“I am a painter who explores the theme of human identity in a future modern city. My work is a mixture of abstraction and representation, and it is an exploration of the relationship between form, colour, and deconstruction. I work primarily with acrylic on board, using a process of building up layers and then scraping back to create a textured surface of my paintings. My goal is to create a sense of depth and complexity and to invite the viewer to look beneath the surface of my work to discover the layers that are hidden there. My own experiences traveling the world inspire my paintings. They reflect the struggles, triumphs, and ambiguities that are part of the human experience, and they are an invitation to the viewer to reflect on their own lives and experiences.”
Josh Lord’s History
Lord started his career back in 1992 when his work began to be published in magazines in Melbourne, Australia, but he really began back in primary school where his very first work was first published. Secondary school (Mornington Tech) he was accelerated to the next year level above his age from Year 7 to Year 8 and was soon studying to first year university level.
After finishing secondary school Josh wavered up the idea of going to art school but his mother who was a college art student in the 60’s was against it, stating that the colleges don’t push for originality. Lord instead started designing artwork on skateboards which would later come full circle when he started designing for ex Powell Peralta team member Steve Steadham and Disagree Skateboards
Lord by the early 90’s got involved in the Melbourne Goth Scene, at that stage he wanted to express different ideas and in the Goth scene you could do that. Lord looks back on those times with great memories, ‘you could act like an absolute moron and get away with it, as long as it was creative’. Through the Melbourne Goth scene at that time a Goth magazine started up called Dark Angel where Lord’s work was featured a couple of times. By 1994 the scene had started getting new kids coming into it and a lot of the older Goths were moving on and so did Lord.
He was married in 1995 to his first wife (Roslyn Hames, nee Mason) who introduced him to the art of artists such as Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine and James Rosenquist amongst others, which had a great impact on Lord, he drew on the strength of their artwork and how powerful the message and meaning was for him at that time.
Mid 90’s Lord found himself doing his first solo exhibition at the then Customs Wharf gallery in Williamstown where he sold about 4 paintings at his first show, two of them ended up in New York where they would be seen by the then owner of McDonald’s restaurants China and former Aeronautical Engineer for NASA Daniel Ng, who went on to become the chairman of Ronald McDonald’s restaurant’s world wide. Lord received a call from Mr Ng saying that he was going to be in Melbourne later that year and would like to talk to Lord about a possible commission. Lord at that time was honoured by the idea that he would be commissioned but still thought that it wouldn’t happen, so he went out and bought a t-shirt stating “Ronald McDonald say eat death” to wear to the meeting.
When Mr Ng met Lord in Melbourne and saw the t-shirt he asked him to come along to some of the restaurant’s wearing that t-shirt, he found it be the funniest thing, Lord suspected maybe the t-shirt is why he got the commission in the end!! The painting now sits in Hong Kong Ronald McDonald House for children.
Mr Daniel Ng would mentor and sponsor Lord throughout the 90’s and without Mr Ng a lot of ideas would not have been envisioned, not just for Lord but for a lot of artists that Mr Ng supported and helped financially to make their dreams and ideas a reality.
Sadly Mr Daniel Ng Yat-chiu passed away, but he leaves behind a lot of great advice and great memories.
By the late 90’s Lord would be speaking with Robert Archibald then culture advisor to Australia in New York. Robert asked “Would that not make Josh a prodigy?” To which Lord replied “don’t be silly the Australian art scene hates me enough as it is.”
Music with Art
Lord was raised in a musical household, his parents were folk singers which performed live on stage a number of times, and Lord and his sisters and brother would accompany their parents on stage from time to time. Lord is still passionate about music but never pursued it as a career but instead involves himself with musical artists. In his exhibitions he likes to collaborate with musicians not only because he enjoys the aspect of working with a team occasionally, as most the time Lord works isolated in his studio, but he finds it adds and inspires his paintings as it brings on new meanings rather then just paintings on a wall.
The openings become happening as a reference to great artists such as Rauschenberg’s happenings. Throughout these show’s Lord has been able to work with such great artists and share ideas with bands like The Ovals, The Ears, Kate Buck, Stewart Grant, Mick Harvey, Hugo Race, Ash Wednesday, Ollie Olsen, Harry Howard and the NDE and Kollaps. Written by Robert Brokenmouth