Joe Houston, 2021
Since first exhibiting with P·P·O·W in 1986, Joe Houston (b. 1962) has distilled incisive environmental and social concerns into modestly scaled paintings of commonplace objects and gestures. Executed with exacting detail and nuance, his evocative works also serve as a meditation on the precarious endeavor of painting in our time. Initiated in 2018, Houston’s most recent body of work is centered on the damaged genitalia of ancient Greek and Roman statuaries as displayed in museums throughout Europe and North America. In Houston’s intimate paintings, isolated acts of iconoclasm are emblematic of the body as a perennial site of religious, political, and societal contestation. Houston pursued undergraduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned his MFA from Northwestern University’s Department of Art Theory & Practice. His honors include an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell and the Bemis Foundation. Houston’s work is in numerous public collections including the Allen Memorial Arts Museum, Oberlin, OH; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; RISD Museum, Providence, RI; Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey; and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.
Joe Houston
b. 1962
Lives and works in Kansas City, MO
Education
1995
M.F.A. Northwestern University Department of Art Theory and Practice, Evanston, IL
Undergraduate studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and San Antonio Art Institute
Solo Exhibitions
2021
RUINS, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1993
P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1986
P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1984
Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
Select Group Exhibitions
2023
After that blue, Fragment Gallery, New York, NY
2021
Tidal Motion, P·P·O·W and Joe Sheftel, Provincetown, MA
2018
The Armory Show, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1996
EXPO Chicago, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1995
Surfacing, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
1994
Intimate Observations, Baxter Art Gallery, Portland School of Art, Portland, ME
Reality and Beyond, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
Critic’s Choice, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1993
Recent Acquisitions, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
1991
Expressive Voices and Exquisite Visions: Two Aspects of the Art of the 80’s, Meadowbrook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Art for Your Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1990
Group Exhibition, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1989
Small Format, Lang and O’Hara, New York, NY
Chicago Visions, University of the South Gallery and Museum, Sewanee, TN
10 Years: Invitational Exhibition, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
1988
Un/Natural Visions, Gwenda Jay Gallery, Chicago, IL
Small Works/ BIG IDEAS, Harper College, Palatine, IL
Figurative Imagery, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
VIEWS: The Contemporary American Landscape, University of the South Gallery and Museum, Sewanee, TN
Group Exhibition, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1987
Waterworks, SSC&B Lintas Worldwide, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY
The 8th Chicago International Art Exposition, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1986
The Fire and Ice of Black and White, P·P·O·W, New York, NY; Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
1985
Very Small, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
East Village au Centres, Centre Saidye Bronfman Montreal, Canada
New Work, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
1984
The 80th Exhibition by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
6/6: 10th Annual Exhibition of Illinois Artists, Artemisia Gallery, Chicago, IL
1983
Group Invitational, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
1982
The School Show, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Grants and Fellowships
1994
Northwestern University Fellowship
1993
Bemis Foundation Residency
1991
Bemis Foundation Residency
1989
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
MacDowell Colony Fellowship
Yaddo Residency
1987
Illinois Arts Council Fellowship
1984
John G. Curtis, Jr. Prize for Painting, The Art Institute of Chicago
Select Collections
Allen Memorial Arts Museum, Oberlin, OH
BHF Bank, New York, NY
Community Arts Inc., San Francisco, CA
List Center for Visual Arts, Cambridge, MA
Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, NE
New York State Education Department, Albany, NY
Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH
RISD Museum, Providence, RI
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Joe Houston
Ruin XXII, 2021
oil on linen mounted to wood
10 5/8 x 9 5/8 ins.
27 x 24.4 cm
Joe Houston
Torch 2, 2022
oil on linen mounted to wood
27 1/2 x 27 1/2 ins.
69.8 x 69.8 cm
Joe Houston
Colossus IV, 2021
oil on linen
22 x 20 ins.
55.9 x 50.8 cm
Joe Houston
HOLD, 2018
oil on linen
17 1/2 x 15 5/8 ins.
44.5 x 39.7 cm
Joe Houston
VIEW, 2018
oil on linen
36 1/8 x 35 1/2 ins.
91.8 x 90.2 cm
Joe Houston
Mourn, 1993
oil on linen
5 x 5 ins.
12.7 x 12.7 cm
Pure magic is what I thought when I first encountered Joe Houston’s paintings.
