Head in Hands

2007 - Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

11 x 8.5 inches

Joe Biel


Head in Hands by Joe Biel is part of a larger series of drawings made in connection with the book of short stories Navigating Ghosts by Annie Buckley. Biel’s small-scale black and white drawing features a torso holding their own head in their hands, though the expression on the bodiless face maintains a serene sensibility. The edges of the drawing around the figure’s neck and torso are softened so that the figure appears ghostly, as if the character is an illusion or dream. Head in Hands uses concrete objects to describe the dream-like layers of feeling and psychological outlooks discussed in the book. The stories in Buckley’s book are largely about identity and memory, therefore Biel was more interested in responding to the internal, psychological states that Buckley conjures, rather than depicting specific narratives or actions that play out in her stories. This way of working is closely related to Biel’s broader practice, which is more interested in the metaphoric than the literal.


Working primarily in drawing, Joe Biel is interested in charged human situations. This interest is reflected through various means; sometimes by portraying a particular moment or event, but more often by showing the moment before or after an action which is only partially named or specified. The artist is more interested in the suggestion of narrative possibilities than in clearly resolved linear narratives. There is a constant oscillation between the imagined and the observed in Biel’s work. Often these are combined and result in a fusion of differing qualities: stoicism and vulnerability, absurd comedy and overwrought tragedy, the banal and the bizarre. A major theme running through Biel’s work is a poetic collision between beauty and the (sometimes cruel) absurdity of the contemporary world. This collision produces a variety of situations, ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, all of which reveal a vulnerable sense of humanity.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

A roof top photoshoot with the dancers; Tonnex, (Ruby, Nonso and Oshodi)
© » KADIST

Sabelo Mlangeni

2019

The Royal House of Allure is a name of a safe house on mainland Lagos where members of the queer community in need of boarding, due to various circumstances, live together...

Land art, art conceptuel révisés et réactualisés par la Critical Race Theory- Cameron Rowland (1)
© » LE BEAU VICE

Le Beau Vice: Land art, art conceptuel révisés et réactualisés par la Critical Race Theory- Cameron Rowland (1)...

Roberta Smith on Donald Judd’s ARTnews Writings: ‘A Great Template for Criticism’
© » ARTNEWS RETROSPECTIVE

Roberta Smith on the Power of Donald Judd’s Criticism – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Alex Greenberger Plus Icon Alex Greenberger Senior Editor, ARTnews View All February 28, 2020 1:04pm A page from ARTnews ’s October 1959 issue featuring Donald Judd's review of Yayoi Kusama's show at Brata Gallery...

Session 3: Performance as Politics and Vice Versa
© » KADIST

Session 3: Performance as Politics and Vice Versa 5pm With art historian Julia Bryan-Wilson, poet David Buuck, and artist Aaron Gach...

Controlled Incidents #2
© » KADIST

Nikita Kadan

2013

Ukraine is under tension due to the politics of President lanoukovitch since 2010...

The Wheat Stele Chronicles: An Underwater Artistic Odyssey with Gola Hundun,”Stele del Grano”
© » BROOKLYN STREET ART

The Wheat Stele Chronicles: An Underwater Artistic Odyssey with Gola Hundun,”Stele del Grano” | Brooklyn Street Art BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY An Interview With the Artist Who Installs Underwater It’s Christmas time – do you have your underwater tree up yet? Gola Hundun...

AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency: Meet the Writers (Part 2)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency: Meet the Writers (Part 2) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints May 28, 2021 We recently announced our selected resident writers for the inaugural AE x Goethe-Institut Critical Writing Micro-Residency, focusing on the development and promotion of critical writing about arts and culture in Southeast Asia...

Taiwanese Mega-Collector Pierre Chen Wants to Open a Private Museum in the Mountains Outside Taipei - via artnet news
© » LARRY'S LIST

Pierre Chen follows the example of fellow Asian tycoons Budi Tek and Liu Yiqian, who both opened museums in China....

Abraham Cruzvillegas Part 3
© » KADIST

This interview with Abraham Cruzvillegas takes place in Mexico City, D...

Vernissage : Chambre à brouillard — Juliette Agnel, Clément Bagot, Nicolas Darrot, Youcef Korichi, Alyssa Verbizh, Anne-Charlotte Yver
© » SLASH PARIS

Chambre à brouillard — Juliette Agnel, Clément Bagot, Nicolas Darrot, Youcef Korichi, Alyssa Verbizh, Anne-Charlotte Yver — L’ahah Griset — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Chambre à brouillard — Juliette Agnel, Clément Bagot, Nicolas Darrot, Youcef Korichi, Alyssa Verbizh, Anne-Charlotte Yver — L’ahah Griset — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Chambre à brouillard — Juliette Agnel, Clément Bagot, Nicolas Darrot, Youcef Korichi, Alyssa Verbizh, Anne-Charlotte Yver Exposition Dessin, edition, film, installations.....

Muster (Rushes, 2011-2012) by Clemens Von Wedemeyer
© » KADIST

A private preview of a new film produced for dOCUMENTA (13), followed by a conversation with political philosopher Florian Grosser...

The working processes of artists: Bani Haykal
© » ARTS EQUATOR

The working processes of artists: Bani Haykal | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints August 10, 2021 Artist, composer and musician Bani Haykal shares about his video work Trouble With Harmony , created in collaboration with art critic and writer Lee Weng Choy, as well as his other experimentations with text and music...

20 Surrogates
© » KADIST

Allan McCollum

1982

In the work titled The Glossies (1980), an affinity for photography manifested itself before McCollum actually began to use photography as a medium...

“love letters”
© » THE JEALOUS CURATOR

Yes, Toronto based Bahamian artist Gio Swaby is back on the podcast! I only had her on seven months ago, but since then her career has exploded… clearly, we need to hear everything! From articles in the New York Times and interviews on oprah.com, to five (FIVE!) museums acquiring her work! Also, can we talk […]...

Page 2123, The New World Physical Map
© » KADIST

Hong Hao

2000

Selected Scripture is a series of silkscreen prints that Hong Hao has been working on since the 1980s...

Photography Exhibition - DartBLAY: Corinne Vachon - Si Loin, Si Proche
© » EYE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

© 2023 All rights reserved - The Eye of Photography Jour de pêche - Russie 2019 © Corinne Vachon Ali Khan - Afghanistan 2019 © Corinne Vachon Rosan Gela - Pérou 2022 © Corinne Vachon Shambi Balas - Afghanistan 2019 © Corinne Vachon Jeunes Nénètses - Russie 2018 © Corinne Vachon On the occasion of PhotoSaintGermain and PARIS PHOTO, DartBLAY a gallery in Paris since 2011, presents SI LOIN, SI PROCHE, an exhibition displaying the photographic diary of Corinne Vachon, around the world...

L’effeuillage des effacements (The Stripping of Erasures)
© » KADIST

Matthieu Saladin

2016

L’effeuillage des effacements (The Stripping of Erasures) 2016, presents a piles of posters gathered in decreasing chronological order from 2015 to 2400 B...

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou
© » SLASH PARIS

A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou — Frac île-de-france, le Plateau — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour A Change of Perspective — Ndayé Kouagou Exposition Film, performance, techniques mixtes, vidéo À venir Ndayé Kouagou, A coin is a coin, 2022 © Ndayé Kouagou A Change of Perspective Ndayé Kouagou Dans 2 mois : 21 septembre 2023 → 18 février 2024 Emblématique des artistes de sa génération, Ndayé Kouagou n’établit pas de hiérarchie entre ses différentes pratiques articulées autour du langage...

Untitled (Women)
© » KADIST

Matt Lipps

2011

Untitled (Women) (2011) presents a startlingly succinct history of violently romanticized femininity...

Native Art Department International, Bureau of Aesthetics
© » KADIST

KADIST has invited Mercer Union, a non-profit artist-run center in Toronto, Canada for an Art-Space Residency and exhibition in San Francisco...