.

I know it’s not the kind of thing that usually gets covered around here, as to my knowledge he’s never done posters or album art or that kind of thing, but I saw Wardwell‘s work, thought it was cool and figured maybe I wouldn’t be the only one. The clear passion he showed for music in our conversation and the huge part it plays in what he does made it a fit in my mind, and I hope that follows through for you as well. As always, click any image throughout the post to enlarge it.

Complete interview is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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