Tam Joseph
A more recent body of Joseph’s work indicates another one of his unpredictable
shifts in artistic direction. The work in question was collectively titled
Great White, described by Hiroko Hagiwara as ‘a series of picturesque
and illusory landscapes, which induce us to quiet reflection’ that
signals a ‘move towards a more contemplative body of work’.
Hagiwara notes that ‘it may seem odd...that an artist of Afro-Caribbean
origin, should paint [sea]scapes of blue water and white shining icebergs’.
In truth, Joseph has always struck out on his own course.
White
House Killings is a painting from the early to mid 1990s that presents,
in clear, accurate and graphic detail a map of Washington DC, complete with
the Potomac river, its main arteries and of course, the location of one
of the most famous buildings in the world, the White House. Beyond the urban
density of the federal capital itself, Joseph has indicated the location
of the bordering commuter states of Maryland and Virginia. In his painting,
peppered throughout the NW, NE, SE and SW quarters of the capital, literally
surrounding the White House, are dozens of tiny figure motifs. It is only
when we look closer, and reference the figure motifs that we realise each
one represents the ‘Location of killings in 1991’. Joseph’s
messages are clear: within the capital of the world’s wealthiest and
most powerful nation, and often within literally a stone’s throw of
the seat of the president, Black Americans (who comprise more than 70% of
the city’s population) are allowed to kill each other in barely comprehenable
numbers, making Washington DC one of the murder capitals of the world.
If only one thing were to characterise Joseph's output, that one thing would
be independence. Though he is clearly committed to the welfare and culture
of Black people, he refuses to be typecast as a ‘Black artist’,
or to meet comfortably with people's preconceptions of what a Black artist
should be doing. Joseph jealously defends his right to paint what he chooses.
We have to accept Joseph as being the artist that he is, or we maintain
our prejudices against (Black) artistic independence.
