Side by Side
oil on canvas
78 X 98 X 2 inch
The most monumental of the paintings in Joan's recent solo exhibition titled, "Side by Side" is a large work of the same title of two well-known activists, Billie Parker and Gay Block, and is based on a photograph taken of the couple in their Santa Fe home. The photo itself was taken by Morgan Lieberman, as part of her documentary project, "Hidden Once, Hidden Twice." This painting is one of several collaborations between the painter and photographer.
Cox is inspired by Lieberman's photographs but gives her painting her own interpretation. She is accomplished at using photographs as initial “sketches;” not everyone is. Lieberman was right to contact Cox who both understands the subject and can make her own contribution. This large painting, installed on an intensely colored, hot pink wall, is one of the most powerful works in the show.
We understand that these two women are comfortable in their lives and relationship. Parker is retired and has been an activist, writer, corporate video producer, and currently serves as an addiction recovery teacher at the Santa Fe County Jail, New Mexico. Her wife, Block, is a well-known portrait photographer with work in numerous museum collections. The women are solid, comfortable in their domestic space, wearing vibrant clothing, sitting on colorful patterned chairs. Their dog is included too, sitting to the right on the floor. The scene, staged and direct, references the ordinary of domesticity, a subject that has filled the canvases of artists in the history of art. But here Cox answers back to museums who have excluded LGBTQ+ subjects on their gallery walls.
Price:
USD 16000
Last Night in Butcher's Hill
oil on canvAS
62 X 52 X 2 inch
This painting, titled Last Night in Butcher’s Hill, is a tender, emotionally rich portrait of a long-term queer couple seated in a cozy diner or café. The scene blends domestic intimacy with a sense of bittersweet transition. The couple—a butch/femme pair who have been together since high school, now over two decades—are shown nestled together in a banquette. Their body language is warm and familiar: the butch figure leans in thoughtfully with a hand to her chin, while the femme partner smiles gently, her brightly patterned scarf echoing the floral wallpaper behind her.
They live in Baltimore, but this painting captures a moment just before a significant life change—their move to Finland. That knowledge adds a layer of poignancy to the image. The scene feels like a quiet farewell to a city that has held them for years.
The composition divides the background into two symbolic halves, mirrored in a large windowpane. On the left, the interior wall is adorned with richly painted floral wallpaper—an explosion of roses and peonies in lush, textured brushstrokes. These flowers suggest love, domesticity, and memory; their overgrowth across the wall feels almost like a blooming memory of all the seasons the couple has spent together.
On the right side of the painting, visible through the large window, the outside world shows winter trees stark against a row of classic Baltimore rowhouses. The trees are bare, their branches stretching across the sky like veins—still beautiful, but exposed and reaching. These winter trees, reflected partially in the window’s surface, speak to transition and the unknown. They contrast with the warmth and vibrancy of the café interior, suggesting the bittersweetness of leaving something familiar for something new.
The table in the foreground is sparse—just a small lamp, a vase with yellow flowers, and neatly wrapped silverware—keeping our focus on the couple and their connection. The brushwork throughout the painting is expressive and slightly impressionistic, full of movement and color that echo the emotional complexity of the moment.
Ultimately, Last Night in Butcher’s Hill is a portrait of enduring love in a moment of change. It honors queer partnership, chosen roots, and the courage it takes to move forward—together.
Price:
USD 8500
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