A metals and wood artist, Joe DeMarco wasn’t known for the tried and true but for his distinctly eclectic artistic style – from New Orleans styled musicians swaying with the music, to mythical creatures, lovers bound together, or life-sized animals.
His art, like his life, was never the light steady flow of watercolors. Not even an easy shade of paint or a roughly sketched charcoal drawing could soothe his sharp edged mind. Instead of a paint brush, Joe wielded an oxyacetylene torch, a welder and an anvil. He collected odd pieces found along the banks of local watering holes, behind a chicken coup and even his own garage.
“My goal is to share my artistic vision and human experience with everyone.”
He wanted to express the complexity of life through form. And, to share that with others through what had now become a full time obsession. He created new forms out of odd bits and pieces of metal. Some were small and crude. Yet, those early creations coalesced into his life’s passion.
As Joe progressed in his work, he added recycled steel, found stone and locally sourced felled trees to his portfolio. A former brick and stone mason, his creativity took on new meaning as he cut, carved and bent his new creations into objects of art. He didn’t rise through the ranks of art schools and mentors, but instead followed his own winding path to becoming an award winning artist.
“I find it more exciting to look at the roughness of things.
I try to blend the abstract and realism whenever I sculpt, carve or weld.”
Joe has been called the ultimate recycler. Junk yards and heaps of twisted metal provided fertile ground for his imagination as he chose discarded, often implausible, objects for his sculptures and mixed media pieces.
His highly collectible work, for those who appreciate Art Brut, or Outsider Art, made its way into many private and public collections.
His pieces have been displayed throughout the country; from a larger than life ballerina, “Lace Slipper,” sold to the Marietta Museum of Art and Whimsy in Pensacola, Florida to the galleries in New York City, including “Art in the Raw” at the Audart Gallery, in 1997.
“The Peace Plane,” is on permanent display at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT.