Joel Arthur

Joel Arthur considers the role of perception and illusionism through representation and abstraction. Arthur’s work began as an investigation of various approaches to the field of still life, observing and describing distortions that occur when looking through glass, water and other refractive and reflective materials. His focus on the optical experience delivered by these distortions and their subsequent translation into painting is the driving interest of his works. Through Arthur’s practice he focus on different modes of description, which have developed in conjunction with a more accentuated abstract pictorial language. These abstract works consider how an optical experience can be generated in the painting itself, while continuing to alert the viewer of the work’s physicality and painterly mark.