Joe Bradley

This exhibition is the first large-scale museum exhibition in North America devoted to the work of celebrated New York-based artist Joe Bradley (b. 1975, Kittery, Maine). Widely known for his powerful abstract paintings and spontaneous drawings, Bradley has distinguished himself among the artists of his generation with his mutable approach to artmaking, strategically creating bodies of work that seem both at odds with one another and, at the same time, develop a broad, fascinating oeuvre. Bradley works in series, pivoting between abstraction and figuration, the earnest and the comic, wielding a range of techniques that draw upon his profound appreciation for the history of modern painting as well as underground comics and outdated periodicals.

This exhibition features two dozen paintings, including modular color-field paintings, grease-pencil drawings on canvas, and densely layered expressionistic abstract canvases that record the detritus and spontaneity of the studio environment. These works will be placed in context alongside numerous examples of Bradley’s engaging and intimate works on paper and his recent experiments with sculpture, ranging from minimalistic floor-based works to figurative bronzes based on found amateur sculptures.

Joe Bradley is curated by Cathleen Chaffee, Senior Curator, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, and organized at the Rose by Kim Conaty, Curator. The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication, featuring essays on Bradley’s painting and drawing, and a new interview between Bradley and artist Carroll Dunham.