ARTIST STATEMENT…
Joshua Horkey is an emerging artist producing mixed media works often on found objects or repurposed materials. His work sits strongly as part of the Contemporary Pop genre. He utilizes the combination of appropriated images, collage from post war America, found ephemera, and acrylics.
Horkey is strongly influenced by Pop Art and some of the movement’s ideologies. The hard-edged linework with appropriated imagery derived from artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Liechtenstein. Additionally, he also is fascinated by the mark-making and textures of Gerhardt Richter and Cy Tombley.
Horkey often creates multiple passes of collage and paint, each layer being built up and torn down. What remains after this layering process are varying elements of transparency and fragmented imagery. The use of appropriated comic images are intentionally re-contextualized to represent a ubiquitous person rather than one of individual celebrity. This visual expression is used to reflect several underlying notions from our emotional complexities to the frequent inundation of media.
It is those visual elements that are incorporated with that kind of consideration to create a different aesthetic, convey emotion, and tell a story. Most of his work is inspired by his own self-reflection and the observations made over the past few years. Individual works throughout his oeuvre touch on themes of overcoming hardships and exposing human vulnerability.
BIOGRAPHY...
Joshua Horkey was born in Windom, Minnesota, in 1976 to creative parents that promoted his art skills throughout his youth.
In 1994, Joshua attended both the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in Los Angeles and Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis in 1999 before settling in Southern California in 2001 to continue his career in the Apparel Industry.
Shortly after, he created and launched Generica, an art-focused clothing line that was acclaimed as a considerable success. Generica disbanded years later with many seasons of product, international distribution, press, and gallery shows to note.
Horkey had a stint in Seattle beginning in 2008 designing collections of men’s clothing, traveling the world both personally and professionally. This informed his design aesthetic and helped develop his artistic process.
His most recent move brought him to Florida in 2011, where after a successful career as a Designer and Graphic Artist in the Apparel Industry, Joshua is focusing entirely on the creation of Fine Art.
Horkey has drawn a great deal of experience in Fashion, Photography and Graphic Design, all of which have influenced the style of his artistic endeavours.
With his diverse life experience, education, and professional acumen; Joshua Horkey is creating his art with an infinite curiosity and steady focus that can be seen in his work.
Joshua currently works and lives with his family in southwest Florida.