Joseph Arthur / Alien Flowers

 

Joseph Arthur’s abstract renderings are a soulful voice of today, both intense and playfully serious. The artist calls his work “a spiritual quest expressed through form, lines, and color, involving a profound search for the ‘thread’ of life, binding even opposing forces of torment and beauty.” As with Arthur’s music, evocative of such vivid imagery and emotion, his paintings dance with a similarity of animated rhythm and form.

Michael Stipe of REM says:
“To riff off a riff; to update Ginsberg’s holy HOWL; to stand this naked; to wrestle an attention deficit world into a moment’s shivering standstill, just for a spiked breath of reflection. Joseph Arthur writes, builds, paints, draws, and creates because he has no choice.”

The Akron, Ohio-born Arthur was a jazz fusion bassist when he first discovered the Velvet Underground in his late teens and forged an impressive solo career that began with 1997’s Big City Secrets, as the first American signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, later joining Gabriel’s WOMAD tour in Europe.

Two years later, the EP Vacancy, earned a 2000 Grammy nomination for Best Recording Package. Joseph Arthur has released eleven studio albums and has been a member of two super groups, including Fistful of Mercy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, son of Beatle, George Harrison. He collaborated with Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament to form the band RNDM. RNDM is currently finishing a new album and will be performing at the TROUBADOUR this JUNE.