I'm making work because I have to. I come from a lineage of workers, it's all I know.
Through processes of disassembly and repair, I create works at the intersection of the mundane and the universal.
Often centered on objects and spaces related to the body, my practice spans multiple media; taking a cross-disciplinary approach to painting. In a method based on intuitive decision-making; painting, and drawing serve as tools for recording.
I arrive at an image using a build-up and removal of marks. Each brushstroke is a depiction of light going across a form. Each line is notetaking how a subject activates a space. I follow a methodical examination of forms engaging with fabricated and found materials in sculpture. I work to make the unfathomable accessible using this assemblage of methods as a visual language.
Artist Bio
Josue Bessiake is an Ivorian-American painter working across media,
Bessiake uses multiple discplines to explore the ingredients of a phenomenon using the body as the origin. Influenced by his experience as a first generation immigrant his work reflects his desire to connect himself to his environment. In a process involving reassembly, experimentation, and collection, Bessiake’s work is a collision between practicality and abstraction making references to scale, memory. and collective consciousness.
Josue Bessiake has presented work at the National Gallery of the Bahamas, Chautauqua School of Visual Arts, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Recent Exhibitions include exhibits at The University of Texas: Edinburgh; Gallery NAGA, Boston, MA; and the University of the Bahamas. Bessiake was a recent finalist for the AXA Art Prize at the New York Academy of Art and is a recipient of a grant from the Elisabeth Greenshield Foundation.
Contact
Email:
josuebessiake@gmail.com
Instagram:
@josuebessiake