JOSUE BESSIAKE
The lights are on, but no one’s home
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 12th | 6 - 9 PM
From a state of "dépaysement," I'm suspicious of expressions of collective consciousness. I work across media, partnering natural and artificial materials to respond to a history of cross-cultural interactions among the body, objects, and space. From how domestic spaces are used to the evolving function of objects.
My work serves as a visual documentation of coming to know. Taking imagery of common experiences and cathartic objects, I use the formal concerns of painting to fabricate forms with paint, wooden supports, or found objects, arriving at a place both foreign and familiar; a moment of deja vu.
JOSUE BESSIAKE
Josue Bessiake is a first-generation Ivorian-American painter working across media. Influenced by his itinerant upbringing, his work is in direct conversation with his environment in a process involving repurposed material, destruction, and repair.
Bessiake has presented work at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the New York Academy of Art, and the National Gallery of The Bahamas, and is a two-time recipient of a grant from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Recent exhibitions include Dorf Gallery (Austin, TX), the Institute for Public Architecture (New York, NY), and Presa House Gallery (San Antonio, TX).
Bessiake is a recent alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Art whose work has been supported by residencies at the Ballinglen Museum of Art, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, and the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency.