Joe Machine
Becoming the Perpetrator
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- £5.49
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
Joe Machine’s debut electronic publication, “Becoming the Perpetrator” documents his journey to becoming an internationally acclaimed artist through the story of his childhood, his early influences and his journey from violence to psychotherapy. He discusses his first paintings, his artistic processes and techniques as well as common themes.
As a founding member of 'The Stuckists', Joe Machine strikes a balance between nature and the conflicts of his childhood. This book explores themes of violence, sexual imagery and sailors. “Becoming the Perpetrator” features text from the artist and highly esteemed art critic Edward Lucie - Smith, along with a bonus video by Joe Machine.
Warning: This book contains adult content and sexually explicit images.
Customer Reviews
Raw honest artist and artwork
I had seen Joe Machine's work in an exhibition in London so looked up the ibook to read more about him. This is an honest raw account of his background and a bit of social history from south-east England in the 80s and 90s. But throughout his writing is personable and really interesting. The images are stunning and there are plenty to explore through the mini-gallery sets embedded in the book. An additional essay in the back by an art critic adds another dimension for those who like me might also want an academic fine art context for Joe's work. Overall, interesting writing and art! You don't often get both from a painter.
very interesting!
I bought this book to learn more about Stuckism, as I am normally a fan of more conceptual work. I had heard of another artist - Jasmine Maddock, who also has a book out so thought I would read this first. It really opened my eyes to the movement, but i was equally interested in Joe's life, which is colourful to say the least! I think the video is a really nice touch, as it make it more of an 'iBook' experience. I think the artwork translates well to digital form which was previously a concern.
Amazing and intense story and paintings
I tend to resist artists or artwork that is labelled or categorised, in this case I almost didn't download the sample because I'm not generally a Stuckist fan, and I generally prefer more abstract work.
I am really glad I decided to keep a more open mind in this case and downloaded the whole iBook.
Joe Machine's paintings, regardless of whether he was self-taught or aligned himself with a particular movement, are incredible. Each one tells a story which boldly, and in some way beautifully illustrates the brutal and unpleasant surroundings that the artist experienced as a child and young adult.
Both the artist's openly shared biography, and the insights from Edward Lucie-Smith help to put the paintings in context, but even without reading those, one can imagine a world more horrific and violent than one ever hopes to encounter simply, by studying the paintings.
There are some paintings of lighter subjects, a wheat field and flowers, but these don't grab me the same way and make me think about how we behave and allow others to behave in public and often in view of children. Joe Machine's artwork provides a strong social commentary that is both direct and honest, not to mention artistically accomplished.