Private: Joshua Saunders - CV + Bio
Joshua Saunders creates brightly colored paintings on aluminum which are meant to interact in unexpected and subtle ways with light. He creates the lustrous surfaces by applying up to twenty layers of automotive paint. Past works have had attached rock-climbing grips, chains, ropes, nylon straps and additional layers of painted aluminum. Saunders aims to produce a tension between the elements, with the pristine, smooth and reflective candy-colored panels conveying “do not touch” while the attachments convey the opposite directive. Saunders attributes his fascination with light and its relationship to bright reflective colors to growing up on the ski slopes of Steamboat Springs, Colorado as well as his subsequent move to Southern California.
Born 1981
Lives and works in San Diego
Education
2017
MFA, University of California, San Diego
2013
BFA, University of Texas, Austin
Solo Exhibitions
2016
Rock Candy, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2014
Kind of Blue, CoLab, Austin
2013
Re-Objectified, Do-Right Hall, Marfa
2012 Crip/Blood, Domy Books, Austin
2012
Crip/Blood, Domy Books, Austin
2011
Objectification, Big Medium, Austin
Psuedo-Masochism, Wurhaus, Austin
2010
Wizard Sleeve, Birdhouse Gallery, Austin
2009
Hanged Man, CoLab, Austin
Gluey Vuitton, Birdhouse Gallery, Austin
Group Exhibitions
2020
Exquisite Corpse, Conduit Gallery, Dallas
2019
Power of Ten, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2018
Double Vision, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2017
Art Brussels (with Steve Turner)
miart (with Steve Turner), Milan
CMYK, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2016
Untitled Miami Beach (with Steve Turner)
Object Type, curated by Monique van Genderen and Kim MacConnel, UCSD SME Gallery, San Diego
2015
Creative Nights, curated by Mike Whiting, Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, California
2014
Cherry on Topless, curated by Brent Birnbaum and Jenni Crain, Topless Gallery, Rockaway, New York
Fun for Summer, curated by Alison Kuo and CoWorker projects, Entwine, New York
2013
Tragic Songs From The Grassy Knoll, curated by Bruce Lee Webb, Dallas
Fall Risk, Eleven Seventeen Garland, Austin
2012
Juvenile Intention Center, Conduit Gallery, Dallas
More Awkward Then Heavy, curated by INK Tank Collective, Up Collective, Austin
Teenage Wasteland, curated by Julia Hungerford, CoLab, Austin
2011
Monster Show #6, curated by Russell Etchen, Alison Kuo, Travis Kent, Domy Books, Austin
Swallow, 1400 Cedar, curated by Jen Daly, Austin
Gun and Knife Show, curated by Heyd Fontenot, Cental Trak, University of Texas, Dallas
2010
Monster Show #5, curated by Russell Etchen, Alison Kuo, Domy Books, Austin
Texas Crude, curated by Matt Winters, CoLab, Austin
Pretend You Are Rich, curated by J. Haley, Austin
Up to Something, Bay Six Gallery, Austin
2009
Silent Night, curated by Kevin Foote, Birdhouse Gallery, Austin
Monster Show #4, curated by Russell Etchen, Alison Kuo, Domy Books, Austin
Teeny Tiny Diorama Zoo, curated by Amanda Jones, CoLab, Austin
Death Is Not The End, curated by Bill Jeffery, Holly Street Compound, Austin
Awards
2012
Art F City, Rob Pruitt Awards: Best Use of Genitalia
Austin Critics Table Awards: Work of Art: Independent or Public Project, Nominee
Bibliography
2017
“Artist of the Week: Joshua Saunders,” LVL3, January 31
2016
Shaw, Michael. ArtScene, July/August
2013
Campbell, Andy. “Top 10 Visual Arts of 2012,” Austin Chronicle, January 4
Frank, Priscilla. “George Bush Art Gagosian Bound? Internet Prank Had Us Worried For A Second,” The Huffington Post, March 26
2012
Chan, Tracie, “Joshua Saunders: Crip/Blood,” Austinist, January 13
Campbell, Andy, “‘Joshua Saunders: Crip/Blood’,” Austin Chronicle, February 17
Frank, Priscilla, “The 10 Best Art Pranks In History,” The Huffington Post, April 1
Geha, Katie, “Eleven Seventeen Garland,” Glasstire Texas, August 31
2011
van Ryzin, Jeanne Claire, “A little take on Marfa’s culture clash.” Austin 360, October 26
2010
Franco, Josh, “”INTERVIEW: Joshua Saunders with Josh T. Franco,” zing magazine, July 27
Nelson, Austin, “Misinform: Joshua Saunders Interpreted,” Cantanker Magazine, Summer 2010
