2006
Joseph Lupo
About the Project
In 2006 Artists Image Resource took on a project with Joseph Lupo. Part of the project included the creation of a large scale painted mural on the side of the Artists Image Resource building.
A series of screenprints depicting “word balloons” or “thought balloons” as used in contemporary comic books complete with reconfigured language drawn directly from comic books were created.
Printers
Primary printers on the project were Ian Short, Robert Beckman, and Matthew Forrest.
About Joseph Lupo
Joseph Lupo is currently a Professor of Art and Coordinator of Graduate Studies at West Virginia University. He received his BFA from Bradley University and his MFA from the University of Georgia. His work has been a part of over 80 different solo and group exhibitions and has been featured at the International Print Center of New York, The Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Indianapolis Art Center, and The Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta. His work has been shown internationally in Italy, Portugal, and Denmark. Joseph’s work is included in various permanent collections including the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University, the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Texas Tech University, the Spencer Museum of Art, and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. He was interviewed for various podcasts including “Hello Print Friend”, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know”, and the “Printeresting” and “Reflections on Color and Printmaking” online print-centric journals.
Joseph served on the Executive Board of SGC International from 2006–2012, and served as the president from 2008-2010. He has received multiple awards and grants for his work as an academic including the “Honorary Member of the Council” award from SGCI (2014), “BIG XII Faculty Fellowship” (2013), “WVU Senate Research Grant” (2008, 09, 17), “Excellence in Teaching” (2015), “Excellence in Service” (2014) and “Excellence in Research” (2013) awards from the WVU College of Creative Arts. From 2018-21 he was named the J. Bernard Schultz Endowed Professor in Art at WVU.
To see more about Joseph Lupo and his work visit: josephlupo-portfolio.com
Artist Statement
My artistic practice explores deconstructionist and postmodern theories of how we understand signifiers and language. In 2005 I began to deconstruct the comic book “The Invincible Iron Man”, volume 01, issue 178, published in 1982. Using comics gives me the opportunity to take apart, reorganize, and complicate a cultural artifact that is familiar, knowable, and considered complete.
My latest series of prints evolved out of a previous project that alphabetized the same Iron Man comic book. The new work applies systems like alphabetization or anagrams to text found inside certain word balloons. On the surface, these accidental poems make absurdist statements that reference William Burroughs, the “cut up” literary technique, as well as DADAIST poetry. The ambiguity and proximity between what is assumed to be the “authentic” and the “inauthentic” text is designed to reveal how the presentation of information impacts our trust and understanding of it.
