Joe Rush

Joe Rush (born 1960) is a British artist. He is the founder of Mutoid Waste Company, a performance arts collective that has performed at Glastonbury Festival.[1][2][3]

Joe Rush
Joe Rush and Andy Warhol
Born1960
NationalityBritish
MovementMutoid Waste Company
Websitejoerush.com

Early life

Rush was born in 1960 in London, England.[4][5]

Career

In 1980, Rush exhibited at The Car Breaker Gallery in Frestonia, London.[6]

In 1984, he founded the Mutoid Waste Company, an underground travelling collective of artists. That same year, he launched the first "Installation Party" in the disused Kings Cross coach station. From then on, he produced installations of his pieces in environments he mutated, occupying derelict warehouses and factories.[7]

Throughout the 1980s, he built techno-industrial sculptures at parties and festivals, and then travelled across both Western and Eastern Europe to continue the work. From making a "car henge" at Glastonbury (stone circle made out of cars), he progressed to using armoured personnel carriers and fighter planes in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.[2]

After leaving Britain for many years, Rush returned to the UK where he and his crew became involved with robotics and animation, as well as organising Mutoid Waste Company projects around the world.[2] He has displayed his art aroun the UK, for example 'X-Ray Ted Mosquito' as part of Liverpool Discovers 2011.[8]

In 2001, Rush participated in Art-Tube, a month long exhibition on a Piccadilly Line London Underground train.[9]

In 2012, Kim Gavin entrusted to Rush the art direction and creation of the vehicles, mobile stages and props of the London Paralympics Closing Ceremony. The aesthetics of the show were praised.[10]

In July 2018, he opened his first solo exhibition entitled 'Stories From the Wasteland' at the Bruton Art Factory in Somerset.[11]

In June 2021, Rush created an installation entitled 'Mount Recyclemore', depicting world leaders attending the G7 conference in Cornwall.[12][13]

Collaborations

Rush has collaborated with Banksy,[14] Damien Hirst[15] and Vivienne Westwood.[16]

  • War Horse installation
    War Horse installation
  • Blunderbird Moa Bike
    Blunderbird Moa Bike
  • Joe Rush at Burning Man
    Joe Rush at Burning Man

References
  1. Lewis, Paul (21 April 2008). "'I mutate waste, it's creative chaos'". The Guardian.
  2. Barkham, Patrick (23 March 2006). "The fun, the filth and the fury". The Guardian.
  3. "Glastonbury festival 2011 gets ready – in pictures". The Guardian. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  4. "Who is Joe Rush? The sculptor whose creations have shaped Glastonbury Festival down the years". Somersetlive. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  5. "Biography". Joerush.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  6. "Car Breaker Poster" (PDF).
  7. "Joe Rush". www.medicigallery.co.uk.
  8. Bernhardt, Colette (19 February 2011). "This week's new events". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2012. Joe Rush's X-Ray Ted mosquito honours the city as the first to use x-rays and understand malaria
  9. "Carriage 3". Art Tube. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  10. "Paralympic Games closing ceremony was as mad as it was marvellous". 9 September 2012.
  11. "Joe Rush Exhibition". Bruton Art Factory. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  12. Steven Morris (10 June 2021). "G7 leaders depicted in Mount Recyclemore e-waste sculpture". The Guardian.
  13. Joe Middleton (10 June 2021). "G7: 'Mount Rushmore' sculpture of leaders made from waste appears near Cornwall summit". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022.
  14. "Bringing the Streets to the Saleroom: Urban Art Back at Bonhams". Huffington Post. 21 September 2011.
  15. "Portobello Film Festival 2005". PFF. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  16. "Vivienne Westwood Collaboration – Joe Rush". Cargo Collective. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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