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About Joan

Baltimore City
Joan Cox (born 1969) is a figurative painter who focuses on intimacy and family relationships in the lesbian community. Images of female couples in both painting and photography have been repressed, hidden, or explained as erotic material for the male gaze. Working in large-scale figurative painting, Cox adheres to the notion that representation matters. She seeks to portray dynamic, complex, sensual, sexual, and loving relationships between women—normalizing them. Paintings of… more
View Joan's Resume
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The Impermanence of You(th)

These installations of light, shadow and paint create haunting images of children in order to evoke emotional responses on a gut level. Delicate constructions that attempt to capture the impermanence of childhood as a whole and specifically the impermanence of one particular child in my life. I am creating a three-dimensional space in which the viewer can experience the image of a childhood object like a playground swing, a stroller or a wagon created through a watercolor monotype process that softens the images and helps to place them in a realm of memory. Hanging several feet in front of the images (suspended by filament from the ceiling) are empty gold-gilt traditional frames, just floating in mid-air — seemingly weightless — attempting to frame the image of the paper on the wall...but as the viewer moves around the piece, the frame no longer visually contains the image. In between the empty frame and the paper on the wall hangs a sheet of clear Mylar with an image of an infant or toddler painted in soft white and pink tones—barely visible at first sight and again suspended in mid-air with an ethereal floating quality. Then as the viewer moves through the exhibit, spotlights directed at each work will slowly dim up and down revealing a strong shadow of the infant/toddler appearing in soft grays (and with surprising detail) onto the images of empty objects on the wall. Strong theatrical shadows of the heavy frames are cast on to the wall as well, creating a mini stage like environment for each piece.
  • CCGallery_Frauenhaus-35.jpg
    CCGallery_Frauenhaus-35.jpg
    installation view of two pieces from Impermanence of You(th) series.
  • CCGallery_Frauenhaus-30.jpg
    CCGallery_Frauenhaus-30.jpg
    installation view of "17 months"
  • CCGallery_Frauenhaus-33.jpg
    CCGallery_Frauenhaus-33.jpg
    24 months Installation, mixed media, watercolor monotype, acrylic on mylar, gold frame and light source. This is one in my series of The Impermanence of You(th) currently installed in the back room at Catalyst Contemporary as part of my solo exhibit, Frauenhaus.
  • CCGallery_Frauenhaus-34.jpg
    CCGallery_Frauenhaus-34.jpg
    detail view of "24 Months" installation
  • CCGallery_Frauenhaus-37.jpg
    CCGallery_Frauenhaus-37.jpg
    installation view of "Nine months" piece in the Impermanence of You(th) series.
  • six months
    six months
  • nine months
    nine months
  • COX fifteen months.jpg
    COX fifteen months.jpg
  • seventeen months
    seventeen months
  • twenty four months
    twenty four months
    •

    • TABOO (works on paper and mylar)

    The works in this solo exhibition "Taboo" (Silber Art Gallery Oct-Dec 2013) consist of large-scale figurative oils on canvas, large watercolor monotypes and acrylic on mylar paintings. Over the past two years, I have arranged and captured intimate moments between lesbian lovers through photography, then translated the images into large-scale paintings and monotypes to produce a personal and fresh perspective. I use narrative, historical art references, theatrical elements of costumes, and autobiography to acknowledge and emphasize the female gaze. My paintings open up a dialogue about the increasingly visible presence of lesbian couples in contemporary society and the lack of their presence in the history of Western art.
    • L'Oscillation
      L'Oscillation
      Acrylic on polyester 40" x 60" 2013
    • I'm the Top
      I'm the Top
      Watercolor Monotype on Buff Drawing Paper 48" x 36" 2013
    • Lullaby
      Lullaby
      Acrylic on polyester 40" x 48" 2013
    • A Handsome Couple
      A Handsome Couple
      Watercolor Monotype on BFK Rives 36" x 70" 2013
    • Our Bedroon Hymn
      Our Bedroon Hymn
      Acrylic on polyester 40" x 48" 2013
    • The Lovers, After Schiele
      The Lovers, After Schiele
      Watercolor Monotype on Buff Drawing Paper 40" x 48" 2013
    • New American Gothic
      New American Gothic
      Acrylic on polyester 40" x 48" 2012
    •

    • TABOO (installation views)

    • Bioluminescent
      Bioluminescent
      oil on canvas 50" x 60" 2012 *This is an additional work from this series that was not shown in the exhibition
    • New American Gothic (canvas)
      New American Gothic (canvas)
      oil on canvas 50" x 60" 2012 *This is an additional work from this series that was not shown in the exhibition
    • Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      installation view of Photo collage, "She Keeps Me Warm"
    • Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      installation view of oils on canvas
    • Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      installation view of works on paper and mylar
    • Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      Taboo, Silber Art Gallery
      Installation view of exhibit
    •

    • TABOO (oils on canvas)

    This body of work was shown in a solo exhibition "Taboo" at the Silber Art Gallery (Oct-Dec 2013) and consists of large-scale figurative oils on canvas, large watercolor monotypes and acrylic on mylar paintings. Over the past two years, I have arranged and captured intimate moments between lesbian lovers through photography, then translated the images into large-scale paintings and monotypes to produce a personal and fresh perspective. I use narrative, historical art references, theatrical elements of costumes, and autobiography to acknowledge and emphasize the female gaze. My paintings open up a dialogue about the increasingly visible presence of lesbian couples in contemporary society and the lack of their presence in the history of Western art.
    • I Was Once a Tomboy
      I Was Once a Tomboy
      Oil on Canvas 40" x 60" 2013
    • Our Dream
      Our Dream
      Oil on Canvas 42" x 62" 2013
    • The Proposal, Part Three
      The Proposal, Part Three
      Oil on Canvas 36" x 48" 2013
    • The Proposal, Part One
      The Proposal, Part One
      Oil on Canvas 36" x 48" 2013
    • On Heart, One Lung, One Love
      On Heart, One Lung, One Love
      Oil on Canvas 78" x 72" 2013
    • Love is Everything They Said it Would Be
      Love is Everything They Said it Would Be
      Oil on Canvas 48" x 60" 2013
    • Night Hunger, After Xenia Hausner
      Night Hunger, After Xenia Hausner
      Oil on Canvas 40" x 50" 2013
    • My Muse
      My Muse
      Oil on Canvas 72" x 75" 2013
    • L'Orangerie
      L'Orangerie
      Oil on Canvas 30" x 40" 2013
    • Kissing Giantesses
      Kissing Giantesses
      Oil on Canvas 40" x 66" 2012
    •

    • Taboo (photographs)

    Photographs of lesbian couples in both private and public spaces that act as source material for my paintings and also come together into one installation titled, "She Keeps Me Warm."
    • Our First Home
      Our First Home
      Digital Photograph
    • Medallion (after Gluck)
      Medallion (after Gluck)
      Digital Photograph
    • The Spark Between Us
      The Spark Between Us
      Digital Photograph
    • The Kiss, No. 2
      The Kiss, No. 2
      Digital Photograph
    • With The Touch of her Hand
      With The Touch of her Hand
      Digital Photograph
    • The Kiss, No. 1
      The Kiss, No. 1
      Digital Photograph
    • Untitled
      Untitled
      Digital Photograph
    • cox_the-bedroom-web.jpg
      cox_the-bedroom-web.jpg
    • Home Sweet Home
      Home Sweet Home
      Digital Photograph
    • She Keeps Me Warm
      She Keeps Me Warm
      Photo installation consisting of multiple photographs of varying sizes.
    •