Roberta talks with artist Joe Ovelman about his recent book "On Grief," a short autobiographical work comprised of words and drawings in black marker that tell the story of the deaths of loved ones that Joe has survived and grieved. His reaction is summed up in the four words on the book's back cover, "Live Hard, Love Hard." We met Joe at his North Philadelphia home studio, which is covered with Joe's line drawings and quippy commentary. The interview was recorded on May 8 and is 34:52 minutes long.
Joe Ovelman in his studio
Joe Ovelman is an artist whose works include books that are both drawn and hand-written. He is also a photographer and video maker, a performance artist, sculptor and creator of wordy (pithy) post it note installations that have appeared in galleries and at major art fairs. Of late, his practice included the “Dirty Disco Leopard Print Parking Lot Pop Up Shop” in Palm Springs, in conjunction with a John Waters event. The works contain humor, openly gay sexuality, and they subvert standard norms for beauty and propriety. Much (maybe all?) the work is autobiographical. Joe’s art is represented by Connersmith Gallery in Washington, D. C. Read more about Joe and see more works by Joe at the gallery’s website.
This episode of Artblog Radio was recorded and edited by Morgan Nitz. You can listen to Artblog Radio on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
