Joe Clark – Man of Action

This is a post from the weareoca.com archive. Information contained within it may now be out of date.
 
I was entranced recently by a little book that came through as part of a final assignment for drawing. I‘ve blogged about Joe’s work before as we have had an interesting discussion over the course of the assignments. Before he started the course he had an interest in illustration and comics. He also seemed to have a really tuned visual curiosity which meant that he could get to the crux of an image and find his own slant. We worked to explore how these qualities could be developed in his drawing, whilst also making sure that he experimented and pushed himself rather than staying in his comfort zone. It was  a case of broadening and deepening his understanding without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
I wanted to upload pretty much the whole of one of Joe’s sketchbooks as I think it gives a really good idea of just how fluently his contextual research is synthesized into his practice. It is also a great example of an investigative methodology where focus is sustained and associations reprised until the outcomes are sophisticated and complex.
At first glance you might not notice all the contemporary art references – they are purely visual and some quite oblique through his own work. Joe demonstrates his understanding through actions rather than words here. The book is like a contemporary art quiz – how many artists can you spot being referenced!