Jasper Joffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jasper Joffe is a British contemporary artist and novelist. He was born in the United States in 1975 and moved to England when he was eight. He studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford. He completed an MA in painting at The Royal College of Art in London and received a scholarship to the British School at Rome, where he spent nine months. He has had solo exhibitions in London, Rome and Milan. He is the author of "Water" published by Telegram Books in 2006.
In 2007 he organised "The Free Art Fair" in central London. It was an art exhibition where all the work was given away at the end. Artists included Harry Pye, Bruce McLean, and Bob and Roberta Smith. The event was intended to contrast with the perceived commercialism of The Frieze Art Fair taking place at the same time in October. The Free Art Fair give away was covered live on BBC News 24 and the queue formed overnight.
Joffe's exhibition "Beauty Show" at the V22 Gallery in London (January-February 2008) caused controversy. Charles Saatchi purchased a painting of Himmler from the show and questions were raised about whether it was appropriate to exhibit paintings of such evil historical figures.
Joffe is also the founder and regular contributor to the contemporary art and cultural reviews site worldwidereview which allows people from around the world open access to read and write criticism.
