Joseph McNamara: Matters of Fact
On View: November 21, 2026 – January 23, 2027
Reception: Saturday, November 21, 1–3 pm
These paintings are documentaries. I prefer non-fiction to fiction.
If the question is, 'How do you choose your subject matter?' then the answer is pattern recognition. Pattern recognition in this case is distinguishing a distinct visual rhythm in life situations encountered either by choice, which means traveling to pre-determined locations that I know will stimulate my curiosity, or by spontaneous reactions to otherwise apparently unremarkable life circumstances that fit these requirements. In other words I seek out content that looks like my painting.
—Joseph McNamara
Joseph McNamara
Joseph McNamara was born in 1950 in Somerville, MA. Some of his earliest memories take him back to the MFA Boston, where he was enrolled in Saturday art classes since kindergarten. Growing up, McNamara was fascinated by the illustrations of Frank R. Paul, the comics of Jack Kirby, and the visuals in the sci-fi and fantasy magazine Spacemen. He enrolled in the Massachusetts College of Art to study painting and graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. McNamara was the only student in his class to pursue figurative art, with the landmark 1970 Whitney Museum of Art exhibition 22 Realists furthering his commitment to representational excellence.
Joseph McNamara lives and works in New York City. His work is part of many institutional collections, including the Neuberger Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum of American Art, Seven Bridges Foundation, and Yale University Art Gallery.