.gif)
Joshua Field (artist)
Encyclopedia
Joshua Field is an American
artist
known for narrative paintings which use iconic and psychological imagery to create complex sometimes mysterious scenarios. He exhibits his paintings in the United States and Europe.
Many of Field’s best-known artworks utilize the visual language of collage
to bring a broad range of disparate images into a narrative scheme. His early work incorporated found objects and made use of popular imagery, referencing the transition period between Abstract Expressionism
and Pop Art
when artists like Robert Rauschenberg
and Larry Rivers
used both lyrical brush strokes and popular imagery in their work. Later, Field’s paintings developed a more personal symbol
ism in which certain characters or objects appear more frequently. His current work is deeply symbolic and often contains references to classical mythology
in addition to extensive personal symbolism.
Field lives and maintains a studio in North Adams
, Massachusetts
.
. He spent his formative years in St. Petersburg, Florida
where he attended Gibbs High School and enrolled in the Pinellas County Center for the Arts
, a competitive four-year magnet program for the arts that accepts students through portfolio and on-site skills review . This formed Field’s classical foundation but also introduced him to the Proto-Pop period in American Art, a time when abstract expressionism clashed with the introduction of the found objects and assimilated commercial imagery of the pop movement. Florida’s gulf coast is a haven for the proto-pop elite, including Robert Rauschenberg
and James Rosenquist
.
Field later attended the Maryland Institute College of Art
in Baltimore
where he expanded his education. At MICA, he focused on assemblage/collage and poetry, and was mentored by Joe Cardarelli
, a renowned beat poet and friend of Alan Ginsberg, Andrei Codrescu
, Anselm Hollo
and Robert Creeley
. Field connected readily with poetry
as alternative narrative structures and an ideal analogue for narrative symbolic imagery.
In 1996, Field moved back to the Berkshires. He currently maintains a studio in North Adams, Massachusetts, home to the largest contemporary art museum on the east coast, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, from Chelsea
in New York City to Berlin
, Germany.
Field is known for poetically driven narrative paintings that are iconic, psychological and subversive. Arrays of archetypal imagery culled from both the collective consciousness and the realm of the intensely personal portray both sociological issues and mythic individual dramas.
Georgia Fee, co-founder and owner of ArtSlant.com, said of Field's work:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
known for narrative paintings which use iconic and psychological imagery to create complex sometimes mysterious scenarios. He exhibits his paintings in the United States and Europe.
Many of Field’s best-known artworks utilize the visual language of collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
to bring a broad range of disparate images into a narrative scheme. His early work incorporated found objects and made use of popular imagery, referencing the transition period between Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
and Pop Art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
when artists like Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
and Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers
Larry Rivers was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. Rivers resided and maintained studios in New York City, Southampton, New York and Zihuatanejo, Mexico.-Biography:...
used both lyrical brush strokes and popular imagery in their work. Later, Field’s paintings developed a more personal symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism in which certain characters or objects appear more frequently. His current work is deeply symbolic and often contains references to classical mythology
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
in addition to extensive personal symbolism.
Field lives and maintains a studio in North Adams
North Adams
North Adams can refer to several places in the United States:* North Adams, Massachusetts* North Adams, Michigan...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Life and work
In 1973 Joshua Field was born in the Berkshires of western MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He spent his formative years in St. Petersburg, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
where he attended Gibbs High School and enrolled in the Pinellas County Center for the Arts
Pinellas County Center for the Arts
Pinellas County Center for the Arts Program AdministratorRalph M. Nurmela M.S.School typePublic / Magnet SchoolReligious affiliationNoneFounded1984LocationSt...
, a competitive four-year magnet program for the arts that accepts students through portfolio and on-site skills review . This formed Field’s classical foundation but also introduced him to the Proto-Pop period in American Art, a time when abstract expressionism clashed with the introduction of the found objects and assimilated commercial imagery of the pop movement. Florida’s gulf coast is a haven for the proto-pop elite, including Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
and James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist
James Rosenquist is an American artist and one of the protagonists in the pop-art movement.-Background and education:...
.
Field later attended the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
where he expanded his education. At MICA, he focused on assemblage/collage and poetry, and was mentored by Joe Cardarelli
Joe Cardarelli
Joe Cardarelli was a poet, painter, graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and teacher of writing at the Maryland Institute College of Art for 27 years. Cardarelli pushed generations of MICA artists to incorporate writing into their creative repertoire, and regularly collaborated with his...
, a renowned beat poet and friend of Alan Ginsberg, Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009....
, Anselm Hollo
Anselm Hollo
Anselm Paul Alexis Hollo is a Finnish poet and translator. He has lived in the United States since 1967.-Life and work:...
and Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
. Field connected readily with poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
as alternative narrative structures and an ideal analogue for narrative symbolic imagery.
In 1996, Field moved back to the Berkshires. He currently maintains a studio in North Adams, Massachusetts, home to the largest contemporary art museum on the east coast, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, commonly referred to as MASS MoCA, is a museum in a converted factory building located in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the country.MASS MoCA opened with 19...
. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, from Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
in New York City to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany.
Field is known for poetically driven narrative paintings that are iconic, psychological and subversive. Arrays of archetypal imagery culled from both the collective consciousness and the realm of the intensely personal portray both sociological issues and mythic individual dramas.
Georgia Fee, co-founder and owner of ArtSlant.com, said of Field's work:
Influences
- Robert RauschenbergRobert RauschenbergRobert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
- Proto-Pop Painter - Larry RiversLarry RiversLarry Rivers was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. Rivers resided and maintained studios in New York City, Southampton, New York and Zihuatanejo, Mexico.-Biography:...
- Pop Painter - Willem De KooningWillem de KooningWillem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
- Abstract Expressionist Painter - Ray JohnsonRay JohnsonRaymond Edward Johnson , known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art...
- Proto-Pop Collagist and Mail Artist - Charles OlsonCharles OlsonCharles Olson , was a second generation American modernist poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat poets, and the San Francisco Renaissance...
- Poet - Joe CardarelliJoe CardarelliJoe Cardarelli was a poet, painter, graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and teacher of writing at the Maryland Institute College of Art for 27 years. Cardarelli pushed generations of MICA artists to incorporate writing into their creative repertoire, and regularly collaborated with his...
- Beat Poet - Anselm HolloAnselm HolloAnselm Paul Alexis Hollo is a Finnish poet and translator. He has lived in the United States since 1967.-Life and work:...
- Poet - Arshile GorkyArshile GorkyArshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
- Modernist Painter - Cy TwomblyCy TwomblyEdwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors...
- Abstract Expressionist Painter
Further reading
- Mr. Field's Amazing Cabinet of Wonders, John E. Mitchell, The Transcript, 2007.
- ArtSlant.com Interview with Joshua Field, Georgia Fee, ArtSlant.com, 2008.
- Inside the Berkshires, David McLaughlin, Pentacle Press, 2008, Scottsdale, Arizona.