Who was Joe Monks?

 

"Joe Monks Wall" - AI and photo composite image.

 ©A. Derek Catalano

I acquired a framed, original Joe Monks painting, entitled "Painted by Joseph Weaver 1984".  It's a scene of Rawson Square, downtown Bay St., showing the parliamentary buildings and canons on each side of the Queen Victoria statue. Dimensions: 24in W x 23in H. It's done on wood with many different unknown mediums. House paint, pastels, oils, inks?  Whatever, it is a fantastic piece of  art and history.

So who was Joe Monks?

Here is a good write-up by Natalie Willis about Joseph "Joe Monks" Weaver highlighting a few of his works at an exhibition at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB) in 2019 with a biography.

Related link: Dialect and Diaspora: The intuitive art of Joseph “Joe Monks” Weaver

 

 

This is a great video production of Joe Monks live at  one of his exhibitions in 1993 with an introduction by Bahamian artist Jackson Burnside.  Joe is also a very good harmonica player and the video starts with a performance by him. He does a little singing and dancing too.

Related video: Joe Monks at the B.A.G. March 27, 1993

 

 

 Rawson Square by Joseph "Joe Monks" Weaver 1984