Joe Woodhouse
BiographyJoe completed his degree in Fine Art at the University of Central England in 1996 and later studied for an MA at the University of Northumbria, graduating in 2000. From 2007 he has collaborated with his sister, artist Alice Woodhouse, predominantly utilising drawing as a forum for a continuing dialogue. They have exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. Joe has continued to develop research into current arts practice with particular interest in drawing and collaborative working methodologies. This has resulted in curating exhibitions, organising symposiums and editing various publications on the subjects.
As well as being Course Leader for Foundation/Level 0 Art and Design, Joe is currently Treasurer for the National Association of Fine Art Education, an organisation actively involved in current debates around the sector.
Research Interests
Alice and Joe Woodhouse make work that includes diverse points of reference often contrasting minimalism, architectural models and renaissance drawing approaches with baroque, psychosexual or corrupt inhabitance. The notions of consumerism and the authenticity of the artists' commentary on it are examined within works, which through their methods of production create a tension.
They began collaborating at a time when both their individual practices were focused around drawing. Initially this involved a series of works on paper that were rolled up and posted from London to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and vice versa. This has developed to working together in the studio on larger works, bigger projects, including sculptural piecesand more extended processes, such as animation.
Joe's research explores collaboration and its relevance to current dialogues in arts practice, particularly contemporary drawing. Within their own work drawing's status is challenged, taxonomies are explored and the questioning of the position of the drawing process to conceptual ideas isinherent in their exchanges.
Research Activities
Research into collaborative practice has been initiated on a blog http://aliceandjoewoodhouse.wordpress.com with commissioned writing and interviews from artists such as Anne Tallentire and John Seth, Laura and Rachel Lancaster. Some of this work was published in a guest-edited section of Garageland magazine ( Collaboration: An Open Dialogue , edited by Alice and Joe Woodhouse. Garageland magazine, Family , issue eleven, January 2011). Curatorial projects have extended the research into conceptual approaches to the process of drawing, including the recent exhibition Graphite at Gallery North, the publication Graphite (ISBN 978-0-9565433-0-1) and accompanying symposium. The publication included new writing by Joe Woodhouse and co-curator Michael Mulvihill as well as Cordelia Underhill and interviews conducted with the artists in the show including Louise Hopkins, Richard Forster, Jane Millican and Laura Lancaster. The show was reviewed by Robert Clark in the Guardian Guide ( Robert Clark, This week's new exhibitions , Guardian Guide, 5 February 2011 ).