Joseph Havel is a world-renowned artist who lives and works in Houston, Texas. In addition to his studio practice, Joseph is Director of the Glassell School of Art and its acclaimed Core Residency Program. Originally from Minnesota, he obtained his BFA from the University of Minnesota and his MFA from Penn State. Joseph is best known for his ever-changing body of work which consists mostly of sculptures, but also drawings. His artwork has been exhibited extensively worldwide and he is part of the permanent collections of many of the world’s top art institutions, including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Le Centre Pompidou, The Ministry of Culture – Paris, The Menil Collection and The Museum of Fine Arts – Houston. He has received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship, the Dallas Contemporary’s Texas Legend Award and Texas State Visual Artist of the Year. He is represented by a number of galleries, including Talley Dunn Gallery in Dallas and Hiram Butler Gallery in Houston.

I recently sat down with Joseph in a private viewing room at Talley Dunn prior to a recent opening where we discussed growing up in Minnesota, conceptual art, white shirts, the Glassell School, the state of change in San Francisco and avoiding boxes.