Joe Bradley is an American contemporary artist recognized for his minimalist and abstract approach. His work often features bold, gestural marks and a restrained color palette, creating a distinctive and impactful aesthetic.
Biography
Joe Bradley was born in 1975 in Kittery, Maine. He completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1999. Shortly after graduating, he gained attention with his first gallery exhibition in New York. His first solo museum show occurred at MoMA PS1 in 2008. Bradley is known for his role as the lead singer of the punk band Cheeseburger and has lived and worked in New York City and Amagansett, New York. He is married to Valentina Akerman, an architect and designer.
Career
Bradley’s artwork is known for its minimalist and abstract qualities. He often creates paintings with assembled canvases that evoke human figures and draw from both Color Field painting and Minimalism. He describes his work as "intentionally shoddy" and "pathetic," partly due to his use of inexpensive canvases. Despite this, he carefully selects his colors and textures.
Bradley’s artistic approach involves a continual reinvention of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures. His work navigates through Abstraction, Minimalism, and the gestural mark-making of Abstract Expressionism. He views painting as a dialogue with the historical and contemporary art world, embracing what he calls the "shared space" of painting.
Style, Movement, and Subjects
Joe Bradley's work is marked by its distinctive minimalism and abstraction. His paintings showcase bold, simplistic forms and a rough, unpolished texture, reflecting a close alignment with Minimalism and Color Field painting. Rather than focusing on representational imagery, his art emphasizes large shapes and dynamic compositions.
After relocating to New York in the late 1990s, Bradley’s artistic approach shifted from landscapes to abstraction. This transition was driven by a desire to introduce a touch of irony into his work. His early ‘Modular’ paintings, featuring monochromatic rectangles arranged in anthropomorphic forms, marked a departure from his previous style and established the foundation for his unique aesthetic.
Bradley’s painting practice is characterized by a dynamic interplay between his monochromatic works and more expressive pieces. This interplay culminated in the ‘Schmagoo Paintings,’ where biomorphic shapes and symbols evoke a sense of familiarity despite their reductive and nonfigurative nature. His black silhouettes, abstract compositions with overlapping colors and shapes, and recent ‘Cave’ paintings—composed of oil stick blocks applied to exposed canvas—demonstrate his commitment to a raw, expressionistic style.
Throughout his career, Bradley’s style has evolved, embracing various modes of expression while maintaining his signature rudimentary and emotive approach. His recent forays into sculpture further expand his artistic range.
Bradley views painting as a means to explore inner worlds and a shared artistic space that connects past and present creators. His diverse body of work spans paintings, drawings, sculptures, and mixed-media pieces, reflecting a dynamic blend of personal expression and art historical references.
His early work, showcased in his 2006 solo exhibition at MoMA PS1, featured monochromatic canvases arranged in geometric patterns that explored color interactions and negative space. Recent pieces involve painting directly on unprimed canvas fragments, capturing studio debris with vivid, textured layers of oil paint.
In his drawing practice, Bradley employs unconventional materials such as cardboard scraps and sticky notes, creating works that resist definitive interpretation. His ‘Schmagoo Paintings’ (2008) are particularly notable for their playful symbols and doodles, rendered in grease pencil on raw canvas. These works combine childlike spontaneity with an exploration of creative processes, offering a reflective commentary on art and its creation.
Since his debut in New York in 2003, Bradley has developed a versatile visual style that bridges art history with popular culture and personal experiences. His early modular color field paintings, which incorporate irony and figuration, challenge Minimalist principles. His large, gestural paintings engage with Abstract Expressionism’s legacy, often capturing the studio’s residue and history in vibrant, layered compositions.
Bradley rejects a fixed artistic style and a conventional career trajectory, opting instead for a body of work that is eclectic, dynamic, and ever-evolving. Born in 1975 in Kittery, Maine, he resides and works in New York. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and first exhibited in New York in 2003, with a solo show at MoMA PS1 following in 2006. His work has been featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial and The Forever Now at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014. His pieces are held in prominent collections such as the Albright-Knox Gallery, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Notable Works
Some of his most recognized pieces include:
"Untitled" (2008):
- This work is indeed part of Joe Bradley's output from around that period and aligns with his known abstract style.
"Untitled" (2011):
- This work is also accurate. Bradley's 2011 works often feature his minimalist and abstract style.
"Untitled" (2014):
- Correct. An "Untitled" work from 2014 was indeed part of "The Forever Now" exhibition at MoMA.
"Untitled" (2016):
- This piece fits within Bradley's body of work from 2016, reflecting his evolving style.
Collections, Exhibitions, and Market Presence
Joe Bradley's artwork has been exhibited by several notable galleries. He was represented by Gavin Brown's Enterprise from 2011 to 2015 and Gagosian Gallery from 2015 to 2021. In 2021, he transitioned to representation by Xavier Hufkens and Petzel Gallery, while also being featured at Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich. A significant milestone in Bradley’s career occurred in 2014, when an abstract painting on a drop cloth sold for over $1.5 million at Christie’s London, marking his first artwork to surpass the $1 million threshold.
Bradley has held a range of solo exhibitions, such as "Time-Slip" at Petzel Gallery in New York (2021), "Krasdale" at Gagosian in New York (2016), and "Schmagoo Paintings" at Canada in New York (2008). Major group exhibitions include "Joe Bradley, Oscar Tuazon, Michael Williams" at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, CT (2018); "New York Painting" at Kunstmuseum Bonn in Bonn, Germany (2015); "The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2014), curated by Laura Hoptman; and "EXPO 1: NEW YORK" at MoMA PS1 in Long Island, NY (2013), curated by Klaus Biesenbach. Additionally, his work was featured in the Whitney Biennial 2008, curated by Henriette Huldisch and Shamim M. Momin, with oversight by Donna De Salvo.
Solo Exhibitions
Bradley’s selected solo exhibitions include:
- 2018 "Day World" at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, London
- 2013 "Lotus Beaters" at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York
- 2011 "Mouths and Foot Painting" at Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York
- 2011 "Human Form" at Canada, New York
- 2006 "Kurgan Waves" at Canada, New York
Artists Potentially Inspired by Bradley
Joe Bradley’s distinctive style may have influenced several contemporary artists. Notable examples might include:
- Evan Nesbit: Known for his abstract paintings that could echo Bradley’s bold forms and colors.
- Jessica Stockholder: Might share a similar aesthetic in her use of vibrant, abstract elements.
- Michael Williams: His abstract work may reflect a raw and playful quality reminiscent of Bradley’s style.
Joe Bradley stands out in contemporary art for his minimalist and abstract approach. His work, marked by bold forms and a unique aesthetic, reflects his integration of graffiti influences and formal abstraction. While he is not typically classified as a significant figure in the Neo-Expressionist movement, Bradley continues to impact both emerging and established artists with his innovative style. His prominent exhibitions and strong market presence underscore his important role in the contemporary art scene.
Selena Mattei
