Josue Bessiake
When You Sat Here
Alex Pint
Aesthetic Syntax
Josue Bessiake
01. Remnants V.2, 2024, charcoal on linen, 23.625 x 41 inches, $1260.00
02. The Body, The Seat, The Body, 2024, oil and oil stick on assemblaged canvas, 81 x 40 inches, $8900.00
03. What Remains, 2024, charcoal on paper, assemblage, 24 x 18 inches, $560.00
04. When you sat here, 2024, graphite on gessoed paper mounted on panel, 9 x 14 inches, $200.00
05. here sat you When, 2024, graphite on gessoed paper mounted on panel, 9 x 14 inches, $200.00
06. Remnants V.1, 2024, oil on paper, 24 x 40.75 inches, $1270.00
07. The Seat: Configuration I, 2024, oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches, $400.00
08. The Seat: Configuration II, 2024, oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches, $400.00
09. The Seat: Configuration III, 2024, oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches, $400.00
10. The Seat: Configuration IV, 2024, oil on panel, 12 x 12 inches, $400.00
11. A Birds Last Look I, 2023,oil on linen, 38 x 51 inches, $5330.00
Alex Pint
12. Czartificial Intelligence, 2023, 40 minute video loop, 14 tracks, Commissioned by CZARFACE
13. George’s Record Stacks, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
14. Disassembling Brockmann’s Grid, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
15. Abstractions, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
16. Ledges, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
17. Malcolm Grear and the Quarter Pipes, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
18. Norman the Hofmann Student, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
19. Osborne Dorsey’s Great Invention, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
20. Analysis of 1984 Yankees: NYY04, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
21. Rob Roy’s Hat: RRH03, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
22. Analysis of the Yankees: NYY06, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
23. Tim’s Setup: TS07, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
24. Analysis of a Hofmann Student: GM02, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
25. Analysis of a Hofmann Student: NL01, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
26. Analysis of a Hofmann Student: PMS09, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
27. Najee Holmes: NH05, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
28. George’s Record Stacks: GRS08, 2024, laser print on mohawk superfine, 5 x 5 inches, $40.00*
29. My Improvisation of the Spanish Prison, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
30. Peter Blake and the Spanish Prison, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
31. The Spanish Prison, 2024, archival inkjet print, paper: 30 x 44 inches, trim: 27.5 x 39.5 inches, $120.00
Josue Bessiake
32. One Last Look, 2024, oil on linen, 36 x 46 inches, $4550.00
33. Le Chaise: Collection of Sticks I and II, 2024, graphite on paper, 36 x 16 inches each/36 x 32 inches, $1500.00
*Books Edition of 10
Josue Bessiake
The Chair:
(noun) a separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.
A place of rest. “A wonderful collection of sticks.” A symbol of status. A representation of an individual. A plot device. A design.
My recent work uses chairs and the figure as plot devices to explore the relationship between the body and an object. I’m using the chair to examine the role of a body and how it gives an object purpose. The chair, for example, becomes a chair once sat in.
When a chair is no longer sat in is it still a chair? Over time, the body’s interaction with an object imbues it with memory, individuality, and again purpose.
When we give an object a name we impose rules that confine it to fit into an intended function. That function becomes fulfilled by the interaction of the body. I’m exploring the extremes and subtleties of subverting these rules using painting and drawing as primary mediums.
Bio
Josue Bessiake is an African American painter working in Beverly, Massachusetts whose work is heavily influenced by his environment. He was born to two parents who immigrated from Côté d’Ivoire in 1993. Growing up, his family bounced around the Midwest, allowing him to observe a multitude of settings and environments that shaped how he looks at the world. Bessiake’s work ranges from abstraction to representation but what all the work has in common is a determination to express his connection to the world around him.
Josue Bessiake is completing his BFA Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. He recently completed an artist residency in the Bahamas where he studied painting with Michael P. Edwards. Bessiake also presented an artist talk at the National Gallery of the Bahamas as part of his residency. Recent exhibitions include Fresh Faces at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Boston, Shallow Waters at Bare Gallery, Beverly, A Familiar Form, at Massachusetts College of Art and a solo show, H301 at Gallery Kayafas, Boston and A Bird’s Last Look at Gallery NAGA, Boston.
Alex Pint
Aesthetic Syntax
Aesthetic Syntax is about the concept that design is art, and this show comprises two aspects: an insult and a vehicle. The insult is that design is lower than art, but poster design is the vehicle to disassemble that narrative.
Bio
I am a designer from Elmira, New York, with a deep attachment to the search in graphic design’s syntax, pragmatics, and semantics. I earned my BFA in Graphic Design from Montserrat College of Art and further enriched my skills and perspective in Philadelphia at the University of the Arts. My journey continues as I prepare to immerse myself in Switzerland with the acclaimed designer Dafi Kühne,
pursuing advanced studies in graphic design.