Painter, conceptual artist and writer/guitarist Joseph Winterhalter's multifaceted studio and performance works dissect compounded layers of material data and information, resulting in interrogations of complex, intricate histories.
Sifting through allusions to historic episodes and cultural tropes by applying the legacy of the 'language' of abstraction in high Modernist painting, Derridian post-structural philosophy, and radical, counter-culture theory in action, Winterhalter's work situates the viewer within a panoply of visual, material, and cognitive data. The resultant conceptual synthesis acts through this approach to rupture the abstract linkages - and subsequent degradation - of past, present, and future historical narratives, suggesting new information that is still evolving and in the process of revealing itself.
Utilizing highly specialized techniques, Winterhalter’s multidisciplinary works devote themselves to the mutable, shifting interplay of how a painting or performances inherent presence as object/experience highlights the degree to which materially articulated sets of information - however abstract, theoretical and/or intuitive - may be utilized to address the accumulating flow and undertow of everyday life.
Consequently, Winterhalter’s work provides coordinates to identify and apprehend the gaps, corollaries and disruptions inherent to the narrative fictions - and non-fictions - of our shared, collective experiences, teasing out the neglected and overlooked threads embedded deeply within.
Joseph Winterhalter (b. 1965, Cincinnati, OH) received his BFA in Painting from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, following previous studies in graphic design and Fine Arts/Drawing at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.
Winterhalter later enrolled in the MFA Painting and Drawing program at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Winterhalter’s paintings, drawings, prints and performances have been featured in solo and group exhibitions at Cincinnati venues including the Weston Art Gallery at the Aronoff Center (2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2015); 5/3rd Bank Theater at the Aronoff Center for the Arts (2002, 2016); Clay Street Press (2012, 2013, 2019); the Contemporary Art Center (2001, 2005, 2006, 2015); the University of Cincinnati (2008, 2010, 2014, 2017); the Cincinnati Art Museum (2010, 2014); and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (2023).
Nationally, he has exhibited at Ohio University, Athens Ohio; Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL; the Editions/Artist’s Books Fair, New York, NY, and the Baltimore Contemporary Print Fair at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, among others.
Active in the underground/alternative art and music scenes from the mid ‘80’s to present, aspects of performance, writing and music have deeply informed and worked in tandem with his studio work. In 2015, Winterhalter formed an Art-punk rock/noise band, and subsequently performs as IdleAires.
IdleAires first performance was at the 5/3rd Bank Theater at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, as part of the Weston Art Gallery's 20th anniversary performance event 'Present Tense Imperfect.' Their debut album IdleAires was released in late 2023.
Winterhalter was a recipient of an Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grant (2007) to offset medical costs related to a severe wrist fracture suffered in studio as he prepared for his solo exhibition ‘Leaving the 21st Century’ at the Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati.
Winterhalter's paintings, drawings and prints are included in the permanent collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum, and private collections internationally.
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