Joe Kardonne – Retrospective
Ocean City Fine Arts League
September 15, 2007 & ongoing
Growing up in a small suburb or medium sized, mostly middle class town,
children are instilled with the belief that they can be whatever they dream to be and do whatever they aspire to do. Young children will usually want to be what they emulate, a fireman, a nurse, a teacher, a doctor and so on. As they progress through middle school ages and stages, the goals become loftier. At 14 or 15, now it is the pop star, the actress or the professional athlete that most say they aspire to be. The term “making it big” or “being famous” or becoming a star in the “big city” (whichever city it may be) tend to characterize these goals. And for some, these will become an eventual reality. For most, with maturity it becomes more apparent what strengths and talents are those that should be given focus and attention and this then determines career choices. In the case of artist Joe Kardonne, this order is reversed.
Joe Kardonne started out in the city of Newark, New Jersey in 1911. Those who knew him said that his interest in art started at a very young age. At the age of 15, when most of us are dreaming about our futures as actresses and athletes, Joe was painting his first mural at a department store near to where he grew up. This led him to a career in the commercial arts, eventually opening his own ad agency. Though this was his career, his love for photography, painting and even music continued to grow throughout his life. He at one point worked with such artists as Cameron Booth, Howard Trafton, Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock at the Student’s League of New York City. After many successful years in the ad world, he eventually retired to Ocean City, a quiet, small and liquor free New Jersey shore community, a far cry from the exciting, dream career that led him to the “big city”. Finding his place as an artist in this small community included the Ocean City Fine Arts League where his presence impacted numerous artists and friends, and where now hangs a collection of work as a memorial to his life and great body of work.
Through most of his works, the use of figures and their positions effectively create a body language that sets clear moods and in some cases can even cause the viewer to feel as if they have happened upon a private moment. In his painting “Triston And Isoldi”, for example, it is not necessary for the viewer to know the medieval legend of this love triangle to get the feeling that they are seeing a private and maybe even forbidden moment; a secret that we as the viewer feel compassion for and compelled to keep. It is the color and deepness of the reds and brown tones, the expression of the figures and the composition that build this visual story. From canvas to canvas, however, there are clearly different and deliberate techniques used in the application of paint and stroke to build these feelings. Different from the softness of “Triston And Isoldi” is the rougher, Cezanne like stroke of “Heavy Gale” used to create the chaos being experienced by the figure in the painting. In “Jazzhot” a bass player is portrayed with a brightly lit face as if on a stage, but one can definitely see the influence of cubism, especially the work of Juan Gris.
It was only last Spring that I was introduced to the Ocean City Fine Arts League as a juror for their “Friends of the Arts” exhibit. Joe Kardonne passed in March of 2005. From the time that he moved to Ocean City in 1986 to his last day on this Earth, he was painting, day and night, sharing his experience, his skill and his body of work with those at the Arts League. I wish that I had had the opportunity to talk to him or work with him, but it is clear from conversing with those who did, that he was an amazing person, artist, musician, teacher and friend.
Ocean City Fine Arts League
September 15, 2007 & ongoing
Growing up in a small suburb or medium sized, mostly middle class town,
children are instilled with the belief that they can be whatever they dream to be and do whatever they aspire to do. Young children will usually want to be what they emulate, a fireman, a nurse, a teacher, a doctor and so on. As they progress through middle school ages and stages, the goals become loftier. At 14 or 15, now it is the pop star, the actress or the professional athlete that most say they aspire to be. The term “making it big” or “being famous” or becoming a star in the “big city” (whichever city it may be) tend to characterize these goals. And for some, these will become an eventual reality. For most, with maturity it becomes more apparent what strengths and talents are those that should be given focus and attention and this then determines career choices. In the case of artist Joe Kardonne, this order is reversed.
Joe Kardonne started out in the city of Newark, New Jersey in 1911. Those who knew him said that his interest in art started at a very young age. At the age of 15, when most of us are dreaming about our futures as actresses and athletes, Joe was painting his first mural at a department store near to where he grew up. This led him to a career in the commercial arts, eventually opening his own ad agency. Though this was his career, his love for photography, painting and even music continued to grow throughout his life. He at one point worked with such artists as Cameron Booth, Howard Trafton, Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock at the Student’s League of New York City. After many successful years in the ad world, he eventually retired to Ocean City, a quiet, small and liquor free New Jersey shore community, a far cry from the exciting, dream career that led him to the “big city”. Finding his place as an artist in this small community included the Ocean City Fine Arts League where his presence impacted numerous artists and friends, and where now hangs a collection of work as a memorial to his life and great body of work.
Through most of his works, the use of figures and their positions effectively create a body language that sets clear moods and in some cases can even cause the viewer to feel as if they have happened upon a private moment. In his painting “Triston And Isoldi”, for example, it is not necessary for the viewer to know the medieval legend of this love triangle to get the feeling that they are seeing a private and maybe even forbidden moment; a secret that we as the viewer feel compassion for and compelled to keep. It is the color and deepness of the reds and brown tones, the expression of the figures and the composition that build this visual story. From canvas to canvas, however, there are clearly different and deliberate techniques used in the application of paint and stroke to build these feelings. Different from the softness of “Triston And Isoldi” is the rougher, Cezanne like stroke of “Heavy Gale” used to create the chaos being experienced by the figure in the painting. In “Jazzhot” a bass player is portrayed with a brightly lit face as if on a stage, but one can definitely see the influence of cubism, especially the work of Juan Gris.
It was only last Spring that I was introduced to the Ocean City Fine Arts League as a juror for their “Friends of the Arts” exhibit. Joe Kardonne passed in March of 2005. From the time that he moved to Ocean City in 1986 to his last day on this Earth, he was painting, day and night, sharing his experience, his skill and his body of work with those at the Arts League. I wish that I had had the opportunity to talk to him or work with him, but it is clear from conversing with those who did, that he was an amazing person, artist, musician, teacher and friend.
