I invented it. Well, maybe Maggie Jo Merle [she turned me onto Acid in 10th grade!] in high school but that’s about it. I coined the entire persona when I had to buy a domain name in 2000 since mine was already taken. Scary Joey. Scary because, well I’m no longer sure why but I do know it was reactionary. Reactionary to responses to my personality I suppose. It was back when “branding” was a new idea and I had just moved to Taos, New Mexico -the New Age Mecca. It was back when I was pissed off at sunshine blowers and big talking privliged sons and daughters of the middle class. I still am BTW. It was also a cheeky comment on or in resistance to “client comments” such as “dark”, “dismal” etc. I thought “fuck that, I’ll sell it back to them just the way they think, I'll be what they imagine I am!” Anyway, I’m not so sure it worked in my favor and now I’m too old to change but I was inspired by Norman Mailer and his book The Spooky Art. I figured that what’s good for Norman would be OK for me too. Right? Did you ever read all 1,400 pages of Harlot's Ghost?!! Well, I have!
As a child, my nickname was Bose Bube, or Bube for short, which is doggerel German for The Evil Child. Bad boy. WTF? It wasn’t MY idea. It was pre-ordained! Whatever, somebody set the ball in motion and now I’m approaching 60 in less than a month. Time flies when you’re Scary. The new-ish Joey logo has been in use for just under one year now. I like it. I don’t like fuss and I thought it might “temper” the scary part.
So, here are some recent projects from the job hopper.
I also really resonate with this Tracy Emin quote. Right On! I hate technical, hardware people. Let's get it done! Think about it: all the fuss over spelling and now, all you have to do is press a button!!!
I LOVE this! I love accidents and learning to make digital pictures!
This was for New Orleans Magazine and is about teaching Creationism in the NO school district.
This is for SCRUBS, a nursing publication and deals with comforting the nurse who is distraught over the gravitas of her daily routine.
Also for Scrubs and dealing with a story about a hospitalized child who takes comfort in an "igloo" built from his bed sheets.
Recently, I created JOEY WITHIN REACH which parodies DESIGN WITHIN REACH. I like that idea.
Now, through JOEY WITHIN REACH, you can dress and act just like me! Go for it Homie!
The cover art included, among other things, scans from very large existing paintings which I cannibalised [women foreground and policeman-rear] with dramatic effect. FYI 99% of all my work is made by hand and scanned. I love the background paintings and am encouraged to develop more like them for their own sake. It's weird how this business feeds off of itself. This business being art.
Had the good fortune to have some fun on a few cool projects recently. It's always nice to feel that groove. Groovin'!
Archways is the publication of Nebraska Wesleyan University and their Spring issue features the school's connection to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through two prominent former faculty members who influenced him.
The National is the international English language newspaper of the United Arab Emirates. In conjuction with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the paper ran recent short stories from their annual writing competition and my images accompanied the winning essay. I kept thinking that if Michael Jackson hadn't died, he'd probably have looked at my work!
I think that this work represents some of my best ever efforts to date. I have many folks to thank for that but in memory of my late cat and 20 year studio assistant Iko, I'll just thank the Great Horned Owl outside the bedroom window, I know that she'd appreciate it! Man, I miss her help. I can remember, at one point, telling people that cat hair was part of my "technique"!
Interior spread illustration showing the young Dr. King's journey from Alabama to Boston and onward to Lincoln, Nebraska via Wesleyan faculty members Brightman and De Wolf.
The story for The National was called GONE and involved rehabilitation from PTSD through writing. The novelty of it was that the author never intended to become a writer and as it worked out the published book became a huge success which the author couldn't handle. The cure became a curse! Fantastic material for images.
Interior. The gist involved a fatal boating accident, avocados, papayas, pythons and words. I love this image. I rarely say things like that so pay me mind. I'd been developing water images for awhile so I had the perfect one for this already!
Just the back ground painting. Imagine 17 of them @ 5X6 feet! :)
I first heard about Charles-Édouard Jeanneret's [ Le Corbusier] little cabin about ten years ago and ever since I've been enchanted by it's exotic mystery. Built by the noted architectin 1951, it is the only place that Le Corbusier built for himself, legendarily designing it in 45 minutes. He called it the Cabanon. Mistakenly, I had thought it was on Capri but I was wrong - it is in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France between Menton [next to the Italian border] and Nice along the Cote d'azur Riviera. I got the best cup of coffee in all my travel in Frace in Menton - so good, I had to congratulate the barista!
Corbu's cabana esthetic seems to embody the very best of the very best in modern living. The whole idea of a world class getaway at it's most Joey Within Reach! Corbu built the minimalist cabin as an economical addition to a small bar/cafe -The Etoile de Mer [smart!] near the property designed by a friend, designer Eileen Gray. He spent every August here and it was at the cabin that he designed his most iconic image, The Ronchamp cathedral. The cabana had no kitchen as it was only a few steps to the cantina next door!! Corbu once joked with architect Jerzy Soltan "...how nice it would be to die swimming toward the sun." On August 27, 1965, against his doctor's orders, Le Corbusier went for a swim in the bay. His body was found by bathers and he was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. It was assumed that he may have suffered a heart attack. His death rites took place at the courtyard of the Louvre Palace on September 1, 1965, under the direction of writer and thinker André Malraux, who was at the time France's Minister of Culture. He was buried alongside his wife in the grave he had designated at Roquebrune. No senior care or hospice for my man Jeanneret! Honestly, I wonder what the real deal was.
Here are some pix and links. WIKI GUARDIAN GUARDIAN2 MORE PIX
The Cabin under a Carob tree. The "logs" are just unmilled pine boards. Corrugated tin roof.
Inside the cleverly designed "shack", the detached studio and cliff views. Some furnishings were reputedly designed by Jean Prouve. The "chair" was a whiskey crate.
The cafe interior and the "secret" door leading directly from the cabin to the cafe [a re-used ship's door].
The sea from Menton.
View from Cassis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassis
My own private Corbusian adobe cabana in New Mexico, 1999-2003. The grave of the Corbusiers.
BTW you can find Corbusier's specs@
http://www.maisonbonnet.com/en/designs/
15 influences, that stick with you, FOREVER in 15 minutes. It took longer to grab the images! I don't usually like to do these little exercises for the same reasons as Yuko but I figure if she can do it so can I! Fair enough? I'll be brief. The images are in no meaningful order. My first exposure to art was through the images of the Christian story as depicted in my grade school catechisms.
Norman Mingo
Ian Fleming
Giovanni Bellini. This was the cover of my Catholic Catechism. I loved to wander around the environs of this picture. Very kinesthetic experience for me.
Rudolph Zallinger, Peabody Murals. What can you say, I'm an American boy.
Frank Frazetta's Tarzan paperback series.
James Gordon Irving. The Golden Nature Guides! Wow!
Pablo Picasso, that wiley Spaniard!
2 in One, Modigliani and Cezanne. When I was 17, this looked do-able to me at my level of capability.
James Brown, that baddest philosopher on the set! This is one of the greatest album covers of all time.
Bradley. A couple of hours my eye! ;)
Heinze Edlemann. I was 20! Remember Dr. Martin's Dyes? In 1970, they were hipper than a Mercedes!
Chuck Close. The paradigm.
David Hockney. Great fun and great art. Art as subject just like Pablo!
The foundation. N.C. Wyeth. The house depicted was his own home as a child.
Martin Mull. I love EVERYTHING about it.
Gregory Gillespie. I learned about him from a guy who lived in his town, an illustrator working for Push Pin Studios. One night in NYC before I was 20 years old, I heard the concept of "secret recipes" from him. AND Gregory wasn't underground. He was BLUE CHIP all the way.
