Artist

Joshua Perkin

Joshua Perkin (b. 1990, Shuckburgh, England) was raised on a farm 150 km north of London, however, he has been based in Spain since 2013. Prior to the pandemic, Joshua split his time between painting, predominantly in Spain and the Balearic Islands, and working on international skatepark projects, spending large amounts of time in Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. These travels naturally affected Joshua’s artistic research on various levels, and subsequently led to an investigation into traditional concepts of labor and its relationship with artistic production, which was later formalized in an MA in Artistic Production and Investigation at the University of Barcelona, completed in 2019.

A myriad of abstracted visual references taken from all over the world merge into the painter’s imagined scenes, leaving us with a diverse yet distinctive painted universe, generally void of any factual representation of a certain geographical location or people, rather creating a unique painted universe within itself.

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Joshua's Style

His artwork is currently centered around an investigation into traditional concepts of labour, and their relationships with artistic production. The narratives presented in his painted images play on a lack of conceptual information, generating discourse and questions about the scenes, the origins of the characters depicted, the architectural features, and the wider socio-political contexts in which these characters, and indeed the works themselves belong.

Joshua’s creative process is a culmination of personal trial and error as opposed to techniques learned from other individuals. His relationship with the work is extensive as he lives in the studio where he can work on several pieces simultaneously. Enjoying the manual process, he stretches his canvases and often builds his own frames.

"My main influences are generally my surroundings and experiences. Although the majority of my painted images are abstracted from reality, my immediate surroundings usually seem to creep into the work, buildings, animals, music, films, books, or the positions in which people are sitting, whether it is in the colour palette, visual narratives or reference to form." - Joshua Perkin

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March Drop 2024

“These six paintings act as diary entries from my on-going investigation ‘La Obra y la Obra’ (the Work and the Work). I am now two and a half years into the renovation of an old property in rural Cataluña, and am simultaneously designing and manipulating spaces both within the property and on canvas.

Whilst juggling building and painting, I am always searching for a balance of functionality and feeling, with the intention of constantly evolving my visual language and skill set along the way. These six Works, although not interconnected in terms of specific subject matter, form another part of this journey of expression and personal learning.” - Joshua Perkin, Excerpt January – March 2024

  • Reliefs
    Reliefs
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  • Air
    Air
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  • It's been now
    It's been now
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  • Greener
    Greener
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  • Raked over the coals
    Raked over the coals
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  • The hot breath of civilization
    The hot breath of civilization
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Only Half Listening

'Only Half Listening’ is Joshua Perkin's latest series featuring 6 works on paper and 11 works on canvas, created between January and June 2023.

Each work in this series is united by its subject matter; all the paintings feature tables or dining scenes. The act of sitting at a table, something so habitual, is worth deeper reflection. It can be seen as an almost sacred act, in either the bringing together of individuals or of a moment of solitude and is something that Joshua wanted to explore and pay homage to.

"The works do not offer direct narrative clues, but as with his past work, they focus on the diversity of human experience. There are a range of ways one can interpret the invented characters that inhabit the painted spaces, who seemingly walk a tightrope between joy and melancholy." - Joshua Perkin

Animals

From 10th to 13th November, Barcelona-based artist Joshua Perkin will exhibit a large new body of work for his first solo show in London, Animals. The name of the exhibition references Joshua Perkin’s past and his present, having grown up on a farm in the U.K, he has always been surrounded by animals.

Yet the title's direct detachment from the act of painting emphasizes his reluctance to guide or direct a dialogue about the work, in any way beyond a willingness to talk about who he is and where he came from.

Currently renovating a secluded property in rural Spain by hand, and taking care of all the cats and dogs and birds, of the fish and the vegetables, painting what he builds and building what he paints, Joshua is present. There is a stillness and belonging to these paintings that binds them to his new home, to him, to how and where he is living.

Discover the Exhibition ‘Animals’, read the full introduction by Joe Abercrombie and find out the exhibition details.

'A Constant State of Becoming' By Joshua Perkin

‘"A Constant State of Becoming’ is an online exhibition by Joshua Perkin comprising a series of 17 original pieces, painted using acrylic and household paints, across canvas and paper. Drawn from imagination, Joshua’s works, which utilise a predominantly Mediterranean palette, have a distinctive ambiguity that’s devoid of any factual representation; each painting is ethereally untied to any era or geographic place. 

‘A Constant State of Becoming’ is his expression of how the human identity is constantly in flux — it’s an endless evolution as we respond to the world around us. It is not just an exhibition title then, but a personal manifesto for how to live. Of listening so intently, we find joyful noise in the silence. And hear the things that are left unsaid." - Grace Elisabeth Cook, Journalist
 

Discover the Online Solo Exhibition 'A Constant State of Becoming' and read the full introduction by Grace Elisabeth Cook.

 

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Please note that some artworks in this exhibition ship from the artist's studio in Spain, so additional shipping and import duties may apply (check each product description for full details). To receive a shipping quote before you purchase, please get in touch, otherwise we'll be in touch after you purchase with a bespoke shipping quote tailored to your requirements. Shipping can take up to 3 weeks.

Pruning The Conversation Tree

A series of ten works on canvas and five works on paper produced during the summer of 2021 in Viladellops, a vineyard in Cataluña. "Although the majority of my painted images are abstracted from reality, my immediate surroundings usually seem to creep into the work, buildings, animals, music, films, books, or the positions in which people are sitting, whether it is in the colour palette, visual narratives or reference to form. This has been emphasised in this body of work, ‘Pruning the conversation tree’; I wanted to consciously tie the images together, and the easiest way I found to do that was making the place in which I made them, Viladellops, a protagonist within itself. I used architectural features within the village, as visuals references, adopting these features into my usual painted narratives." - Joshua Perkin, Pruning The Conversation Tree

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