February 18–May 22, 2005

Joseph Park’s paintings are characterized by cinematic spaces and lush landscapes bathed in Technicolor hues. Park creates intimate dramas in glowing rooms, seductive landscapes, and tender portraits, all of which are included in moon beam caress, his first museum survey.

Lovers in twilight. Hideaways under moonbeams. Ships tossed at sea. Almond blossoms quivering in the breeze. Park’s canvases ransack art and film histories, as well as contemporary pop culture, making a potent cocktail of both Eastern and Western visuality. One finds in his work oblique references to the spaces and characters of classic Japanese film (the quiet dramas of Mizoguchi or Ozu rather than the samurai epics of Kurosawa), French painting (the romance and languor of Fragonard rather than the heroic ideals of David) and anime (more Princess Mononoke than Ghost in the Shell).

Animals are most often the occupants of Park’s shimmering spaces. His characters are made sensual or wise, cunning or languorous under the artist’s brush. An elephant becomes an odalisque, a rabbit basks in the sunlight, a pony shakes her mane in the setting sun, and a bear takes the subway. In comic books and cartoons, both Eastern and Western, animals reflect certain psychological traits or stereotypes. In Park’s paintings, animals have their own existential concerns and preoccupations. While they may bear some resemblance, these are not the same sorts of characters that peddle breakfast cereals or chocolate milk mixes.

Although they take advantage of a rich pool of cross-cultural traffic, Park’s paintings are more than a sum of their appropriated parts. They coalesce to tell stories of their own—quietly charged encounters in which the inner life of each character determines the organization of his or her surroundings. Park’s close attention to this relationship between character and setting elevates his work above a rummaging of genres to become fantasies with their own unique vocabulary.

Joseph Park was born in Ottawa, Canada, and graduated with a B.A. from Cornish College of the Arts and an M.F.A. from the California Institute of the Arts. He currently lives and works in Seattle.

Joseph Park, La Belle, 2002, Oil on Linen, 52 x 43 inches, Bodnar Family Collection, Los Angeles, Photo Credit: Roger Schreiber

EXHIBITION CATALOG:

A 30-page, full-color catalog is available for this exhibition. More information is available on our Publications page.

Concurrent Exhibition:

Howard House Gallery will have Lumen Alley, a Joseph Park solo exhibition, on display through March 12

604 Second Avenue

www.howardhouse.net

RELATED EVENTS:

Fly on the Wall:

Joseph Park has made personal observations on paintings in the Frye’s Permanent Collection on separate labels that lead viewers on a tour of his favorite works.

Joseph Park ~ Conversations with Film Critic Robert Horton

The Frye launches a new film series this winter showcasing classic and contemporary films that have influenced visual artists, including Joseph Park.

Sunday, March 13, 2 pm

Poetry Contest

In celebration of National Poetry Month in April, three of Joseph Park’s paintings will be among the works included in the contest. More information on the contest is available here.