Biography

Joe Black’s work is the vanguard of the current Pop Art movement. He describes his work as “revealing the unexpected” as his oeuvres are viewed both from a distance and up close to make the ordinary extraordinary. Black combines his natural craft skills with a love of materials - many of which are recognizable everyday objects - to create portraits and abstract works. Using a laborious technique of hand painting and altering each tiny object to give gentle lines and shading to his subjects, Black has pioneered an elaborate new form of pixilation that he uses to hid subtle implications within each of his images. This is perhaps best illustrated by his use of plastic toy soldiers in his depiction of Robert Capa’s iconic boy soldier piece ‘Made in China’ (2011). Black’s distinctive style encourages the viewer to interpret his playful works by exploring the piece as a dramatic whole, as well as by examining the intricate collection of its parts. During Frieze Art Fair in London in 2013, Black exhibited his debut show at London Opera Gallery. Since then Black has gone on to exhibit in New York, London, Paris, Dallas, Cannes, Dubai, Seoul and Singapore. Including solo exhibitions ‘Readymade’ in Hong Kong (2014) and “Sum of its Parts” in Paris (2016).