Joseph Coco brings ‘Full Moon Series’ to Parsippany
Since time immemorial, the moon has supplied a fathomless source of inspiration for singers and artists of every stripe. Accomplished American singer and songwriter Joseph Coco has invoked the moon in countless lyrics, while simultaneously evoking her heavenly presence in over 100 paintings spanning the past four decades.
A selection from Coco’s ongoing “Full Moon Series” oil paintings currently cast their silvery beams at Centenary College’s Learning Center in Parsippany. Coco instructs courses in art appreciation and modern art as an adjunct professor at the college.
“I’ve been teaching at Centenary College since 2004,” said Coco, “so I’m pleased to be able to showcase my work at the Learning Center. It’s open to the community, so I encourage everyone in the area to come see.”
Coco has pursued parallel careers in music and fine art since the 1970s. The gifted, dedicated musician has written 700 songs and issued 43 albums during his career, and has opened concerts for luminaries like BB King, Commander Cody, Leon Redbone and others.
The former Warner Bros. musical artist specializes in songs that blend personal narratives with social issues, highlighted by his masterful guitar work in multiple jazz and blues modes. His 2012 album “Hindsight,” which elaborates the life of career musicians, and his 2004 album “Scarlet Road,” which addresses the U.S. war in Iraq, were both entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio in 2013.
Throughout the demands of a successful musical career, Coco maintained an impassioned devotion to painting, at times synthesizing the two mediums of expression into a complementary duo. The melodic, new age jazz instrumental album “Silver Lamp” serves as something of a soundtrack to the paintings in the “Full Moon Series.”
Coco began his lunar canvases back in 1972, painting a yearly scene of the moon in December as an autobiographical exercise. After some years, he began following up with a January version as well.
“Each December full moon is a synopsis of the year in images,” he said. “January moons anticipate the year ahead.”
Coco’s early academic studies included anthropology, mythology, synesthesia and depth psychology, and he earned a master of fine arts degree from Rutgers University in 1986. The moon paintings reflect many of the preoccupations that motivated Coco’s artistic impulses from the start.
“The moon,” he said, “is a universal archetype, a symbolic companion spirit and signifier of the mind.”
The exhibit spotlights the more recent installments in the series.
“It includes 22 oils of varied sizes dating from 1998 to 2014, plus one from 1977,” said Coco. “Included is my World Trade Center image from December of 2001.”
Coco’s style can be characterized as expressionistically surreal. Portentous figures engage in symbolic dramas improvised in vibrant, swirling hues.
Coco’s appealing, energized canvases have earned wide admiration, leading to his being featured in 65 solo shows domestically and abroad, with over 400 paintings, drawings and prints held in 300 public and private collections worldwide.
THE FULL MOON SERIES
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday through May 31
WHAT: Paintings by artist and musician Joseph Coco
WHERE: The Centenary College Learning Center, 300 Littleton Rd., Parsippany
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: 973-257-5190, www.centenarycollege.edu