Between The Wrinkles by Joe Sorren | Artist Presentation

Work in progress image by Joe Sorren soon to be presented in upcoming exhibition "Between the Wrinkles" at DCG London

TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTIST PRESENTATION PAST PROJECTS AND EXHIBITIONS PRESS HIGHLIGHT PUBLICATIONS

Joe Sorren, is a prominent gure in the Pop Surrealism movement, emerged in the early 21st century as a driving force behind this artistic wave born in the USA. Hailing from Chicago and enriched by life experiences in New York, Barcelona, and Florence, Sorren's journey in the world of painting began in 1989. With immense talent and a unique artistic vision, he swi ly rose to become one of the most in uential artists within the pop surrealism scene.

His captivating works have not only captured the admiration of art enthusiasts but have also garnered the attention of Hollywood celebrities, making his pieces highly coveted and collected. Sorren's impact extends far beyond individual collectors; he has played a crucial role in propelling the success of the Pop Surrealist movement and has signi cantly shaped the course of new Surrealism in painting.

Pervaded by the most poetic imagery, his signature fading landscapes shaped with peculiar brushstrokes and his distinctive characters, Sorren's art has served as a wellspring of inspiration for countless artists worldwide.

His unique style and masterful storytelling have le an indelible mark on the art world, leaving aspiring creatives and seasoned artists alike deeply moved by his evocative and enigmatic creations.

Contemporary master of “emotion lighting”, Sorren paints with muted, but luminous, palette and golden-like oil colors that make the viewer feel transported into the realm of the canvas, a warm wool of so textures.

Sorren’s brushstrokes are like sunbeams that penetrate the foggy atmosphere of an ever-spring realm. His style is hyper-contemporary and hyper-impressionistic at the same time, a feature that characterizes his signature touch of color and makes his art widely recognisable worldwide.

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https://www.dorothycircusgallery.com/artists/143-joe-sorren/biography/

Artist Joe Sorren in the studio

Sorren creates layer upon layer of texture with oil paint upon his canvas until creatures and sceneries somehow captured by extreme emotion emerge with impressionistic brushstrokes, as if from the deepest meanderings of the Artist’s imagination. Sorren’s inspiration for his paintings comes from human behaviors, classic moments that he turns into romantic, everlasting fractions of time. “Since painting is a physical record of movement in time”, Sorren a rms, “brushstrokes are not unlike the grooves on a vinyl record-capturing not just the color and shape of a stroke, but the timbre; the energy and emotion experienced at the time it was painted”.

Sorren allows his artworks to evolve sensitivity naturally and subconsciously. e process of study and realisation may take even years and each new layer of paint, re ects the subject’s spiritual metamorphosis into new beings. A gure may develop into a hill or in a landscape; or perhaps a tree may morph into a human being.

Mysterious creatures enclosed in their inaccessible ocean and absorbed into their simultaneously melancholic and joyful state, populate Joe Sorren’s large size paintings, which examine the wonders of nature and of the human spirit.

Always playing with new forms and palette, Sorren highlights the tender faces and gestures of his inimitable gures and generates his unique, living fairytales. By recording feelings of joy, he creates something like a sweet symphony coming out of our ordinary moments, which ultimately realises an idealistic freeze-frame belonging to modern life. Sorren’s emotional subjects are remarkably moving and able to step us back into the memorable and timeless serenity of childhood.

His artworks have appeared in various publications, including e New Yorker, Time and Rolling Stone and he has worked with media companies such as Warner Bros, Fox, and NBC. During the last 15 years, he has shown his artworks in solo exhibitions in Galleries and Museums both in the United States and abroad. In 2010, Sorren was featured in the exhibitions “Art from the New World” at the Bristol City Museum (UK), and “Pop Surrealism,” held at the Museum of Visual Arts Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto, (IT) curated by Dorothy Circus Gallery during the “Festival dei Due Mondi”.

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https://www.dorothycircusgallery.com/artists/143-joe-sorren/biography/

Work In Progress Image By Joe Sorren Soon To Be Presented In Upcoming Exhibition "Between The Wrinkles" At DCG London

A Scare up to the Sun Within, Through Joe Sorren extraordinary intersection of impressionistic and contemporary references and inspirations, a masterpiece that transcends conventional boundaries takes shape under his masterful brushwork. Sorren not only captures sunlight as a color but also orchestrates a symphony of hues, infusing the canvas with a sense of regeneration and transformation, generating a vision where every brushstroke resonates with the pure, unadulterated sound of happiness, able to shift the world we are in into something belonging to another dimension, made of emotions only.

This transcendent experience is a testament to Sorren's ability to evoke powerful emotions through his canvases, leaving an indelible mark on all who have the privilege of encountering his work.

- Alexandra Mazzanti

A Scare-Up at the Sun Within, Oil on canvas, 156 x 170 cm

Dorothy Circus Gallery is thrilled to showcase the debut London solo exhibition of Joe Sorren, an artist hailed as a key figure in the realm of new surrealism. Born in 1970 in Chicago and having lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, and New York, Sorren emerged as a significant contributor to Pop Surrealism in the early 2000s. Recognised for his mastery of 'emotion lighting,' he quickly rose to prominence in the avant-garde American cultural and artistic scene.Having spent the last decade immersed in the artistic landscapes of Florence and Barcelona, Sorren returns to the USA with a brand new collection titled "Between the Wrinkles."

This exhibition is a testament to Sorren's profound and distinctive poetics, capturing tangible emotional weight through narrative paintings that traverse the rooms of memory. Each work unveils a glimpse of a unique story, a fragment of the artist's inner world."Between the Wrinkles" is an exploration of the age of love, where Sorren delves into the folds of time to discover sweet and salty smiles, revealing the essence of moments gone by. The artist's palette is a symphony of pasty light, melancholy, and colored drops, invoking the theme of memory. In Sorren's hands, the canvas becomes a night illuminated by the constant pursuit of life's essence, nestled between light and shadow.

- Alexandra Mazzanti

Work In Progress Image By Joe Sorren Soon To Be Presented In Upcoming Exhibition "Between The Wrinkles" At DCG London

JOE SORREN Past Projects and Exhibitions

e mural was completed back in September of 2000, and still looks as fresh as the day it was created – perhaps testament to how well respected Joe is in Flagsta , and took Joe – a legendary perfectionist – around a year to complete. e mural itself is approximately 20 feet by 45 feet around a cylindrical concrete base to a car park ramp. e area directly outside the mural is an outdoor seating area of a restaurant – what better place to eat in Flagsta than here?

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https://arrestedmotion.com/2010/07/mural-joe-sorren-the-veridic-gardens-of-effie-leroux-in-flagstaff-arizonaona/ ff

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Mural: Joe Sorren – “ e Veridic Gardens of E e Leroux” in Flagsta , Arizona

Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome, solo exhibition “In A Garden Where” by Joe Sorren in 2012

https:// www.dorothycircusgallery.com/ exhibitions/105-joe-sorren-in-agarden-where-dorothy-circusrome-solo-show/works/

Dorothy Circus Gallery in London temporary location in Notting Hill in 2017, Joe Sorren’s artwork “Coney Island Super Club” presented in group exhibition “Pages of Mind Traveler Diaries”

https://www.dorothycircusgallery.com/it/exhibitions/43-pagesfrom-mind-travellers-diaries-dorothy-circus-london-group-show/ works/

Joe Sorren’s Artwork centre stage at International art Fair ‘Art Taipei’ for group exhibition Pink Me Up with Dorothy Circus Gallery.

https://www.dorothycircusgallery.com/it/exhibitions/159-art-taipei-pink-me-up-international-art-fair/works/

Everything’s Alright Sweetie, Please Get Some Sleep by Joe Sorren, Solo Exhibition at Jonathan Levine gallery in 2012

The Great Cantaloupe Day by Joe Sorren, Solo exhibition at AFA Gallery in 2013

JOE SORREN Press Highlight

Clues to the essence of the singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson are all over her quaint walk-up in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn. Brownies under a glass dome (she loves to bake). Photos of her boyfriend, the actor and singer Will Chase.

A fake tree in a bag ready to be unpacked for the holidays — she’s very into Christmas. So much so that she has just released her first holiday album and is wrapped up in Christmas plans already. Her cousin, a designer and seamstress, would be arriving soon to fit her for a dress for the annual “Holiday Hop” at the Beacon Theater on Dec. 17 — the singer’s 12th. A sense of Ms. Michaelson, 38, is also evident on her walls, where she prominently displays two prints by her mother, Elizabeth Egbert, an artist who was president and chief executive of the Staten Island Museum. She died in 2014.

The singer was also influenced by her father, Carl Michaelson, a composer and music publisher who died in 2017. She has sold more than a million albums and over 10 million singles on her own label, Cabin 24 Records. Surrounding herself with art from the Victorian house she grew up in on Staten Island, as well as her mother’s work, gives Ms. Michaelson a sense of comfort, she said in a recent interview at the apartment she shares with Mr. Chase (they sing a duet, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” on the album.) These are edited excerpts from the conversation. Of all your mother’s work, you feature the two prints “Waves III” for your wall. Why those? I love having art that she created around me. They were made in a very specific way. You use acid on a metal plate to create a pattern that eats away in a certain way and once it’s done doing what it does, you paint the plate and then you put it in a press and pull the paper off and you can see the plates are the same but the colors are different... https://www.nytimes.com/2018 /10/31/arts/design/ingrid-michaelson-show-usyour-wall.html

You have a lot of works by Joe Sorren?

He’s my favorite artist. Once people found out I liked him, that would be their go-to gift for me. I commissioned him in 2012 to do the cover of one of my records [“Human Again”] and I have that actual painting around the corner in the hallway, far away from the sun.

Tell me about that painting above the couch, “Elopement and Pursuit.”

This is just a painting I grabbed off my parents’ wall, because they said I could have it. They would go to an auction house down the street in Staten Island. That was their big Sunday thing: They’d go and compete against the neighbors for weird treasures that this guy would unearth, so my house was always filled with strange finds.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018 /10/31/arts/design/ingrid-michaelsonshow-us-your-wall.html

American painter Joe Sorren‘s “In a Garden Where” opens on October 7, 2011 at Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome, Italy.

Sorren’s works have been published in major publications including The New Yorker, Time, and Rolling Stone, and have been used by Warner Brothers and Atlantic Records.

BY WENDY CAMPBELL

https://dailyartfixx.com/2011/09/23/joe-sorren-in-a-garden-where-dorothy-circus-gallery/

Imbued with storybook-like imagery, Joe Sorren’s paintings tell tales of imaginative, surreal happenings, often through a childlike gaze. His paintings transmit the similar sort of tender emotion you experience when a child tells you her secret; Sorren’s characters, though they appear naive, convey complex, emotional themes. The work in his current exhibition, “Knock Three Times,” has a narrative feel, as if there is something allegorical or even mythological brewing within the series. While some of Sorren’s previous paintings are marked by their light color palettes, giving his wispy brushwork a cloud-like quality, in this series, the artist opts for deep forest greens, lava reds and midnight blues, evoking the physical, visceral painting styles of PostImpressionist painters like Van Gogh.

https://www.afanyc.com/joe-sorren-knock-three-times

Rome’s Dorothy Circus Gallery celebrated it’s 5th Anniversary last week with the opening of Joe Sorren’s “In A Garden Where” solo show. The prestigious gallery space continues to cement it's reputation as one of Europe's premier destinations for pop surrealism with the EU debut of Sorren's work. We originally gave you an exclusive preview of the show back in September and are proud to present an exclusive look at the opening night festivities, as well as a clip from Sorren's Italian television debut, after the jump.

BY KEN HARMAN

https://hifructose.com/2011/10/15/joe-sorren-in-a-gardenwhere-opening-night/

Joe Sorren's work has captivated for years, long before we featured him in Hi-Fructose Volume 13, and long before we interviewed him on the site, here. Needless to say, we're looking forward to his upcoming solo show, and European debut, at Dorothy's Circus Gallery in Rome this October. 'In a Garden, Where' looks to be a tranquil body of work, Sorren's colors glide gracefully off his subjects, the splotchy layers of color providing a texture and balance to the works straddling the lines of impressionism and surrealism. Get an exclusive and extensive first look at the new paintings, here on Hi-Fructose.

BY KEN HARMAN https://hifructose.com/2011/09/12/in-a-garden-where-by-joe-sorren/

Dorothy Circus definitely picked the right artist for their 5th anniversary show in Joe Sorren (featured). The Flagstaff-based artist will be present five new luminous paintings collectively entitled In A Garden Where, with the public opening set for October 8th in Rome. Joe will be in town to greet his fans as well as sign his new book, so here is your chance to meet the renowned painter in person if you are local.

https://arrestedmotion.com/2011/09/previews-joesorren-in-a-garden-where-dorothy-circus/

A wash with emotion, Joe Sorren's paintings will whisk you away to another world.

He creates stunning scenes by carefully mixing muted and bright hues together.

Carefully straddling the line between whimsical and foreboding, Sorren's paintings are filled with characters grappling with their surreal surroundings.

Joe Sorren is currently in a group show in Spoleto, Italy. Some of the other artists showing include theMet's favorites, like Ray Caesar, Sas Christian, Jeff Soto, Mark Ryden and Camille Rose Garcia to name a few. The exhibition is sponsored by Dorothy Circus Gallery and Jonathan Levine Gallery.

What inspired Sorren to paint? Sorren tell us,”I first fell in love with painting after visiting the Chicago Art Museum and seeing Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at the Grande Jatte. It wasn’t just the painting's scope and all encompassing beauty that struck me, it was the power of his brushstroke.

“For me, painting is a recording of movement through time, of energy. It mark's time with bold pushes forward and brutal retreats. It's this pursuit that keeps me passionate about the art of painting,”

BY ALICE YOO

https://mymodernmet.com/beautiful-pop-surrealism-by/

The populist, underground art movement was often called 'pop surrealism' and originally came about because LA was unrestrained from following any of the usual art rules that you'd often find in art meccas such as New York or Paris.

Besides, LA could never compete with those places, hence the need to find its own way.

There's often a cheeky sense of humour to Lowbrow sometimes gleeful, sometimes impish, and sometimes sarcastic. Today, Lowbrow continues thanks to the intriguing works of American artist Joe Sorren, who transports viewers into a mysterious world of odd, impish characters and imaginative environments with his illustrative oil paintings.

Sorren shows us that there are as much intrigue and mystery in the lighter elements of life as there are in the darker realities of humanity. This month, he will be showing at AFA of SoHo in New York City for "Knock Three Times", a new exhibition with 10 new paintings plus a collection of graphics including a new print entitled "Begin the Beguine". The event is free and open to the public. Watch the video below to hear more from the artist.

BY KATY COWAN

https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/joe-sorreninspiring-a-new-genre-of-art/

Interview with the Artist Joe Sorren Q: Tell us a little about your method and how you came to favor this medium.

A: I worked only in acrylic for the first 15 years of painting, then it 2004, I switched to oils.

These days it tends to ne a combo of both, starting initial exploration with acrylic, and eventually moving the painting into oil.

Q: Do you consider yourself a story teller, myth maker or legend maker?

A: I consider myself a human who is lucky enough to have found painting. I wish everyone would try it. It’s kind of the best thing ever.

Q: When you create art is there a particular message you intent to impart?

A: I spend my time trying to get my stupid brain out of the way. For me, the key is working without a plan, having a conversation with the canvas, and being open to what the canvas has to say.

Q: Are you interested in ancient history, archetypes, fairytales, or other forms of mythology, if so, what myths in particular and why?

A: I have always been interested in history. The problem is, the deeper you peel back the onion, the more you realize history is written by the ‘winners’ leading to loads and loads of bullshit to sift through. When it comes to my art, I am open to playing with archetypes and do so when the opportunity presents itself, but usually am more interested in playing with my own myths and narratives that are constantly evolving as I do.

BY WEBSMAN

http://miroirmagazine.com/2018/03/03/interviewwith-artist-joe-sorren/

Jonathan LeVine Gallery recently opened Everything’s Alright Sweetie, Please Get Some Sleep, a series of new paintings by Joe Sorren, in what is his first solo exhibition in New York. In all the excitement and time that went into Miami, we forgot to mention Sorren's new show. Lucky for you, the show is opening through December 29.

Sorren creates odd, dreamlike portraits and atmospheres through thick Impressionist-inspired brushstrokes, soft textures and a superb use of light. His surreal subjects are quietly expressive, conveying contrasting qualities of vulnerability and strength.

This exhibition focuses on themes of mayhem, fragility of life and the blind audaciousness we sometimes develop subconsciously in order to make better sense of our own realities. One painting called Speedboats Make Me Nervous portrays a large monster-like creature sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking at a distant boat on the water, while a meteor/comet appears to be quickly approaching in the sky above. The narrative found in this body of work became further amplified toward the end of October, as the artist finished painting the series during Hurricane Sandy—the largest Atlantic storm on record, which caused widespread destruction to large areas of the eastern seaboard.

In the artist’s words, “I was painting a painting of a storm during our devastating storm, it was a very visceral time.” Of his work, he continues, “Since painting is a physical record of movement in time, brushstrokes are not unlike the grooves on a vinyl record—capturing not just the color and shape of a stroke, but the timbre; the energy and emotion experienced at the time it was painted. Thinking of this frees me up from the thought of being ‘accurate,’ and allows me to focus more on the essence of the piece.” https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/joe-sorren-qeverythings-alright-sweetieplease-get-some-sleepq-jonathan-levine-nyc/

A visit with artist Joe Sorren from 2012 in Arizona, where Joe discusses his fluid process and how every one of his paintings has a “hero” that dictates the narrative. https://www.facebook.com/HiFructose/videos/1041846383378759/

Video interview to Joe Sorren realised by Rai news at Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome during the opening of the show “In a Garden Where” on 7th October 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRw0vbKUGsk

JOE SORREN Publications

Joe Sorren: In Celebration of Opposable

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Joe sorren: in celebration of balance and opposable thumbs. a must have art book celebrating the past 10 years of Joe Sorren and his inspirational painting collection featuring introduction by matt hall, and poetry by Anne Telford and Stephen Motley

When She Was Camera A visual hard bound catalog of Joe's exhibition and installation, la Luz de Jesus in Los Angeles.

Introduction by Matt Hall: drawings and journal notes.

e complete collection of featured paintings,

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A year or so before, I'd been in Joe's studio talking about his then recent acrylic painting, Arcanum for Patron Grey No. 1. e Arcanum painting presents a panoramic view of whimsical creatures working together to communicate through a microphone and a wire into the earphone of a winged girl perched on a cli ; the girl speaks into what looks to be a can with a string. In the background, we see a yellow-ochre sky. I admired the e ect of the clouds, their shimmery, vapory look. It's close, said Joe. But it's not quite it.

Joe Sorren’s oil paintings rede ne naturalist scenery such as caves, reefs, and seashores, inserting a surreal mood through so , eerie imagery, thick Impressionist-inspired brushstrokes, and animalistic gures caught midmotion.

Although the subjects are o en childlike, the postures and weariness betray adult maturity, drawing a ne line between the vulnerable and precocious. Bulls and minotaurs parade guiltily with parasols and umbrellas through both Sorren’s original paintings and the sculptures created in collaboration with Jud Bergeron.

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is monograph of work from 2004-2010 is published in conjunction with the exhibition Joe Sorren—Interruption, for the Grand Central Art Center at CSU Fullerton.

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Joe Sorren: Painting + Sculpture 2004-2010