ABSTRACT ART WITH NEW MEDIA exhibition artist | JOE HEDGES

The tension between a digitally networked, screen-based experience of the world and a physical, more tactile experience has never been more acute. My works reflect this fragmented reality by combining painting on canvases with screens, tablets and other electronics and materials. The painted portions of my works function as images but also as symbols of oil painting itself. Painting has a unique capacity for slowness, a complicated history and a unique physical presence. At the same time, through at turns revealing or concealing wires and electronic components within works I draw attention to the physicality of old and new media devices and the inevitable transience of existing formats.

Cloud Control — oil on canvas, oil on canvas over wood panel, flatscreen television, CRT television, mini-computer, guitar pedals, cords, plexiglass time capsule, bubble wrap, video, sound, 223 x 203 x 43cm, 2019

Centaurs — oil on canvas in found frame, television, guitar amplifier, arrow, wooden shelf, cords, cables, media player, video, audio, 8 x 124 x 2.5cm, 2019

Smooth & Shiny — oil on canvas panels in found frames, cassette players, cassettes, cycle timer, wooden shelf, plastic cup, pencil, the quiet whir of a cassette deck spinning, 111 x 137 x 26cm，2019

I balance an interest in art historical modes of oil painting with contemporary ideas. I channel my discomfort with a present that feels broken into works that combine the digital, analog and physical realms into precarious, momentary wholes.

Heterotic — oil on canvases, two video works on flatscreen monitors, sound, 23 x 279 x 101cm

Linus — oil on canvas over styrofoam, flatscreen monitor, media player, looping video, emergency blanket, 76 x 101 x 10cm, 2021

The Mannerist Leg — acrylic, oil and spray paint on canvases, acrylic on Styrofoam, looping video on flatscreen television, EVA foam, Jpeg on monitor, media players, emergency blankets, 177 x 254 x 23cm, 2022

Joe Hedges is an intermedia artist with an expansive practice that weaves together oil painting, new media and installation. Hedges is the recipient of several grants and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Bolivar Gallery at the University of Kentucky, Chase Gallery in Spokane, WA and Artworks in Loveland, CO. Shortly before the advent of the internet, Hedges grew up climbing trees and drawing in rural southwest Ohio in the United States. He is currently living in Pullman, Washington where he makes use of his diverse background in the arts to create original combinatorial works. In addition to maintaining his studio practice, Hedges coordinates the painting area at Washington State University and organizes community public art projects.