Joe Sola

Joe Sola (born June 16, 1966) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his satirical video works, most notably Studio Visit and Saint Henry Composition (2001), unique exhibition installations such as A Painted Horse by Joe Sola (with Matthew Chambers, Sayre Gomez, Rudy K. Slobeck, and others), (2015) and Portraits: an exhibition in Tif Sigfrids’ ear (2013), as well as his collaborative performances with composer Michael Webster.

Life and education Sola was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1966. He studied American Literature at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, graduating with a B.A. in 1989. He went on to study at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California, receiving his M.F.A in 1999.

Work Sola's works flirt with disaster. Working with video, painting, installation and performance, Sola's practice merges the absurd with cultural critique, referencing both high and low culture found in Hollywood, German philosophy, adult entertainment, and art history. His works, which often use cinematic imagery, question notions of authenticity and aspects of masculinity within contemporary society, prompting viewers to “consider the impact popular culture has on our contemporary psyche". Such examples include: Employing car salesmen to sell his paintings at an art fair (Car Salesmen Selling my Paintings at Art Los Angeles Contemporary Art Fair, 2015); Getting tackled by high school football players (Saint Henry Composition, 2001); Explaining his drawings to escorts (Talking about my Drawings with Escorts, 2010); Inviting film actors to make conceptual art (Film Actors Make Conceptual Art, 2005); Installing miniature paintings into his dealer's ear (Portraits: an Exhibition in Tif Sigfrids’ Ear, 2013). In 2014, he turned his art gallery into a collectors dining room and hung abstract paintings by contemporary artists on the walls. For Sola's contribution he painted an abstract pattern on a miniature horse and allowed the horse to roam free in the gallery during business hours. Measuring 4/64 - 5/64 inches, the paintings were installed within a miniature white box gallery, which the gallerist then displayed within her ear for the duration of the exhibition. The entire space of the gallery remained empty, except for the gallerist sitting at her desk. The exhibition earned notable attention, cementing Sola “among the savviest of today’s art-court jesters." The exhibition was said to provoke “dialogue about the economics of collecting”. In his 2016 exhibition Mertzbau: An Exhibition by Joe Sola Featuring Albert Mertz, 419 salvaged wooden chairs were installed within the small gallery. The chairs were stacked high so as to create three tunnels, and at the end of each one was a work by the artist Albert Mertz. Joe Sola and Michael Webster performing as Shakey's at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Since 2006, Sola has also collaborated with composer Michael Webster as the duo Shakey's. The performances combine comedy, art historical critique and slapstick silent-movie gestures. They have been presented at art venues such as the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, as well as within self-enclosed installation that invited visitors to put their heads into peep-holes in order to see the show (Shakey’s Mining Adventure, 2007). In 2013, Sola presented Shakey's in 'Der Hintern in Der Luft at 356 Mission in Los Angeles. Dressed as vaudevillian restaurant servers, Sola danced, drew, sculpted, made a sandwich, threw a knife, then a hatchet, then an axe, started and extinguished a fire, culminating in Sola and Webster putting the entire show, including a large Laura Owens painting, through a 1000-pound woodchipper on stage.