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Joseph Yoakum

c. 1890–1972, b. Ash Grove, MO; d. Chicago, IL

Available Works

Joseph Yoakum, of Cherokee, African-American, and French-American ancestry, began drawing his fantastical landscapes while living in Chicago in his later years. He claimed the locations were drawn from memories of his time spent in numerous circuses as a youth, as a soldier serving with the U.S. Army during World War I in Europe, as a vagabond rail rider, and as a stowaway and stevedore in Asia and Australia. He settled in Chicago in the late 1920s, but did not begin drawing his animated recollections until 1962. It was the 1960s Chicago Imagists who were among the first to herald him. His work has most recently been featured in group exhibitions at the National Gallery, Washington, D.C.; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His drawings are in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; The Menil Collection, Houston, TX; Milwaukee Museum of Art; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; and the Philadelphia Museum Art among others.

Works

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Exhibitions

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Publications

Pub yoakum 800 xxx q85

Animistic Landscapes: Joseph Yoakum, Drawings

News

Dear John

(group)


JTT
New York, NY
Mar 19–Apr 24, 2021 

In collaboration with Adams and Ollman and Fleisher/Ollman

 

James Castle
Felipe Jesus Consalvos
William Edmondson
Lee Godie
William Hawkins
Philadelphia Wireman
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein
Bill Walton
Joseph Yoakum

Mar 24, 2021

Link
Bill walton 0713 500 0x0x4928x3269 q85

Joseph Elmer Yoakum

Joseph Yoakum
(solo)

Venus Over Manhattan
New York, NY
Jun 20–Jul 26 2019

Jun 19, 2019

Link
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The Candy Store

(group show)

 

Parker Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
Jun 10–Aug 11, 2018

 

Joseph Yoakum

Jun 10, 2018

Link
Candy store parker gallery 06.08.2018 14 1680x1120 500 0x0x1680x1119 q85

Chicago Calling: Art Against the Flow

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Chicago, IL

Jun 9, 2018–Jan 6, 2019

 

Group exhibition featuring ten artists including Joseph Yoakum and Lee Godie, curated by Kenneth Burkhart and Lisa Stone

 

Organized and traveled by Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and traveling to Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, March 23 - August 2, 2019; Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg, September 2019–January 2020; Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, March 6–August 30, 2020; and Outsider Art Museum, Amsterdam, September 2020–March 2021.

Jun 09, 2018

Link

Outliers and American Vanguard Art

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC

Jan 28–May 13, 2018

 

Curated by Lynne Cooke, and including Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, James Castle, Howard Finster, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Elijah Pierce, Horace Pippin, Christina Ramber, Martín Ramírez, Edgar Tolson, Bill Trayor, P.M. Wentworth, H.C. Westermann, Joseph Yoakum, Forrest Bess, Roger Brown, William Edmondson, Lee Godie, Morris Hirshfield, among others.

Jan 27, 2018

Link
Martin ramirez 0040 500 0x0x2601x3663 q85

Outside

Curated by Matthew Higgs

 

(group)

Karma 
Amagansett, NY
Sep 3–25, 2016

 

Joseph Yoakum

Sep 03, 2016

Link

Carnegie International

(group)
Carnegie Museum of Art
Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 5, 2013–Mar 16, 2014

 

Joseph Yoakum

Oct 05, 2013

Link

Don Baum Sez “Chicago Needs More Famous Artists”

(group)

Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago, IL
Mar 8–Apr 18, 1969

 

Joseph Yoakum

Mar 08, 2013

Link

A Trip from Here to There

(group)

Museum of Modern Art
New York, NY
Mar 5–Jul 30, 2013

 

Joseph Yoakum

Mar 05, 2013

Link

Great and Mighty Things: Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, PA
Mar 3–Jun 9, 2013

 

Group show featuring James Castle, Bill Traylor, Eddie Arning, William Hawkins, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Joseph Yoakum, et. al.

Mar 03, 2013

Link

Glossolalia

(group)

Museum of Modern Art
New York, NY
Mar 26–Jul 7, 2008

 

Joseph Yoakum

Mar 26, 2008

Link