Joe de Feo

Washington, DC

Joe de Feo uses oils, acrylics, casein and watercolor to create representational landscapes and florals using a variety of abstract, geometric, or math-based techniques.

Joe de Feo's pieces begin with a technical challenge or question, and he devises rules that govern brushstrokes, color, depth, and detail for each painting or series. Solving the puzzle of each painting entails iteratively applying and occasionally breaking these rules.

His work often juxtaposes the geometric with the organic, the hard-edged with the calligraphic, and the stylized with the realistic. He creates tension that prompts a closer look at the work and the world beyond the frame.

A native of Brooklyn, Joe graduated from Yale University and worked in nonprofits in New York and Washington, D.C. before co-founding a sustainability and risk management consulting firm.

For fifteen years, he painted before the city woke up and after it finished its workday. He now paints full-time in Washington. He has shown his work in the U.S. and Costa Rica.

"I believe art allows its creator to speak to viewers, no matter how distant in time and space. A work of art allows an idea in its creator’s mind to live in the world and propagate itself in unexpected ways in the minds of engaged viewers. I am always trying to create art that rewards extended looking."