Joe Bochynski
Joe Bochynski Born in Buffalo but currently lives and works in Maine.
His past mosaic bricolage artwork focuses on the rituals and allegories taught within these institutions and how they define the individual and group. More recently, he is using biomorphic forms to expose the imprints left by these structures on our bodies; imprints of protection and restriction.
He received a BA in Mathematics and Studio Art from Hobart College in 2008 and an MFA in painting from RISD in 2013. His first artist book was published in 2016 by CEPA Press with support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He participated in residencies at Socrates Sculpture Park (2017) and the Vermont Studio Center (2015). His first permanent public work was commissioned by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for the Arts Program in 2024. Bochynski currently lives and works in Maine.
Sunday Best, 2026
Gypsum cement
Sunday Best explores the evolving identity of Buffalo by bringing together two deïŹning aspects of the city's history: its architectural legacy and its enduring culture of community. Inspired by the ornament of Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building, the work reinterprets historic forms within a contemporary composition, echoing Sullivan's belief that ornament should grow from the life and purpose of a place rather than exist as mere decoration. Here, fragments of Buffalo's past are transformed into a new visual language that reïŹects a city continually redeïŹning itself while remaining rooted in its history. The title, Sunday Best, speaks to the ritual of showing up each week, a simple act that, over time, becomes tradition. Like the repeated gathering of a community, culture is shaped not in a single moment but through countless acts of return, carrying the past forward into the present.
