Jos Myers - Artist - Paintings

Perth Artist Jos Myers contemplated studying Fine Art but instead left home and started painting. A move from Perth to Sydney initially saw her painting surfboards and designing surf wear art. She then went to live in Hawaii and held her first solo exhibition in Maui followed by regular exhibitions throughout Australia. Generating happiness is what Jos’s work is about. Many of her vibrant paintings depict the beach culture complete with bronzed bodies of all shapes and sizes having fun. Her work is represented in private and corporate collections around the world.

Jos Myers - Artist Statement

Jos Myers was born in Subiaco and spent her formative years in Perth. She studied music and classical ballet for many years. However, her enduring passion was to become painting under the guidance of her high school art teacher.

Her inspiration to this day remains Brett Whiteley. "A Difficult Pleasure" was born.

Jos contemplated studying Fine Arts but instead left home and started painting. A move to Sydney's northern beaches at eighteen saw her initially painting surfboards and designing surf wear art. She then went to live in Hawaii and in 1992 had her first solo exhibition in Maui. This coincided with the birth of her son Reif. The lush landscapes and the vibrant colours of Hawaii left an indelible mark on her paintings.

On returning to Perth in 1997 she started her own studio/ gallery Maverick and encouraged other young artists. She has since exhibited in Melbourne and West Australia.

Jos is adamant that her paintings are there, not to be analysed but to be enjoyed visually. The essence of her being is very much "what you see is what you get". This is reflected on her canvasses and the way she lives her life. Her subjects range from contemporary urban fantasies (Dog's Bar Lickas) to her now famous beach and ocean scenes. All her subjects reflect a sense of fun. The riot of colours cannot be ignored. Her works remain quintessentially Australian and as such are valued by both private and corporate collectors.

"Life is a Gigantic canvas, throw on all the paint you can, the thicker the better!"

Inspiration

"Most holiday snaps feature iconic, run-of-the-mill architectural sights ~ Eiffel Tower, St Peter's Basilica, the Trevi Fountain. Not those of Perth artist Jos Myers. Confident, bubbly and with a zest for the voluptuous, she zooms in on bottoms. And the bigger the better. Big, round, chubby cheeks ballooning against straining g-strings, amorphous mounds protruding from racing bathers, giant spheres escaping flimsy bikinis. The Rubenesque forms flash by as Myers sits in her Cottesloe home delightedly guiding you through her pictures taken at European beaches on her latest sojourn." Gail Williams

~ The essence of my being is " What you see is what you get"...

"I am writing these thoughts from under a palapa on a four hectare private island called Namotu in Fiji.The breeze is warm, the ocean crystal, the characters colourful, the mood pristine. All in a Days work as an Artist! Colour is my Mood, line my activity, breathe my guide."

My name is angry ant... my boyfriend calls me that coz my mind and body never stop still. And that's the way I like to paint. Frenetically. It somehow calms the perpetual motion. All these vivid colourful images collide together in my mind. And then I have to photograph or paint them or, both.... This attitude is reflected on my canvas and the way I live my life.'

Frenetic also characterises my urge to travel and with traveling comes the inspiration. You know the cliche... new sights, new sounds, new smells, new tastes... that is my Nirvana.

Walking along the promenade in Barcelona on a hot July day. The beach is ugly when you come from Australia. But the people are fascinating. They come in all shapes and sizes seeking to bronze their bodies. I photograph them for posterity. Like the hooker in that wrong turn back lane in Barcelona. Half man half woman, her face grotesque with bottle blonde hair, flaming rouge and eye shadow a fair ground blue. We are shooed away by a large black woman and hurry back through the markets to exit La Ramblas with busy tourists.

Jimbaran at sunset evokes so many memories. Warm evenings suffused with the myriad smells of Indonesia... wood smoke, ripe mangoes and fecund earth. Kids playing soccer on the beach, hawkers selling roasted corn and cigarettes, friends sharing quiet moments together at the end of the day.

Travel is like different painting styles. It's about unusual unexpected moments. It's the journey, not the destination so absorb the mundane along the way. People from all walks of life sharing common purpose: love for family, love for a lover, love for food, creative expression. These images just keep colliding in a big melting pot.

Of course the beach lifestyle is quintessentially Australian and is one of my favourites. Summers day, the cool blue ocean and the languid heat of the sand as you contemplate life should I take another dip. To make sense of it all I have to stick it down on canvas as soon as I get home. Otherwise these images appear too illusionary too fleeting. "

Dorothy walking down the yellow brick road. That's what I feel like sometimes. Except I never quite get to my destinations... The Journey is just too much fun! ~ JOS MYERS 2004

Exhibitions

• Roys Kahana Maui Solo exhibition Hawaii USA July 1992
• Nuage Blu Gallery Showing of works Maui Hawaii USA November 1992
• Maui Coffee Roasters Showing of works Maui Hawaii USA March 1993
• Picture This Maui Hawaii USA Resident Artist 1992-95
• Wildwood Winery and Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia December 1993
• Wildwood Winery and Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia Easter 1994
• Empire Solo exhibition Subiaco Western Australia November 1994
• Wildwood Winery and Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia January 1995
• Yamminee Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia Easter 1996
• Underwater World 'Portraits of the Sea' group exhibition Western Australia May 1996
• Yamminee Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia December 1996-January 1997
• Wildwood Gallery Solo exhibition Yallingup Western Australia Easter 1998
• Burswood International Resort Casino 'Art for the Animals' Perth, Western Australia Nov 1998 - group exhibition
• Accent Fine Art Gallery Solo exhibition Subiaco Western Australia Nov 28 to Dec 20 1998
• Accent Fine Art Gallery Artitude 1999 Subiaco Western Australia Group exhibition, June 1999
• Fremantle Art Centre Old Growth Forrest Group Exhibition Fremantle Western Australia Aug 1999
• Red Rock North Cottesloe Solo Exhibition Claremont Western Australia Aug 2000
• Jos Myer's Studio Solo exhibition Subiaco Western Australia Dec 2000
• Art Horse Victoria Painted on life size horse 2001 Represented "The Footy Show"Channel Nine, Melbourne
• Accent Fine Art Gallery Artitude 2001, group exhibition Subiaco Western Australia June 2001
• Salec Mint Group Exhibition of works Perth Western Australia Nov 2001
• Maverick Gallery "Bang" group exhibition Subiaco Western Australia Aug 2001
• Maverick Gallery "North Cottesloe "group exhibition Subiaco Western Australia Nov 2001
• Oscar's Leap Solo Exhibition of works Yallingup Western Australia Summer 2001/02
• Margaret River Art Gallery group exhibits of works Western Australia Summer 2001/02
• Burswood International Resort Casino Artitude 2002, group exhibition Perth Western Australia June 2002
• Rogers & Doyle Fine Art Gallery "Solo" St Kilda Melbourne Victoria July 2002
• One World Gallery Exhibited works January 2003 Front St Lahaina, Maui Hawaii
• One World Gallery Exhibited works January 2003 Wailea Village, Wailea Maui Hawaii
• PLC Ladies College Group Exhibition, 2003 Perth Western Australia
• Yallingup Galleries Solo exhibition, 2003 Yallingup, Western Australia
• With Out Pier Gallery Sandringham, Melbourne Vic Resident Artist as of June 2004
• Linton & Kay Resident Artist as of 2003 Subiaco, Perth Western Australia
• Scotch College Solo Exhibition Swanbourne Western Australia 'Quintessentially Australian' August 2005
• LK Gallery Solo Exhibition 2006 Subiaco WA "Birds N Bikinis"
• LK Gallery Solo Exhibition 2007 Subiaco WA "Bar Flies"
• JahRoc Galleries Solo Exhibition 2007 MargaretRiver WA
• Numerous on going commissions, London, USA, Australia