About Joshua Meyer

joshua meyer portrait, photo by Steve Meyer

Artist Joshua Meyer is known for his thickly layered paintings of people, and for a searching, open-ended process. The San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed them “Stunning,” explaining that “Much like Meyer’s complex layers of paint, contra­dictory ideas and emotions accu­mulate on his canvases, and the resulting tension is connected to the process of struggling, searching, getting lost and re-emerging.”

According to the Boston Globe, “These aren’t so much portraits as they are depictions of intimacy.” Meyer has been recognized with a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a CJP Arts and Culture Impact Award, The Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, and twice with the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Painting Fellowship. The Cambridge, Massachusetts artist studied art at Yale University and The Bezalel Academy, and has exhibited internationally, including Eight Approaches at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Worcester Art Museum, Tohu vaVohu at Hebrew College, and Becoming at the Yale Slifka Center and NYU Bronfman Center and the retrospective Seek My Face at UCLA’s Dortort Center. Meyer is represented by Rice Polak Gallery in Provincetown and Dolby Chadwick Gallery in San Francisco.

Biography

Born in Lubbock, TX
Lives and works in Cambridge, MA

Education

Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1996.

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel, 1995.

Featured exhibits

Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA. Eight Approaches. December 2023-January 2024.

Hebrew College, Boston, MA. Eight Approaches. January-July 2023.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Eight Approaches. December 2022.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Passages. August 2022.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Chronicity. August 2020.

Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY. Courting Incoherence. March 2019.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Many Distances. July 2018.

UCLA Dortort Center, Los Angeles, CA. Seek My Face: The Art of Joshua Meyer 2000 – 2016, Fall 2016. Download catalog.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Building Up, August 2016.

Matter & Light Gallery, Boston, MA. Towards, April 2016.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Glimpses, August 2014.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Rustle, Sparkle, Flutter, Float, November 2013. Catalog.

Argazzi Art, Lakeville, CT. Paintings, April-May 2013.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Pauses, June-July 2012.

Paul Scott Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ. New Work, March-April 2012.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Everything in Between, December 2010-January 2011.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, MA. Intermingle: New paintings by Joshua Meyer, August 2010.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Joshua Meyer: Scattered Syllables, March 2009.

Nesto Gallery, Milton Academy,Wandering and Wondering, April, 2008.

Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA. May, 2007.

The Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, CA. February-March, 2007.

38 Cameron Gallery, Cambridge, MA. January-February 2007.

The Bronfman Center, New York, NY. Becoming, August-December, 2006. Download catalog.

The Joseph Slifka Center, New Haven, CT. Becoming, May-June, 2006. Download catalog.

Hebrew College, Goldman Gallery, Newton, MA. Tohu vaVohu, June-September, 2004. Download catalog.

38 Cameron Gallery, Cambridge, MA. June-July 2004.

The Joseph Slifka Center, New Haven, CT. Courting Incoherence, February-March, 2003.

generationj, March 2002.

Jewish Community Center, New Haven, CT. Art as Prayer, Prayer as Art, December, 2001.

Front Street, Salem, MA. February, 2001.

Front Street, Salem, MA. April, 2000.

Gallery 57, Cambridge, MA. January, 1999.

The Joseph Slifka Center, New Haven, CT. May-June, 1996.

The Joseph Slifka Center, New Haven, CT. February, 1996.

Group exhibits

Warehouse XI, Somerville, MA. Yahad, January 2024.

Rice/Polak Autumn exhibit, fall 2023.

Citron Gallery, Asheville, NC. Evolving Visions: A Contemporary Collective, November 2023–February, 2024.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2023.

Citron Gallery, Asheville, NC. Reflections, May–August, 2023.

Site:Brooklyn Gallery, The Figure, curated by Andi Campognone, June 2022.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2022.

Hebrew College Centennial Exhibition, Remember, Renew, Reimagine, curated by Deborah Feinstein, April–June 2022.

ArtWorcester Biennial, curated by Beth C. McLaughlin, Chief Curator at the Fuller Museum, June–August 2021.

Rice/Polak Gallery, summer, 2021.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery,  Stay  Inspired, December 2020–January 2021.

Rice/Polak Gallery, Making Waves, October–November, 2020.

Rice/Polak Gallery, summer, 2020.

Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA. Disrupted Realism–Paintings For A Distracted World, curated by John Seed, November–December, 2019.

Rice/Polak Gallery, fall, 2019.

Rice/Polak Gallery, spring, 2019.

Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. Perceptions of Self(ie), January–March 2019

Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY. Autumnal, November 2018

Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY. Summer Session No.25, Summer 2018

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2018.

Art Miami (Lyons Wier Gallery), Miami, Fla. December, 2017.

Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT. Natural Instincts, Curated by Goldie Gross, October-November 2017

Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY. Summer Group Show, Summer 2017

Matter & Light Gallery, Boston, MA. Summer Group Show, Summer 2017

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2017.

Matter & Light Gallery, Boston, MA. Really, February 2017

Danforth Art Museum, Annual, Jessica Roscio, Curator, June-August 2016

Matter & Light Gallery, Boston, MA. Summer Group Show, June-August 2016

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2016.

Scope Miami Beach, Rice/Polak, December 2015

Hidell Brooks Gallery, Go Figure, Charlotte, NC. January 2015-February 2015.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2014.

Dolby Chadwick Gallery, Hello Goodbye, San Francisco, CA. December 2013-January 2014.

Aqua Art Miami (Rice Polak Gallery), Miami, Fla. December 4–8, 2013.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2013.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2012.

Tufts University Art Gallery, First biennial MCC Visual Arts exhibition, Medford, MA. June 2-July 31, 2011.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2011.

Art in Embassies, US Department of State, Unintended Consequences, Tbilisi, Georgia. March 2011-2012.

Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Painted Visions: MCC Painting Invitational, South Yarmouth, MA. July 13–August 8, 2010.

San Francisco Fine Art Fair (Dolby Chadwick Gallery), San Francisco, CA. May 21–23, 2010.

Rice/Polak Summer exhibit, summer, 2010.

Boston Center for the Arts, exhibit in conjunction with “Le Cabaret Grimm.” April 8-24, 2010.

Dallas Art Fair (Dolby Chadwick Gallery), Dallas, TX. February 5–7, 2010.

Go Figure: Contemporary Interpretations of Figurative Art, Spruill Center for the Arts, Atlanta,GA. Curated by Hope Cohn. January 16-February 21, 2009.

Aqua Wynwood Art Fair (Dolby Chadwick Gallery), Miami, Fla. December 3–7, 2008.

Paul Scott Gallery, Scottsdale AZ. Summer 2008.

Masur Museum of Art, The 35th Annual Exhibition Juried Competition, Monroe, LA. March 9 – April 26, 2008.

Schiltkamp Gallery, Clark University. Smaller is Better, November 2007-January, 2008.

UMass Boston’s Healey Library, Faith Alive 2006, Boston, MA. May 2006.

Gallery 33, Emptiness, with Meir Appelfeld, Bronlyn Jones, Aaron Norfolk and Stuart Shils, Tel Aviv, Israel. February–April 2006.

38 Cameron Gallery, with Deborah Barlow, Don Gurewitz, Hwae Jung and Riki Moss, Cambridge, MA. November 2004-February 2005.

38 Cameron Gallery, with Hwae Jung and Stephen Sheffield, Cambridge, MA. June-July 2004.

International Exhibition, San Diego Art Institute, May 2003.

Stonewall Studios Celebration of the Arts, Stonewall Studios, June 2002

Booth Contemporary Art, Wakefield, RI. Select Work, April, 2000.

Starr Gallery, Newton, MA. Distinguishing/Distinguished Jewish, Curated by Louis Kaplan. December 1999-February 2000.

Perkins Gallery, Stoughton, MA. Biblical Visions, October-November, 1999.

Booth Contemporary Art, Wakefield, RI. Raw Talent, April, 1999.

Boston Center For The Arts, ARTcetera 1998, October, 1998.

Thesis Exhibition, The Little Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, CT., March, 1996.

Bezalel Student Exhibition, Jerusalem, Israel. Summer, 1995.

National Art League, Hartford, CT. Summer, 1991.

Distinctions and awards

Massachusetts Cultural Council Painting Grant, 2022.

CJP Arts and Culture Impact Award, 2021-2022

Bronfman Foundation AVF Grant, 2016.

Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, Artist Grant 2011.

Massachusetts Cultural Council Painting Fellowship, 2010.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, 2008.

Visiting Artist, Berkshire Institute for Music and the Arts (BIMA), July 2005, July 2008, July 2009.

Visiting Artist, Hebrew College, Spring 2006, Spring 2004.

Cambridge Arts Council, 1999.

Artist-In-Residence, M.L. King School, Cambridge, 1999.

The Trumbull Fine Arts Award, 1996.

The Bronfman Yotzma Fellowship, 1995.

National Art League, 1992.

Catalogs and books

Stay Inspired: Shelter in Place 2020, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, December 2020.

Disrupted Realism – Paintings For A Distracted World, by John Seed, Schiffer Publishing, September 2019.

Seek My Face: The Art of Joshua Meyer, 2000-2016, Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA, Interview by Ruth Weisberg, Fall 2016.

Danforth Art Annual, Jessica Roscio, Curator, June 2016.

Rice/Polak Catalog, Summer 2014.

Joshua Meyer: Rustle, Sparkle, Flutter, Float, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, essays by Allegra Goodman and Frances Malcolm, November 2013.

Rice/Polak Catalog, Summer 2013.

Art of Man quarterly journal, Joshua Meyer, Firehouse publishing, Ninth edition, Summer 2012, pp. 3, 24-31.

Rice/Polak Catalog, Summer 2012.

Rice/Polak Catalog, Summer 2011.

Rice/Polak Catalog, Summer 2010.

Bill Lowe Gallery Twentieth Anniversary Catalog
, catalog, Bill Lowe Gallery, July 2009.

2009 Talents, catalog, Paul Scott Gallery, February 2009.

Wednesday Evenings: Paintings of Sharrona Pearl, Special edition artist’s book by Joshua Meyer, hardbound, 17 full color illustrations, 8 by 8 inches, 2007.

Becoming, catalog, essay by Sharrona Pearl, May 2006.

Tohu vaVohu: Hebrew College presents paintings by Joshua Meyer, catalog, essay by Steve Copeland, June 2004.

Joshua Meyer: Paintings, catalog, February, 2001.

Distinguishing/Distinguished Jewish, catalog, essay by Louis Kaplan, Tufts University. December, 2000.

Articles and reviews

Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Hanukkah’s Light on Canvas: Joshua Meyer’s ‘Eight Approaches’ reflects his interpretation of what the holiday means, Richard Duckett, December 6, 2023.

Artful, season 4, episode 4, BYU-TV October 2023.

Harvard Crimson, Art and Generative AI at Harvard Ethics Center Panel, Madeline E. Proctor and Connor J. Yu, October 23, 2023.

Hebrew College Community Blog, A Magician with Paint”: Joshua Meyer’s ‘Eight Approaches’, Joshua Polanski, June 2023.

Newton Neighbors Magazine, Meet Artist Joshua Meyer, Peter Crisano, May 2023.

Jewish Journal, ‘Eight Approaches’ weaves light, time and Jewish identity, Penny Schwartz, December 2022.

MassLive, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts hosts Hanukkah celebration Thursday evening, Ryan Mancini, December 2022.

JewishBoston, The Festival of Lights Returns to the MFA, Judy Bolton-Fasman, December 2022.

Jewish Journal, MFA’s in-person Hanukkah celebration spotlights art in many forms, Penny Schwartz, December 2022.

Oxford University Press, cover art, Normativity and Agency: Themes from the Philosophy of Christine M. Korsgaard, November 2022.

JewishBoston, My Guston, Joshua Meyer, May 2022.

JewishBoston, Jewish Learning Through an Artistic Lens, Judy Bolton-Fasman, April 2022.

JewishBoston, Celebrating Hebrew College’s Centennial Through an Artistic Lens, Sydney Gross, March 2022.

JewishBoston, Local Creatives Receive Grants From CJP To Elevate the Arts, Dan Seligson, October 2021.

AJS Perspectives, The Art Issue, fall 2021.

JewishBoston, Q&A: Joshua Meyer’s Paintings Reflect His Jewish Identity, Judy Bolton-Fasman, July 2020.

JLive, Virtual Studio Visit, Jarts Live, July 2020.

Twentieth Century Literature, Cover art, Volume 65, Number 4, December 2019.

Cosmic Orgasm, Cosmic Talks with Joshua Meyer, October 2019.

Mosesian Center for the Arts, Portrait of the Artist: Perceptions of Joshua Meyer, Aneleise Ruggles, March 2019.

From the Artist’s Perspective, interview with Ray Wiggs [30 minutes], WOMR Radio, May 2018.

Traditional Home, Artful Entry, April 2017.

Culturepeel, Art in the age of Trump: reflections on the “Really” collaboration, Anastasya Partan, February 25, 2017.

Hadassah Magazine, Painting in Light and ColorOctober/November 2016.

Jewish Journal, Jewish artists’ intertwined roots, identity on display, Tess Cutler, November 18, 2016.

Art and Cake LA, UCLA Hillel Art Gallery Opens Three Important Art Exhibitions, November 1, 2016.

The Boston Globe, Drawn in, Cate McQuaid, April 20, 2016.

The Boston Metro, Boston this weekend, Matthew Dinaro, March 31, 2016.

Fresh Paint Magazine, Interview with Artist Joshua Meyer, Ekaterina Popova, February, 2016.

Ushpizin: Bronfmanim host in their Sukkot, Changing Light, October, 2015.

Fine Art Today, “Glimpses” of a Powerful Painter, Jeffrey Carlson, July 24, 2014.

Fine Arts Connoisseur, In With the New and Out With the Old?, Jeffrey Carlson, December 13, 2013.

Art Business, San Francisco Art Galleries Openings, November, 2013.

Fecal Face, Joshua Meyer @ Dolby Chadwick, November 18, 2013.

Fine Arts Connoisseur, Joshua Meyer: Exploring with Paint, Jeffrey Carlson, October 24, 2013.

Traditional Home, October 2013.

SF Weekly, Finding the Challenging and the Accessible in Eight Fall Shows, Jonathan Curiel, September 4, 2013.

American Art Collector, State of Mind, April 2012.

The Boston Globe, Paintings, drawings, and the in between, Cate McQuaid, July 13, 2011.

Artsake, Studio Views: Joshua Meyer, May 2011

California Home and Design, Educated Palette: Jay Jeffers’ Eye for Color Get This Pac Heights Home Up and Running in Style, (art featured on cover photo and ten page interior photo spread), March 2011.

Ape on the Moon Contemporary Visual Arts, ‘Joshua Meyer’s Passionate Paintings,’ Philip Dennis, January 27, 2011.

San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, Don’t Miss: Joshua Meyer at Dolby Chadwick Gallery, January 23, 2011.

The Forward, ‘Paintings That Hang in the Balance,’ Renee Ghert-Zand, The Arty Semite, January 12, 2011.

San Francisco Chronicle, ‘Everything in Between’:Works ofJoshua Meyer present a view of time that’s chaotic, disorderly and contradictory, Nirmala Nataraj, 96 hours, December 2, 2010.

ArtBusiness.com, San Francisco Art Galleries Openings, December 2010.

Watching Paint Dry, Allegra Goodman, December 2010.

Pattern Pulp. San Francisco Collapsed Time, December 2010.

Artsake, Little bits of all of them…shimmering, November 2010

Juxtapositions: Joshua Meyer on Chaos, Painting and the Many Shades of Gray, film by Evelyn Herwitz. 4:01 minutes, 2010.

Boston Globe, Critic’s Picks, Cate McQuaid, August 19, 2010.

Provincetown Magazine, August 19, 2010.

Artsake, Nano-interview with Joshua Meyer, June 2010

Cambridge Chronicle, Five Cambridge artists get grants, January 29, 2010.

ArtQ Magazine, Josh Meyer’s Paintings, January 14, 2010.

Words Without Borders, Long Story Short: International Flash Fiction (cover), January 2010.

Joshua Meyer: A Brave American Painter, Valerie Mathews, December 27, 2009.

Artistaday, November 30, 2009.

Artnet News, Sept. 24, 2009

ArtBusiness.com, San Francisco Art Galleries Openings, March 2009.

Burn Away, Go Figure at Spruill Gallery, Ben Grad, February 24, 2009.

Hebrew College Today, Artist Joshua Meyer presents “Seek”, Winter 2008.

Hebrew College Currents, Joshua Meyer presents painting to honor President Gordis, December 2007.

Atlanta Jewish Times, Wandering Through His Own Mind, Suzi Brozman, May 18, 2007.

The Philadelphia Metro, The Knives Have It, Dorothy Robinson, May 2, 2007.

The Philadelphia Daily News, A Cut Above, April 27, 2007.

The New York Metro, Check this Out, September 13, 2006.

The New York Sun, Figures in Color, August 21, 2006.

Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Paintings by Yale Grad on display at Slifka Center, Howard Blas, June 2, 2006.

New Haven Register, Heavily textured ‘Becoming’ draws from primitive energy, Judy Birke, May 21, 2006.

Makor Rishon, Omer Lachmanovitz, March 20, 2006.

The Boston Metro, Divine Beauty, Michael Freidson, December 11, 2004.

Sh’ma, Creating a Jewish Arts Community, February 2005.

The Jewish Press, Painting the Void: Joshua Meyer at Hebrew College Gallery, Menachem Wecker, October 22, 2004.

Roslindale + West Roxbury Transcript, Hebrew College Exhibit, October 7, 2004.

Brookline Tab, Art and Jewish Creation, September 16, 2004.

The Daily News Tribune, September 16, 2004.

The Daily News Tribune, Art, Judaism and creation talk at Hebrew College, September 13, 2004.

The Jewish Advocate, Hebrew College features artist Josh Meyer, September 10, 2004

Boston Globe, Artist finds his inspiration in the time before creation, Denise Taylor, August 26, 2004.

Boston Phoenix, August 20, 2004.

Artsmedia, Summer 2004.

The Jewish Advocate, Giving a form to our world, Penny Schwartz, July 9, 2004

Gleanings, Tohu vaVohu, July-August, 2004.

Boston Metro, Big fat Meyer, June 30, 2004.

The “Commanding Vision” of Joshua Meyer, syndicated in:

Arlington Advocate, June 24, 2004
Beacon Villager, June 24, 2004
Beacon, Acton Edition, June 24, 2004
Belmont Citizen-Herald, June 24, 2004
Billerica Minuteman, June 24, 2004
Burlington Union, June 24, 2004
Chelmsford Independent, June 24, 2004
Concord Journal, June 24, 2004
Lexington Minuteman, June 24, 2004
Lincoln Journal, June 24, 2004
Tewksbury Advocate, June 24, 2004
Stoneham Sun, June 23, 2004
Westford Eagle, June 24, 2004
Wilmington Advocate, June 24, 2004
Winchester Star, June 24, 2004

Newton Tab, New art exhibit on display at Hebrew College, June 23, 2004.

MeltonArts.org, Tohu vaVohu and The Jewish Artist, December 2003.

The Joseph Slifka Center Calendar, 2003–2004.

The Yale Bulletin, March 7, 2003.

GenerationJ, Mosaica: Grey, It’s the New Black www.genj.com/lifestyles, by Jodi Werner, August 2002.

GenerationJ, Interview, www.generationj.com, Jodi Werner, March 2002.

The Boston Phoenix, Christopher Millis. January 28, 2000.

The Boston Globe, Christine Temin. January 26, 2000.

The Sharon Advocate, October 15, 1999.

Art New England, Rich McKown. April 1999.

The Cambridge Tab, January 4, 1999.