Joey Feldman

Joey Feldman

Goddess

Goddess (2022) 22″ x 28″ x 1.5″ Ink, oil pastel, acrylic paint &metallic pigment on canvas

Exodus

Exodus (20222) 30″ x 40″ x 1.5″ Ink, oil pastel, acrylic paint & metallic pigment on canvas

Known for his work exploring chaos, accident, and humorous abstract expression, Feldman presents a new collection opening Saturday October 22 in Los Angeles.

I stood and looked at [Ralph] Steadman’s work and knew that I had to do art”

— Joey Feldman

LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Joey Feldman’s solo exhibition “Of An Infinite Solitude” opens Saturday Oct 22 at 2270 Venice Blvd in the West Adams area of Los Angeles, running through Nov 9, 2022. Feldman will be on site on the opening day from 1-7PM and a one-time pop-up store from 10am-12pm Oct 22 will feature new limited edition show prints, show catalog and a special edition signed and numbered hard-bound catalog. The work can be viewed Tuesday – Sunday 10 am – 2pm, or by private appointment. For appointments or information, please contact studiomanager@joeyfeldman.com.

An alternative art space is a perfect setting to view Joey Feldman’s current solo exhibition “Of An Infinite Solitude”. Informed by his outsider background, love of comics and drawing, loss, addiction and ultimate recovery, he was inspired by the work of Ralph Steadman, Picasso and the Abstract Expressionist movement. Formal art training was never an option for Feldman, but his drive for visual expression kept him focused and evolving. Like his paintings, Feldman’s successful career is a result of happenstance, intuition, and diligent work habits. His approach, career path, and resulting work melds contemporary culture with his personal challenges into a relatable visual experience overlaid with his own brand of witty humor.

As a boy, Feldman was socially awkward and a poor student, but was captivated by the art of comics. At nineteen, after the death of his father, he spiraled downward from teenage drug and alcohol use into a life of addiction: ultimately homeless and living out of a cardboard box on the streets of Philadelphia. In the summer of 1993, at twenty-three years old, he joined a 12-step program. He has been sober ever since and continues to be a very active member of the recovery community.

While working at Tower Records in Philadelphia, his boss introduced him to Ralph Steadman’s illustrations for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas… and changed his life. He subsequently worked in an art supply store, learning the use and possibilities of available materials, then for eighteen years ran his own decorative painting company- always working on his own art and his goal of being a self-supporting artist. Feldman eventually met Steadman and has maintained a long-time friendship with his mentor. He currently lives in Los Angeles and enjoys a thriving studio practice with a loyal fan base.

Feldman’s process starts with pours, splashes, and marks until the surface feels right to him. From this complex and rich understructure, forms take shape, guided by intuition and reaction. He often sets the painting aside for some time in order to see it with a fresh point of view when he returns for another painting session- allowing the work to evolve with a life of its own.

In Gary Brewer’s catalogue essay for the show, he describes the painting “Of An Infinite Solitude” and Feldman’s process: “Feldman first builds up a thick texture, laying down rich passages of paint to create a rich physical surface. On top of this, he covers the canvas with a metallic silver paint, creating a reflective surface that animates the painting, shimmering in the background and peeking through the image that is painted on top. An image of a face or a multitude of faces emerge from explosions, drips and splatters of black paint. Angular slashes of gray and white oil stick make a constellation of triangles, circles, arcs and dashes that create a web-like network of lines. Some of the marks suggest an unknown language from an alien civilization. Into these complex compositions, eyes appear, looking up or down and peering out from the dark storm cloud of energy that aggregates toward the center of the canvas. Teeth and mouths also animate this visage that alternates between gothic horror and slapstick humor. At the top, four bold brushstrokes of dark gray create an abstract portrait of a spiked head of hair. The myriad faces that emerge in one’s imagination are menacing, but animated with an eccentric sense of wit; a sharp knife that cuts both ways.”

Artist: joey FeldMaN
Only child. Problem kid. Outlier. Obsessed with monsters, Marvel comics and
scribbling. He first picked up a pen at 8 years old and has not put it down since. Completely
self-taught, this passion led him first to comic book art then illustration and
interior design until he landed where he is now. By choice, still an outlier to this day, Joey now lives in Los Angeles where he paints every single day.

Kristine Schomaker
Shoebox Arts
shoeboxartsla@gmail.com