Joseph Somers

Always fascinated by the artists of deception, such as Escher, Dali, and Gonsalves, Joseph Somers wanted to incorporate the illusion of movement into those widely loved scenic images, the memories of which are so often obscured by the routine of everyday life.  Before opening his first art studio in 1989, Joseph Somers’ long and unusual life had taken him on travels throughout the United States, Great Britain, Europe, and the Middle East, leaving him with a vast array of stunningly beautiful visual memories to draw upon. Somers’ re-creation of his images onto this unique, three-dimensional, lightweight canvas, which he developed for ease of mobility and display, has made it possible to bring these “windows to the world” into every room in the home.

Also known as a wizard of odd furniture, Somers actually began his art career by creating off-beat designs, such as eccentric chairs with wiggly squiggly legs and twisted branch-like stems, chairs that sprout hands, and tables with human legs wearing high-heeled boots. His Luggageture line of custom-built dresser drawers painted to look like suitcases, steamer trunks, and gift boxes are also rapidly gaining in popularity. In many respects, Somers’ work picks up where pop art left off.

This artist brings to the art world an open-minded, uninhibited style that results from his beginnings as an outsider artist, unlimited by the constraints of a formally structured background. In this showing of the currently displayed, third-dimensional “windows to the world,” with their illusion of movement, you are viewing an art form that is now being enjoyed by art enthusiasts and collectors from all walks of life who simply want to enjoy some of life’s most pleasant sights through their own “moving windows.”