Joe Grillo (b. 1980 Meteor City, AZ) is an American visual artist based in Virginia Beach, VA. He was briefly a member of the artist collective
Paper Rad
''Paper Rad'' was an art collective from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Providence, Rhode Island in the United States. Known for creating comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, ...
, before splintering off to found the artist collective
Dearraindrop
Dearraindrop is an artist collective based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Dearraindrop incorporates diverse disciplines that work together to create multifaceted sculptures and installations. Part of the collective's operating philosophy is modeled ...
with siblings Laura Grant and Billy Grant in 2003. His graphic work was published in the underground comics newspaper Paper Rodeo and
Kramers Ergot
''Kramers Ergot'' is a comics anthology edited by American cartoonist Sammy Harkham and featuring contributions from artists such as Daniel Clowes, Dan Clowes, Anders Nilsen (cartoonist), Anders Nilsen, Gabrielle Bell, Kevin Huizenga, Dash Shaw ...
. He has exhibited internationally as a solo artist at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet Museum in Skarhamn, Loyal Gallery in Sweden, and The Hole in New York City.
His artwork has been described by
Roberta Smith
Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position at the Times.
Education and early life
Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawre ...
of
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
as "raucous, densely composed works... crowded with apparent pop-culture figures and motifs that are nearly all invented. Rendered in saturated colors outlined in black, they operate in an area bounded by painting, cartooning, graffiti and perhaps video games... a crazed retinal overload tends to distinguish Mr. Grillo’s works from those of his predecessors."
Music has been an important influence on Grillo, and references to rock bands can be found throughout his work. His art has been featured on
Bill Callahan's
Woke on a Whaleheart and
Awesome Color's self titled debut. His record designs for Dearraindrop's ''Asid Rain'' and Flaspar's ''Quadrupletrouble'' were featured in
Taschen
Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt Taschen and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen.
History
The company began as Tasch ...
's Art Record Covers Book in 2017 alongside record designs by
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.
Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...
, and
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...
.
Selected work
Music
* Dearraindrop: Asid Rain (2005)
* Dearraindrop: (Spinning Silver) Sarcophagus (2006)
Books
* Kramers Ergot 3 (Avodah Books, 2002)
* Kramers Ergot 4 (Avodah Books, 2003)
* Joe Grillo: #%@&?!!! (The Hole, 2015)
* Joe Grillo: Acid American (Cellar Contemporary, 2016)
* Joe Grillo: Miles of Slime and Smiles (Neoglyphic Media, 2023)
* ALIVE OUTSIDE (Neoglyphic Media, 2024)
References
American artists
1980 births
Living people
{{US-artist-stub