Jennifer Joseph

New in the stockroom
Niagara Galleries
Melbourne
Until March 3

Table no. 11, 2016, acrylic and gesso on jute, 80 x 69 cm. 

Untitled, 2005-06, acrylic on canvas, 107 x 76.5 cm.

Install shot of work by Jennifer Joseph.

Currently on view at Niagara Galleries in Melbourne is a solo exhibition by Rubaba Haider 'A Story of thread and thrum' and on the first level 'New to the stockroom' featuring work by Jennifer Joseph, Angela Brennan and Gunter Christmann. It is the work of Jennifer Joseph which I specifically came to see as her paintings are not frequently on display in Melbourne.

It’s possible to look at a work of art and receive an experience without knowing the artist’s intent. It happens with archaeological items whose meaning and maker are unknown. The work transcends its origin. Questioning and wonder are brought into play while appreciating the works' physical values. I wonder why insistence is commonly placed on knowing the complete impetus of a contemporary artist, particularly one following on from modernism when most modernist abstractionists referenced pre-Renaissance art (for reasons of expression beyond figuration).

Joseph's work is experiential. The artist herself states the process is as important to her as the outcome. This is not to diminish the work rather to explain that work comes from the act of painting. It is not preconceived. Her work has a 'deep' aesthetic. Joseph paints at night preferring the quiet and still meditational ambiance; 'the nocturne'. The work is often somber in colouring. There is nothing superfluous. One can enter the work knowing there is no 'glam bag', it's a trusted place. In this world now, individual aesthetic expression seems enough.