Tam Joseph - "Small Head" 1998
paper mache and iron filings
10 cm x 8 cm x 14 cm
Available to purchase; BAGT Editions #1 "Laughing Legend with Stratocaster"
Edition of 10 (4 remaining) and edition of 20 (11 remaining).
Tam Joseph is a major British-Caribbean artist associated with Blackhorse Lane Studios in Walthamstow, East London, where he has worked as part of the Barbican Arts Group Trust (BAGT) studio community since 2007.
Born Thomas Joseph in Roseau, Dominica, in 1947, he moved to London with his family in 1955 during the Windrush generation. He later became one of the most important Black British painters of the postwar era. Joseph studied at; Central School of Art and Design (1966), Slade School of Fine Art, London College of Printing, where he studied typographic design. During 1968 he worked on animation drawings for Yellow Submarine, the famous Beatles animated feature film.
Tam Joseph is best known for politically charged figurative paintings addressing, Black identity, Caribbean culture, satire and humour
His best know works include Spirit of the Carnival (1982/83), inspired by tensions surrounding the Notting Hill Carnival and policing of Black communities, UK School Report (1983), a critique of racial stereotyping in British education, and Laughing Legend with Stratocaster, portraying Jimi Hendrix in reference to Frans Hals’ Laughing Cavalier
Art historian Eddie Chambers described him as, “a uniquely talented, multidimensional artist.” Joseph’s work often combines sharp political commentary with wit and visual playfulness. He once said: “I love taking the mickey.”
Although often linked with the Black British arts movement of the 1980s, Joseph has resisted being narrowly categorised, stating, “I wasn’t trying to develop a distinctly Black art.”
His work has appeared in major exhibitions including, Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s – Tate Britain, Caribbean: Crossroads of the World at museums in New York, Edinburgh Art Festival and Felix & Spear Gallery exhibitions.
His works are held in major public collections including; Victoria and Albert Museum, Arts Council England, Museum of London, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Ben Uri Collection, Museums Sheffield and Bradford Museums & Galleries.
In 2023, a major monograph titled: Tam Joseph: I Know What I See was published by Four Corners Books, surveying more than four decades of his painting and sculpture.