Joseph Schneider’s assemblage sculptures, paintings, and collages contain found objects intricately joined together evoking themes of childhood, spirituality, time, and space.  His works celebrate pattern, language, and the feeling of wonder in everyday life.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, he spent his childhood constructing sculptures out of whatever was around.  As a student at Gonzaga University, Schneider spent a year studying in Florence, Italy, drawing inspiration from early Christian, Greek, Renaissance, and Islamic art.

Acceptance into the Museum of Modern Art’s P.S. 1 National Studio Program brought him to New York City, where he remained for fifteen years.  While living in cramped studio spaces and working as an art handler and massage therapist, Schneider built work that would take years to complete, assembling sections when space was found.

 

His creations receive national and international recognition appearing at New York City’s Trans Hudson Gallery and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, and Fundacio “la Caixa” in Barcelona, Spain.  Schneider’s large ship, Sea of Tranquility, was a focal point of the Independent Curators International show Almost Warm and Fuzzy: Childhood and Contemporary Art.  It traveled to many locations, including the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, AZ; Brooks Museum of Contemporary Art, Memphis, TN; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; and the Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA.

 

Returning to his roots in the Pacific Northwest, Schneider currently resides in rural Oregon.  Recent projects have received funding from the Creative Capital Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council.