Meet Joseph Fox – The Hari Art Prize 2023 runner up

It was very positive. Everybody has been great to deal with. I stayed at the hotel for a night, which was wonderful. The event put on for the prizegiving was lovely, and I got to meet lots of other very interesting artists.

I do a lot of modifications of old etchings. Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an 18^th century Venetian architect and artist, very famous for his etchings of the great buildings of Italy. His work is incredibly structured and methodical – the buildings sit in the frame like huge solid blocks of granite – they are the epidemy of classical order. I like to take these compositions and then add some real chaos to them – riots, looting, parties, vandalism. I feel the tension between the order and chaos creates something with artistic merit.

The piece also works as a social document, commenting on the riots and unrest we have seen in the past few years. The piece selected for the Hari Art Prize shows a beautiful renaissance building converted to a row of high-end shops, and a riot has broken out in front of it, being held back by police.

It’s a piece full of details, that you can spend a long time with. I hope that it is decorative and beautiful, as well as having something to say.

I’ve just started working with Andipa Gallery in Knightsbridge, so they will be selling more of my work. We plan to put on a big show very soon, so keep an eye out for that.

If people like my work, I have a book of my pieces that you could buy on Amazon. It’s called ‘The Art of J. G. Fox’ by Eric Matsodo.

I have recently done a large commission for UnHerd. They opened a new private member’s club in Westminster, and I created a centrepiece for the place – a big satirical political painting of a parade, showing all the different political factions you might find today.

I’m always active on Instagram too, at @jgfoxart or at my website www.jgfox.art.