Joseph Harmon's warped intricate works unveiled at new show in Brooklyn

The warped inner workings of illustrator, painter and model maker Joseph Harmon will be on show from today in a joint exhibition with Zach Taylor at Superchief Gallery in Brooklyn until 14 October.

The title of the exhibition Protogasm displays new painted works by Joseph based on the concept of the initial sparks of an idea and how this stage can create the most perplexing results. “Proto, being the earliest stage; and gasm, from an orgasm,” Joseph explains. “It’s like trying to work before it gets to the brain, before it gets processed and takes definition, then it becomes something boring.”

The result of this concept is a series of vastly intricate paintings from Joseph. Each piece appears like a jumbled comic, characters overlapping, snuck in-between twisted imagery of psychedelic objects; plants, multi-headed women and cats playing with beach balls. All of this imagery is then layered upon Joseph’s signature neon bright colour palette formed into gloopy, gooey patterns of goodness. Overall, “the work is conceptual,” says Joseph, “but in a way that the concept reveals itself to me through experimentation and flow, as opposed to something mechanical. I love cartoons, toys, VHS movies, bright colours; underneath that stuff I’m just channelling my anxieties in the most sincere manner I know of."