About the artist
Joshua Michael Schwartz
Artist statement
Psychological Hieroglyphics
I paint at the edge of figuration and abstraction. Bodies, circles, lattices and thresholds recur across the canvases, changing with the space around them. I call this vocabulary psychological hieroglyphics.
I begin without preparatory drawings. The first marks set the speed of the painting. Then I slow down. I paint over passages, remove figures and redirect color until the composition can carry the force of those first marks. A circle can hold a figure in place or set the whole image in motion. An open interval can do as much work as a crowded one.
My painting practice began in recovery. I return to these forms to see how they register endurance, fracture and release. I want a painting to hold several of those states at once and leave room for the viewer’s own experience.
Artist statement (PDF)Biography
Joshua Michael Schwartz (b. 1989, Oklahoma City) is a self-taught painter based in Boston. Working primarily in acrylic on canvas, he brings fragmented figuration and architectural abstraction into the same space. His background in economics and quantitative research informs his interest in how systems behave under strain.
His paintings have been exhibited at Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Larkin Gallery, Marblehead Arts Association, and Portsmouth Historical Society with the New Hampshire Art Association. His work is also included in a public installation at the Stacy Adams Cultural Arts Building in Brockton, Massachusetts.
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