JOSEPH HUGHES
RADICAL MONOCHROME
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1970 - 2020
The Radical Painters, as they became known from their show of the same name at Williams College
in 1984, have come to include a small group of mostly east coast artists, including Joseph Marioni, Marsha Hafif and Phil Sims.
But the Color Movement did not begin there. It can claim substantial roots in the Bay Area, stemming perhaps from the time Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko spent teaching there. Alan Ebnother grew up in Palo Alto. John Meyer worked in the Bay Area too. Color field painting belongs as much to the West Coast heritage as the figuration of David Park, Elmer Bischoff and Richard Diebenkorn.
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Joseph Hughes, Joseph Marioni, and Phil Sims formed a lifelong bond that began in the mid-1960s. At the Cincinnati School of Art, Hughes and Marioni worked closely together, inspiring Marioni’s deep engagement with the movement that would define his career. Marioni and Sims later met at the San Francisco Art Institute, where they continued exploring the medium, while Hughes had already begun his long career in San Francisco.
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Though Marioni and Sims eventually returned east to help shape the Radical Painting movement, Hughes remained on the West Coast, quietly pursuing his own path within Color Painting. Despite the distance, their enduring friendship remained a cornerstone of their artistic journeys. From his small San Francisco studio, Hughes continued his work for the next fifty years, establishing himself as a key figure in the Color Painting movement.
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Working quietly and steadily in his San Francisco studio, Joseph Hughes has exerted an influence on the Color Painters of his generation comparable to John Grahams on Willem DeKooning, Arhile Gorky and their circle. He has set an example, gracefully navigating the complex flow between the immaterial aura of color, the physical fact of the painted image and the fluid nature of the painting process. I'm honored to be able to present a selection of his recent work for the second exhibition in the room for painting.
-- George Lawson, Artist and Gallery Owner
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