| Joe Doyle | |
| Birth Name: | Joe Doyle |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1941 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, New York |
| Nationality: | American |
| Field: | Painting |
| Training: | San Francisco State University |
| Movement: | Abstract Illusionism |
Joe Doyle (February 27, 1941 – April 7, 2020) was an American artist. He is one of the original painters in the style, abstract illusionism, of the 1970s and has since evolved his style using computerized technologies to create Digital art.
Doyle established himself as a painter during the movement toward new abstraction in San Francisco in the mid-seventies. Stylistically his work evolved from photo-realist renderings of aircraft which exaggerated differences in focus of background and foreground".[1] By 1975 his imagery shifted to arrangements of flat, geometric forms and tubular squiggles in a trompe-l'œil manner that created the illusion of a multi-layered, three dimensional space. By the late 1970s Doyle, along with James Havard, Jack Reilly and others, had attained national prominence working this style now referred to as Abstract Illusionism. Doyle and others were included in 'Reality of Illusion' a large touring exhibition of primarily American illusionist artists organized by the University of Southern California and The Denver Art Museum.[2]
According to an interview by Mark Levy in the January/February, 1982 issue of Art Voices,[3] Doyle began his artistic career in the Air Force, where Doyle says he was relieved of difficult assignments and encouraged to paint by a sergeant who appreciated his realistic landscape paintings. When he began painting abstractly, however, the sergeant relegated him to K.P. duty. Following the Air Force Doyle enrolled at San Francisco State College receiving his M.A. in 1971. From 1971 to 1975 he was a photo-realist transferring images from photographs using airbrush techniques on canvas, occasionally adding political satire into the subject matter, as in "Ice House (1971).
Doyle was an instructor and co-founder of the Multi-Media Arts Department at Berkeley City College. In 2010 then Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley City Council recognized Doyle and the Berkeley City College’s Digital Arts Club (DAC) for "its talent, creativity, and its many years of artistic contributions to Bay Area galleries and exhibits.".[4] His most recent work delves into the realm of both 3-D realism and 3-D non-objective abstraction. In 2017 he released a new series titled "New Abstracts" employing the use of 3-D modeling and color fields to create an illusion of 3-dimensional space.
In early 2020 Joe experienced coronary issues and underwent heart surgery. Complications during recovery led to pneumonia and what doctors believed to be COVID-19, he Died on April 7, 2020. A memorial page can be found at ForeverMissed.com.