Joe Waks is a largely self-taught painter, photographer and printmaker who resides in beautiful Bayonne, New Jersey. He is also an attorney who has worked at the highest levels of local, state and federal government in his beloved Garden State. Waks’ mixed media creations underscore his passion for politics and popular culture.
Waks is an audacious commentator on these kooky times. Observant as a seasoned reporter who never leaves home without his “Little Pad of Ideas,” he doesn’t let a headline, artifact exemplifying America’s past grandeur and current status as a nation driving off a cliff at 80 mph, or slice of pizza get by him. Though Waks can be accused as absent-minded -- he’s been known to leave his personal effects on the roof of his car as he speeds off -- he is constantly unearthing the teeny-tiny things that go unnoticed by both serfs and royalty alike.
Joe Waks was a 2008 New Jersey Print and Paper Fellow at the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Waks has had numerous solo and group shows at galleries in New Jersey and New York, including two highly successful solo exhibitions in 2010. His works are in private collections in New York City, Los Angeles and many others in the United States and Canada. Waks is also in the permanent collection of the Jersey City Museum and Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, part of one of the largest public relations agencies, recently acquired several of his paintings for its renowned collection.