About
About Joseph C. Grant, Jr. : Filmmaker, Author, Artist and Educator
Who Am I?
I am an entirety that is cursed with the blessing, like so many before me to champion the dubious task of rendering imagination into beautiful reflections of life using words, rhythms, pigment and shapes. My existence is solely to guide others on a cerebral and visual journey with or without motion. These composites are often fused together to give accounts that will hopefully, some day interest, entertain and change the world for eternity... Until the birth of the next me. Who are you? -Joseph C. Grant, Jr. “Growing up in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn I have always enjoyed my childhood. It was remarkable how we were able to make something out of nothing. From the games we played, to the foods we ate, to the styles of clothes we wore, life was simple and good.
As an Artist, through my work, I love to reach back into my past and display those times for the world to see. My entire collection is called ‘Through These Ghetto Eyes, A Study In Black Life.’
I created this series because of all the negativity t hat surrounded hetto and it was not only fun, but people to see the world as I did as a child and enjoy it for what it was and not what they believed it to be.
How in the world could a life so full of nurture, love, brotherhood, family, fun and beauty be called a ghetto? So if you wish to label my home a ghetto then let me show it to you through these ghetto eyes.”
As a young man, Joseph was deeply influenced by the works of Ernie Barnes and Norman Rockwell. Today, his hallmark is fanciful, elongated figures with exaggerated hands and feet. His unique approach to the human form embodies sports figures, Jazz themes, dancers and images reminiscent, of his childhood in Brooklyn. Although skilled in various mediums, it is Joseph’s use of acrylics and oils, mixed with his vivid imagination that makes this body of work an insightful and colorful depiction of life in the inner city.
The energetic movement in his works and his unique interpretation of the human form has been attributed to his many years as a dancer and football player.
Numerous Art Collectors, including comedian Bill Cosby, “Like It Is” founder and TV host, the late Gil Nobel and NBA, Detroit Piston’s All Star, Isiah Thomas have all acquired paintings from this enchanting body of work.
In addition to being an accomplished artist, Joseph is also a respected author and filmmaker, a magazine publisher, and a youth mentor. In 2007 Joseph founded the Arts To Literacy Initiative.
Currently Joseph is creating an artistic retrospective of the historical black firemen of America, spanning from the 1800’s to the present, titled “We Didn’t Start The Fire.” The new series is expected to debut at Art Basel Miami in December 2012.
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A native of Trinidad & Tobago, Artist Joseph C. Grant, Jr., grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York and is the youngest of 11 children. Creative and talented at a young age, he attended New York’s High School of Art & Design where he studied Art, Photography, and Media Production. After achieving a Marketing degree from New York Technical College, he would eventually return to his love of Fine Art.
Over the years, Joseph has received considerable press and media attention for his Fine Arts and Community works. He has been the recipient of numerous commissions and awards.
Joseph C. Grant Jr. is the Founder of Arts To Literacy NYC and Arts To Literacy Miami. When he is not painting, writing or filmmaking he is working with at-risk-youth, helping them build self esteem and self-sustainability through artistic expression. To learn more visit and support ATL at Arts To Literacy.org 
Check out my blog Turkey Burgers And Waffles to find out who makes the best Turkey Burger and or Waffle in Miami and New York.
