As his new exhibition sits in quarantine at New York City’s ClampArt gallery, Joseph Desler Costa writes a letter to Humble’s editors about his experience in this uncertain time.

We at Humble are long time fans of Joseph Desler Costa’s work. I originally caught wind of it when he submitted to Radical Color, an exhibition I curated in 2015 at Portland Oregon’s sadly defunct Newspace Center for Photography. I was drawn to his dreamy, mysterious use of color and smart riffs on branding, cultural icons, and even (though he might not outwardly say it) references to stock photography.

I followed Costa’s work through his partnership with Foley Gallery and was eager to see (assuming I could travel to NYC) his latest solo exhibition at ClampArt this spring. Sadly, like so many 2020 photography exhibitions, his work hangs on ClampArt’s walls with no one to see it in real life.

In lieu of a Q+A about the exhibition, Costa shared the following letter with me about his life as an artist with a suspended exhibition in the time of COVID-19. We are publishing it below, unedited, alongside the images we wish we could see in person.

Costa will also be giving a virtual exhibition tour and discussion with Allen Frame and Stephen Frailey this Friday, April 24th at ClampArt . RSVP HERE for the Zoom link.

PostedApril 23, 2020

AuthorJon Feinstein

CategoriesExhibitions, Artists, Galleries

Tagsquarantined photography exhibitions, Joseph Desler Costa, ClampArt, NYC 2020 photography exhibitions, artists reflect on COVID-19, art in the time of COVID-19, new photography, abstract photography

Binocular Tropical © Joseph Desler Costa — *Binocular Tropical* © Joseph Desler Costa

Last summer I visited Foley Gallery in New York City’s Lower East Side to see High Summer, an exhibition curated by Joseph Desler Costa and Jeremy Haik, and had the chance to interview both artists about their work and approach to art-making. Desler Costa, who is represented by Michael Foley, recently celebrated the opening of a solo exhibition of his own work, Particle Paradise, a display of seventeen new photographs and sculptural pieces. I visited the gallery on an overcast afternoon and was met by the artist for a private tour of the show. Continuing our conversation later, we discussed some of the finer points of his new work.

PostedApril 5, 2017

AuthorAdam Ryder

CategoriesExhibitions, Artists, Galleries

TagsJoseph Desler Costa, Jeremy Haik, Adam Ryder, Michael Foley, Foley Gallery, New Photography

As much as brands have been using Instagram to sell their products (dear readers, we KNOW you've seen McDonalds come up in your feed sometime in the past two weeks to a barrage of comments like "Get the f*ck out of my feed, Ronald!") it continues to be an invaluable tool for photographers to get their work in front of larger audiences. Whether it's a straightforward means of promoting new projects, or using the app as a sketchpad for new ideas, we're constantly in awe of the new work IG helps connect us to everyday. For more than a year, we've enlisted some of our favorite photographers to participate in week-long Instagram "residencies' taking over our feed, occasionally in wild and unexpected ways. Below (and above!) are highlights from 10 Humble Instagram residencies over the past few months. We encourage you to keep up with their work, on IG and beyond.

PostedDecember 22, 2015

AuthorEditors

CategoriesArtists

TagsInstagram, Azikiwe Mohammed, Amelia Bauer, Brandon Juhasz, Dave Imms, Magali Duzant, Timothy Briner, Elijah Hurwitz, Terry Ratzlaff, Jaime Lowe, Joseph Desler Costa, New Photography

Posts like these are tricky. Every year, a growing number of MFA photo programs across the country churn out ripe, excited graduates, ready to seek their fortune in a rapidly evolving art market. Some will use their new relationships and refined smarts to stake claim on the art world, while tastemakers and opportunists alike try to predict who’s “hot,” much like taking bids on Etsy or Shake Shack’s recent public offerings. But what excites us most about this year’s ICP-Bard MFA graduates is their commitment to a range of photographic methods. Their work is hip yet thoughtful, and is consistent while rarely exuding a particularly "ICP-Bard" aesthetic. They continue to blur rigid categories, incorporating both process-heavy and straightforward documentary traditions, sometimes in the same series. Without further ado, we've culled together a selection of six standouts from ICP/Bard’s MFA class of 2015.

PostedJune 19, 2015

AuthorJon Feinstein

TagsMFA Photography Programs, ICP-Bard, International Center for Photography, ICP, Bard College, New Photography, Joseph Desler Costa, Jessica Thalmann, Kimberly Wade, Marie Louise Omme, Beau Torres, Daniel Terna, Documentary Photography, NYC MFA Programs, New Formalism

A Letter to the Editor From an Artist in the Time of COVID-19.

Joseph Desler Costa: Repackaging Commercialism, Slaying the Sublime

10 Photographers to Follow on Instagram Before the End of the Year

6 Promising MFA Photography Grads from ICP-Bard's class of 2015