Joseph Elmer Yoakum
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Installation view of "Joseph Elmer Yoakum," Venus Over Manhattan, New York, 2021
Joseph Elmer Yoakum
Opening: Thursday, September 9th
September 9 - October 2, 2021
Venus Over Manhattan
120 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10065
(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Joseph Elmer Yoakum, the self-taught Chicago artist whose works inspired a generation of artists. This exhibition is timed to coincide with ”Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw,” an unprecedented retrospective of Yoakum’s work that will travel from the Art Institute of Chicago to the Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection. In 2019, the gallery mounted the first solo exhibition of Yoakum’s work in New York in more than thirty years, which featured nearly seventy drawings. This exhibition marks the gallery’s third solo presentation of Yoakum’s work.
Joseph Elmer Yoakum with Mississippi River neir north side of Hannibal Missouri, c. late 1960. Unidentified photographer. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Whitney B. Halstead Papers. Courtesy Venus Over Manhattan, New York
Yoakum’s use of color, dynamic articulation of perspective, and figurative geometry draws out the spiritual nature of landscapes and turn their geography into compelling images. His imaginative use of line and expressive renderings of the natural world captivated artists of younger generations, who found in Yoakum a modern-day Henri Rousseau, a talent at once natural and visionary. This exhibition features some thirty works that showcase the unique blend of the cartographic and the fantastical in Yoakum’s practice.
Yoakum’s works are notable for their unusual geometries, dynamic use of line, and evocative, soft colors. The highly suggestive nature of the artist’s drawings situates them firmly in the space of imagination, despite being inspired by the artist’s travels and his lifelong quest for new vistas and grand landscapes. Many works reference real places, such as the Mt. Vesuvius or Mana Kea in Hawaii, yet the artist made his drawings in Chicago late in his life, when he no longer traveled as he did in his youth. Visually, the works bear out the potency of this ambiguity between fact and fiction—Yoakum uses line to clarify features of a landscape, but he also lends the places he depicts a dream-like quality.
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Lizard Head in San Juan Mtn Range near Silverton Colorado, 1970. Private Collection. Courtesy Venus Over Manhattan, New York.
The tension between geographic reference and myth-making in Yoakum’s works has tended to parallel the mystery surrounding Yoakum’s biography. A man of established African-American and Native American ancestry, he tended to bend facts about his background to suit his personal inclinations—for instance, identifying himself as a Navajo rather than with the Cherokee roots that were proven parts of his heritage. Despite being a self-taught artist who started making art quite late in his life, Yoakum’s life was suffused with an artistry, even prior to his time spent drawing, that colored the way he presented himself to peers and supporters. This self-mythologized persona was arguably an ideal testing ground and mode of development for his sense of imagination and creativity.
The force of Yoakum’s work unburdened the purity of his self-taught status from any association with lack
of skill. Yoakum was a highly original artist as well as a story-teller with a developed sense of narrative and expressive flair. From La Conchita in 1995, artist Roger Brown wrote a letter to curator Mark Pascale stating “I believe this man’s work had the same effect on all of us as Rousseau must have had on Picasso and the others of his generation. How could someone with no training just start making art that was so superior to most of the art of the day done by trained artists?” The answer seems to lie in Yoakum’s willingness to bend reality to his purposes, and his extraordinary gift for drawing out novelty and fantasy within established territories.
For further information about the exhibition and availability, please contact the gallery at info@venusovermanhattan.com
Press contact
Andrea Schwan, Andrea Schwan, Inc.
info@andreaschwan.com
+ 1 (917) 371-5023
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Goldhopiggan of Hardangenviddo Glacier near Dombas Norway N.E.E., 1963. Ballpoint pen, colored pencil, pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Florida mtn Range near Deming new Mexico, 1964. Ballpoint pen on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Red Sea with Egypt and Arabia Bordering Each Side, 1964. Mixed media on paper; 12 x 17 in (30.5 x 43.2 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Moosehead Lake near Town of Rockwood In North Central Maine, 1965. Pen and colored pencil on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt Bruce Near, Hamersly Australia, c. 1965. Colored pencil, shellac, and pen on paper; Work: 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Cantafrian and Viella Tunnel, 1965. Ballpoint pen, colored pencil, pencil on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Island of Sardinia In Mediterranean Sea Close to Italy, 1966. Mixed media on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt Monterosa near Matterhorn Switzerland Europe, 1966. Colored pencil and ballpoint pen on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt Monterosa in Graino Alps near Little St. Bernardo Pass and Aosta Italy in Europe, 1967. Mixed media on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt Cayambe of Napo – Pastaza Range near Quito Ecuador S.A., 1967. Colored pencil on paper; 12 x 17 3/4 in (30.5 x 45.1 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Sweeden Valley in allegheny mtn Range near Harrisburg Pennsylvania, 1968. Mixed media on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, King Leopold Range, Argyle Downs, Australia, c. 1969. Watercolor, pencil, color pencil on paper; 11 7/8 x 17 3/4 in (30.2 x 45.1 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Three Sisters Mountain range near McKenzie Ridge, 1969. Watercolor, pencil, colored pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Dead Sea near Dhioan in Jordan So East Asia, c. 1970. Ballpoint pen, color pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, In Black Mountain Range Near Montgomery Alabama South U.S.A., 1970. Ballpoint pen, color pencil on paper; 12 1/4 x 19 in (31.1 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt Golleia on North Portion of Antarctica in so west pacific Ocean, 1970. Graphite, colored pencil, ballpoint pen, pastel on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Huerta near Juraz Mexico, c.1970. Pen, colored pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Lizard Head in San Juan Mtn Range near Silverton Colorado, 1970. Ink, colored pencil and chalk on paper; 11 3/4 x 18 3/4 in (29.8 x 47.6 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Vesuvios of Apennes Alps near Naples Italy, c. 1970. Ballpoint pen, color pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Art Linkletter’s Ranch mt Seaview in Great Dividing Range near Sydney Australia, n.d. Mixed media on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Cumberland Mtns near Nashville Tennessee, n.d. Colored pencil, ballpoint pen on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Go Back Mtn near Stratford New Hampshire, n.d. Colored pencil and pen on paper; Work: 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Lake Ferth of Fourth Eastern Ireland. WE, n.d. Pen, pastel, colored pencil on paper; 12 x 18 in (30.5 x 45.7 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mana Kea near Papaikow on Hawaiian Island USA, n.d. Ballpoint pen, color pencil on paper; 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Cross Pate in Long Range, Mt. Range near Damals Harber New Foundland, n.d. Color pencil, ballpoint pen on paper; 11 3/4 x 17 3/4 in (29.9 x 45.1 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, Mt. Snohetta Near Andaisnes, Norway, n.d. Pencil on paper; 12 x 17 1/2 in (30.5 x 44.5 cm).
Joseph Elmer Yoakum, The Three Great Falls in Missouri River Near Great Falls Montana, n.d. Colored pencil and pen on paper; Work: 19 x 12 in (48.3 x 30.5 cm).
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Using the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition, “Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw,” Artforum reflects on the life and career of Joseph E. Yoakum.
The Chicago Tribune reviews the Art Institute's "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw."
Brut Journal discusses Joseph E. Yoakum with the Art Institute of Chicago's "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw" co-curators, Mark Pascale.
Joseph E. Yoakum’s origin story has long been inseparable from the reception of his artwork.
A major survey of the late artist’s output is on view now at the Art Institute of Chicago
Two new exhibitions also deserve attention.
Newcity review of Art Institute of Chicago exhibit, "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw," lauds show's emphasis on artistic practice over biography.
The new retrospective of Yoakum's work is announced in the Chicago Gallery News
Time Out spotlights the retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago ahead of its June 12 opening
Starting in his 70s, the Chicago artist made visionary drawings of places seen and imagined.
Apollo Magazine previews work from the Art Institute of Chicago's "Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw"
A review of the new retrospective of Joseph Elmer Yoakum's work at the Art Institute of Chicago
