About Joan Cox
Joan Cox, is represented by the Bureau of Queer Art in Mexico City and by Catalyst Contemporary in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work validates the presence of dynamic, complex, sensual, sexual and loving relationships between women—making them less taboo.
I create large-scale narrative portraits of lesbian relationships, drawing on historical art references, autobiography, and the female gaze. My paintings, photographs, and monotypes use vibrant color and symbolic detail to depict intimate moments between women—challenging the absence of lesbian couples in art history and celebrating their presence today.
Trained at Towson University (BFA) and MassArt’s Fine Arts Work Center (MFA), I’ve explored a range of mediums, from watercolor and collage to oil and acrylic. My work reimagines iconic compositions, replacing traditional male/female couples with women, often blurring gender lines to question expectations and invite new narratives.
Inspired by artists who address identity and representation, I strive to make visible the dynamic, complex, and loving relationships between women—creating the images I longed to see growing up, and affirming that these stories belong in the canon of art.
Email Joan at joan@joancoxart.com
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2026 GROUP EXHIBITIONS
In the Pink
Art Fluent online juried exhibition
2025 SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Side by Side
Towson University Center for the Arts Gallery
June 13, 2025 – July 12, 2025.
Baltimore, Maryland
SideShow
First and Franklin Presbyterian Church
Historic Mt. Vernon, Baltimore, MD
June 1, 2025 - July 15, 2025
Immortal
Immortal Queer Art Fair
Solo booth
Mexico City, Mexico
October 30 - November 2, 2025
2025 GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Artful Empowerment
Museum of Eastern Shore Culture
Salisbury, MD
December 12, 2025 – January 12, 2026
Under2500
Maryland Art Place
November 22 – 28
Immortal 25 Queer Art Fair
The Bureau of Queer Art
Mexico City, CDMX
Oct. 31 - Nov 2, 2025
Merkin Fashion Show
Maryland Art Place
Photos on BmoreArt
Thursday, October 30
16th Annual Figurative Art Exhibition
Lore Degenstein Gallery at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA
Oct 25 - Dec 7, 2025
VOLUME 10: DISMANTLED
Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
September 11 - November 1, 2025
B:25 - Best of Baltimore
Quid-Nunc Gallery
Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 07–27, 2025
Curator: Kirk Shannon-Butts
Juror: LaiSun Keane, Diamond Gray, and Nancy O'Driscoll.
Fish Don't Sleep — 5th Annual Alumni Exhibition
MassArtxSoWa
Boston, MA
Aug. 30 - Oct 19, 2025
FaceFrwrd Reception — Friday, June 13, 2025, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Goxxip Girl Collective at XoXo Gallery
Baltimore, MD
June 12, 2025 - July 17, 2025
Tryst Art Fair, Bureau of Queer Art Booth, Los Angeles, CA
Mid-Atlantic Juried Show, McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville, VA
The Pride Collection: Chosen Family presented online on Artsy by the Bureau of Queer Art
June 1 – August 31, 2025
2024 EXHIBITIONS
Portraits Project
A nine-movement oratorio performance paired with nine portraits and choreographed dance.
Premiered at the Kennedy Center on June 16, 2024 and performed again at Gala Chorus in Minneapolis, MN on July 13, 2024 by the Gay Men's Chorus of DC and the 17th Street Dance company, Washington, DC!
Read STORY from DC City Paper
Read STORY from Washington Blade
JUNE Baltimore, MD — Gallery Blue Door at Emmanuel
JUNE Bethesda, MD — Pride Repped at Extend Yoga
JUNE Ventura, CA – The Pink Tide at Dama Gallery
JULY San Diego, CA — PROUD+ at The Studio Door exhibiting "Duo Totem" and selected as Best in Show
AUGUST Washington, DC —Sapphic Gaze, Solo Exhibition at IA&A at Hillyer
Sapphic Gaze presents a compelling series of vibrant, life-size portraits that delve into the intimate lives of women-loving women. Drawing from her 23-year relationship and the experiences of lesbian couples in her community, Joan Cox crafts visual narratives that champion intense, celebratory, and nuanced relationships. By reimagining historical art compositions with personal narratives and lush, symbolic imagery, Joan challenges the historical absence of lesbian representation in Western art. Her paintings are a canvas of affirmation, celebrating the dynamic and complex intimacies between women, which have long been overlooked or taboo. Through this exhibition, Joan showcases the beauty and complexity of sapphic love and aims to affirm these relationships, recognizing them for their intrinsic value and significant place in contemporary society.
California Women Artists Making their Mark ONLINE exhibition, July 23 to October 1, 2024
SEPTEMBER Baltimore, MD — Baltimore MetGala Fashion & Art Event September 14, 2024
SEPTEMBER Boston, MA — Heirloom Convoy: 4th Annual MassArt Alumni Exhibition '24, AUG 31 - OCT 20, opening reception Friday, Sept 6th and closing reception Friday, Oct 4th, 2024 at MassArt x SoWa
OCTOBER Rochester, NY Queering Democracy: Art, Identity, and Politics in 2024 October 4 - November 16, 2024 at Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) in partnership with ImageOut Art Opening Reception: First Friday, October 4, 6-9pm
OCTOBER Mexico City Efimero: Vida, Muerte, y Arte at Juan Rulfo Cultural Center, Opening Reception: First Friday, October 4, 6-9pm
2023 EXHIBITIONS
"Earthquake Picnic"
MassArt X SoWa Gallery
Boston, Massachusetts, August 26 – October 15
3rd Annual Alumni Group Exhibition at Massachusetts College of Art & Design
"The Inevitability of Absence"
Culture Lab at the Plaxall Gallery
Long Island City, New York, August 31 – November 19
Curated by Tess Howsam and featuring the immersive performance, “The Incomplete Collection” by Linked Dance Theatre.
"I am here"
Studio Montclair Gallery
Montclair, New Jersey, September 15 – October 20
A collaboration with OutMontclair at the Studio Montclair Gallery that explores what it means to be queer and be ourselves.
"Nor'Easter: The 53rd Annual Juried Members Exhibition"
New Britain Museum of American Art
New Britain, Connecticut, September 21 — October 8, 2023
This prominent show highlights the exceptional work of emerging artists in all media in a museum setting.
"Artscape B23"
Artscape Baltimore Gallery Space
16 W North Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, September 22 — 24, 2023
Artscape will include visual art exhibitions, main stage music
performances, culinary delights, community gathering spaces, immersive family & youth experiences, an artist marketplace, and so much more!
"Diversity Lives Here: Representation Through Art"
Monmouth University Art Center
West Long Branch, NJ, March 15, 2023 – January 1, 2024
These artworks create spaces devoted to celebrating diversity, inclusivity, and representation on the Monmouth University campus. The aim of this project is to foster a greater sense of community, and ensure that all feel welcome on our campus.
In this Body of Mine
MassArt x SoWa Gallery
Boston, Massachusetts, June 10 - July 16
Curators: Liz Faust and Joan Cox
QueerWerks
Silvermine Art Gallery, New Canaan, Connecticut, June 1 - July 13
Curator: Stamatina Gregory, Head Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, NYC
Bmore Amplified
Baltimore City Hall Galleries, June 7 - August 31, Baltimore, Maryland
Curators: Alysha Page, Katie Rickman and Joan Cox
2022 GROUP EXHIBITS
13th Annual Figurative Drawing and Painting Exhibition
Lore Degenstein Gallery
November 5–December 11, 2022, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA
Juror: Mira Gerard
Women Artists Making Their Mark
O’Hanlon Center for the Arts
August 15 – November 6, 2022, Mill Valley, California
Jurors: DONNA SEAGER & SUZANNE GRAY
Online Catalog
35th September Competition Exhibition
Alexandria Museum of Art
July 8 – October 8, 2022, Alexandria, Lousiana
www.instagram.com/p/Ch-EhTQNflf/Interview
Juror: Elizabeth Chubbuck Weinstein
Unmasked, A Contemporary Portrait Exhibition
The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences(LBIF)
July 16 – August 14, 2022, Long Beach Island, New Jersey (first place prize)
Juror: Dr. Jessica Todd Smith, Susan Gray Detweiler Curator of American Art and Manager of the Center for American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art
By and About Women II
The Regional Center for Women in the Arts
April - Dec 2022, Westtown, Pennsylvania (third prize winner)
PROUD+ 2022, 5th Annual National LGBTQIA Exhibition
The Studio Door Gallery
June4–July 30, 2022, San Diego, California Digital Catalog
CURATED by Alyssa Nitchun, Executive Director,
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
Show Your Pride
Artworks Gallery
Ware, Massachusetts (best composition prize)
Celebrating the Figure
Artworks Gallery
April 9 - April 30, 2022, Ware, Massachusetts
Baltimore Fine Art Print Fair Catalyst Contemporary booth
April 28–May 1, 2022, Baltimore, Maryland
Who We Are: Portraying Identity
Cabrillo Gallery
Juried by Pauli Ochi of Ochi Projects, Los Angeles
March 7 – April 8, 2022, Santa Cruz, California
Media Coverage
Surface In/Sight: Printmaking Today
Core New Art Space
March 11 - March 27, 2022, Lakewood, Colorado
Empowerment vs. Exploitation
The Cultural Center of Cape Cod
February 8 – March 26, 2022, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts
CURATED by Molly Demeulenaere
PAST EXHIBITIONS
Frauenhaus
Catalyst Contemporary
523 N Charles Street, Baltimore, 21201, November 14th, 2019 - January 11th, 2020
CURATED by Liz Faust and Brian Miller
Art Miami
Catalyst Contemporary
December 1 - 5, 2021, Miami, Florida
Amplify
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art
July 17, 2021 - October 24, 2021, Virginia Beach, VA
CURATED by Alison Byrne and Heather Hakimzadeh
Amplify focuses on the experiences of woman-identifying artists in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Virginia MOCA curators have connected with curatorial colleagues and asked them to share their recommendations of woman-identifying artists who are exploring identity and the gendered roles of women. Constructs regarding a woman’s identity can be complicated and loaded with political agendas and nuances; yet they are also fascinating, beautiful, and filled with joy when embraced in all their forms. Through a variety of media and approaches, the artists in Amplify explore some of the many aspects of what it is to be a woman. They reveal common themes from an intersectional, and deeply personal lens.
Organized by the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Alison Byrne, Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Education, & Heather Hakimzadeh, Curator.
Tomboy solo exhibition
Function
January 11 - March 28, 2019
Taboo solo exhibition
Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College in Maryland
Sept. 22 - Dec 8, 2013
CURATED by Laura Amussen
You can view all of the work and installation photos of Taboo on the Baker Artist Award nomination website.