If I Would Have Did, I Would Have Done

Works by Joshua Steven Bryant

On view January 6 - February 25, 2023

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If I Would Have Did, I Would Have Done is an interdisciplinary exhibition of new works by Denton-based artist Joshua Steven Bryant. The artworks are a continuation of Bryant’s research on the intersection of queerness, disability, and community. The show is a blend of paintings, sculptures, and digital work. Featuring objects at varying degrees of manipulation, they use the domestic as a locale to consider the function of a queer body within the “American Dream.” Formally, the artist uses intuitive processes to compose with pops of texture and color as a mirror to how they must adjust their identity to each space in order to create a sense of comfort. Conceptually, this introspective continuation highlights the intersection of Joshua’s idealism, egotism, and regret while reviewing how a community might look free from the pressure of mastery, preconceptions, and expectations. Through these works, Bryant offers found and constructed objects the same empathy and grace they offer themself while learning and unlearning who they’ve been and might be. The art is meant to be met with whatever the viewer is willing to consider and accept as a purposeful correlation to Joshua’s own experience of observing people decide how they might acknowledge their agency as a queer person. Taking lessons from their research, experience, and community, Joshua Steven Bryant imagines a sort of utopia while asking questions about their own ability to engage in a meaningful way.

Artist Bio

Joshua Steven Bryant was born in Waco, Texas. They received degrees in Painting and Ceramics during their Bachelors at the University of North Texas in 2016. In Spring of 2022, Joshua graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas. During graduate school, Bryant worked as an assistant in a wood shop and began teaching in 2020. Since graduating, they now work as an adjunct professor in Foundations, Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. They have been exhibited in many group shows throughout Texas, including Queer Me Now: The Queer Body and Gaze at the MAC, the 2020 iteration of Rising Eyes of Texas at the Rockport Center for the Arts, and the 2020 30 Under 30 exhibition at the Greater Denton Arts Council. They have also shown in two solo exhibitions prior to this, It’s Sickening and Stupid and You All Care and Keep it Between You and Me and the Neighbors.