The Unbusiness Of Art

The unbusiness of art

- Eben Benson

Joe Roberts is endlessly curious, entertaining whatever comes into the frame as part of the collective whole. His artwork is a natural extension of this awareness, as themes and characters weave in and out, while he obliges by blending them into compositions that range from magic marker drawings, to monochromatic pen and paper creations and textured acrylic paintings. A forest alive with tigers, birds, and flora might appear next to Ninja Turtles sporting Grateful Dead logos.

It should be no surprise that he would be similarly expansive in person. He makes art for the sake of making art, embodying a welcome centeredness that we enjoyed during a visit to his studio, and hope to convey in this wide conversation.

Eben Benson: It seems like your art career spontaneously combusted. Did you ever expect to show in galleries?

Joe Roberts: I came out here from Milwaukee with a backpack and my friend’s car, and, I think, 300 dollars. I lived in the Mission with Brad Staba, then moved to Berkeley with him later on. My friend Tony Cox said he was moving to New York and told me I could take his studio. When I asked if I could live in it, he was, like, “Well, you’re not supposed to.” But I did. I lived there for three months. Tony invited me to New York, I showed up, and he hooked me up with a show at Fuse Gallery. It was underneath a bar and that’s where Leo Fitzpatrick saw my work. Later, I had a show at Leo’s old gallery, Home Alone 2.

How did you start showing with Leo Fitzpatrick and Marlborough Contemporary?