Known for his two-colour, tonal canvases of precise, carefully considered hues, Joseph’s work historically exists within self-imposed, specific structures and parameters – the effect being one of unlimited freedom confined within the ‘safety’ of a framed construct. While these new paintings retain all of the characteristics expected of a Joseph painting, where once the sense of freedom was confined within boundaries, there is a now a shift into compositional improvisation, creating a new sense of freedom that exists outside of the geometry or ‘architecture’ of his earlier work. An intuitive painter, Joseph has few contemporary affinities, among them are Rothko and Barnet Newman, whom he uniquely credits with evoking an emotional space within their work. As Joseph himself observed, “A painting must generate feeling otherwise it is dead…The aspiration is to find that moment when feeling is not just emotional expression, but is transformed into a value.”
