Joe Begonia

Gallery Affiliations: Larry Becker Contemporary Art

Region: Northeast

I was born and raised in a coastal town and have lived in a coastal town for the last fourteen years. Naturally, my work has been greatly informed and shaped by coastal scenery and beach culture: reflective water, relentless surf, beach gear, souvenirs, boardwalks, mudflats, dunes, driftwood, decoys, Taoism, environmentalism, beach combing, surfing, and people wearing next to nothing.

I'm a painter without constraint; a contemporary artist, first and foremost. I change subjects, styles, and media at will to suit my expressive needs; eschewing a narrowly defined signature style, and rigid distinctions between abstraction and realism, or painting and collage. When my work references the work of other artists, it's in a spirit of open and earnest exploration, thereby acknowledging my affinity, with reverence, but not necessarily without humor. I'm never strictly romantic or ironic.