SARP
JOE BLOOM. Voyage in Sicily. Mediterranean inspirations.
"... Thus the eye embraces both the human and the inhuman".
Paul Valery
Joe Bloom is a London-based artist and filmmaker, who experiments in a careful and dynamic way the various languages and different ways of observing and depicting life. He was artist in residence at SARP (Sicily Artist in Residence Program) and Palazzo Previtera from April and May 2022. Paintings and drawings - created and conceived in Sicily- constitute this exhibition.
Sicily, an ancient land, rich in traditions and myths, multicultural for its geographical position and its traditions overlooking the Mediterranean, fascinated many artists for its natural beauty, for its art, for its contradictions. In this travel from Taormina to Noto, Joe Bloom wanted to represent in his paintings: the existence, work, land, religion, life of this island.
These large-scale works are like narratives of everyday life, real activities on the streets, of people who live or who have passed through Sicily. The work titled “The Old Boys of Santa Maria la Scala” depict real scenes of fishermen living and working in a rocky seaside village outside Catania. The artist is inspired by these places, by this land, beyond the myth. The images and the strength of his drawings - through the collage technique - allow him to bring to the canvases the movement and dynamism of society and urban life.
The chromatic intensity of his works and the dazzling light helps him to give strength to stories of men and women, to their relationships and their emotions. In his canvases, the multifaceted identity of the artist always emerges, even when he depicts religious scenes, interpreted, and inserted in a real context, declined by the dreamlike elements and surreal representations of his brushstrokes. Joe Bloom plays with the reality of life and each of his pieces is an imagined work of art, now you are ready to embark on a journey with him. Travel in Sicily with his own eyes.
