Written by: Ritchie Bermudez

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College hosts an art gallery exhibit, Physicality of Joy, by celebrated Los Angeles-based artist Joshua Aster. The exhibition features bright, complex abstract paintings incorporating triangular grids and artist-made tempera paint. It opens on Oct. 27 and runs through Dec. 16.

The exhibition features 25 small and large-scale oil tempera paintings, and, according to Aster, is inspired by a flickering and fleeting view of the surrounding world through fluttering fingers. These recent paintings refract memories of domestic space and place through a triangular grid to create blended compositions. The result is a body of formular, honest, vulnerable, and lovely paintings to behold.

“Some other paintings are started with painted everyday floor patterns interspersed with current events in the news that are upsetting,” Aster said. “To me, this feels like the undertow that runs beneath our fragile existence. Painting these has been a meditation on memories, hopes, patterns, love, and fears woven to create a physicality of joy.”

About the artist:

Joshua Aster is an abstract painter who received his MFA from UCLA in 2007. He was awarded a MacDowell Residency in Sept. 2014. He has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including solo painting exhibitions at Edward Cella Art, Karl Hutter Fine Art, Carl Berg Gallery, and LAXART. His work has been featured in LA Weekly and The Los Angeles Times, amongst other publications. He is also a founding member of the artist collective OJO, and has presented work at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and LACE in Hollywood, CA. His 26-foot-long painting can be seen at the W Hotel in Hollywood, and see if you can catch his work on the 2022 Amazon Prime TV show, “Cosmic Love.” 

The opening reception for Physicality of Joy is on Thurs., Oct. 27, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery on the Cuesta College San Luis Obispo campus. An artist talk is scheduled from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. in Room 6304. Live streaming of the event is also available at bit.ly/physicalityofjoy. 

Admission to the gallery is free. Please visit the gallery webpage or call (805) 546-3202 for a schedule of exhibits and hours of operation.