Openings: Joseph Kameen

In his recent paintings, South Carolina artist Joseph Kameen investigates how the search for meaning in everyday moments becomes distorted as internal thoughts are projected onto inanimate surroundings, blurring the line between reality and memory.

With their strong compositions, intense interplay of colors, and theatrical effects of light and shadow, the paintings’ characters, objects, and events take on a dream-like presence that is both familiar and elusive, suggesting meanings that remain slightly out of reach.

His images occupy a space somewhere between the observed and the observer, achieving a subtle symbolic ambiguity and leaving room for multiple interpretations.

Kameen’s work has been exhibited in New York, London, and Berlin. He received his MFA in painting from Indiana University following a BFA in painting and sculpture from Boston University. He is currently Assistant Professor of Art at the University of South Carolina Aiken.

Openings: Joseph Kameen was on display in the Special Exhibit Gallery from September 5, 2023 through January 28, 2024.