Joe Wardwell (b. 1972) is a Boston-based painter and muralist. His work reflects on the traditions of landscape painting, literature, and popular music in the United States and delves into their interconnected role in defining the ideas and values of “Americanness.” He creates paintings and murals beginning with a landscape over which he layers text taken from famous pieces of American literature or music, and then completes the image with a final layer of abstract patterns to set text off from background. For OMAA, Wardwell will create three site specific murals covering the entrance façade and two ocean-facing walls on either side of the museum’s new glass window. Together, the murals will respond to the museum’s unique sense of place on the Maine coastline overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Joe Wardwell, Just laugh it off its better than it seems, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches. © Joe Wardwell. Courtesy of Artist and LaMontagne Gallery.
