August 22 - September 26, 2026
Galleri Urbane is pleased to announce Stew in the stomach, an upcoming solo exhibition by England-based artist Joseph Carway. This marks the artist’s first solo show with the gallery following two successful art fairs, and group show inclusion.
Untitled 13 - 11.75 x 7.75 in
Shaped Figures outside of Carway’s Norwich Studio
Installed exhibition views:
“I have always said I’m trying to make myself confused. But maybe I’m trying to feel awe; when I see an image, it takes me back to my deep aesthetic projections of what life would be like when I grew up, I could dream much bigger than life could offer, there were emotions packaged up in images that I am still waiting to find in the real world. It doesn’t come, it doesn’t exist here. The narratives at play can’t ever be achieved in real life - the relationships I see in and between figures in paint far outperform the organic majesty of ‘life’.”
Duck Ponder – 11.75 x 15.75 in
An essay by writer Eve Hill-Agnus accompanies the exhibition.
Watch:
Join us in meeting Joseph at the gallery prior to the opening of his new solo exhibition, 'Stew in the Stomach’
Studio View
Untitled 2 – 11.75 x 7.83 in
Watch:
Video tour of ‘Stew in the Stomach‘ by Joseph Carway
Get Bucked – 12h x 8w inches
Artworks Outside Studio, Norwich, England
(essay continued)
Untitled 14 – 15.75 x 11.75 in
Studio View
(essay continued)
Pencil Pots – 4.25 x 1.5 x 1.5 in
Untitled 15 – 11.75 x 7.75 inches
Joseph Carway began his career as an artist working with, and on, the human form: tattooing folk inspired linework figures, blacked out geometries, and animals. Flash sheets filled with dancing figures, crying clowns, and childlike flowers became the inspiration for his fine arts work. That sense of utility found in tattooing also became prevalent in Carway’s first foray into fine arts; wood turned pencil holders, pegboards, keychains, and painted key hooks became expressive objects brought to life in their painted figuration.
From those objects came his intimate series of wide-ranging paintings. Men thrown from horses, elongated portraits and figures, running women, and scenes of flight through curtained windows adorn these plywood panels. The sense of tactility is heightened through the intentional weathering and scuffing these panels endure. Age is present, both in the physicality of these objects, but of their subject matter. Are they forgotten and recovered works from the 1900’s? or were they made yesterday? The beauty in Carway’s paintings emerges from their timeless and permanent presence.
Joseph Carway is an English artist creating functional and flitting paintings, straddling sculpture and fine art. His work is inspired by themes of solemnity and solace, timeless imagery and gentle narratives. Play is at its height within his shaped paintings, as wooden implements often emerge from their surface to use as keyrings, “storage containers,” towel holders, or seemingly for no specific reason. The viewer is left to wonder how they might approach and engage his objects. Carway handles these themes with an obligingly naive sincerity, resulting in small wooden pieces that Illustrate scenes of life, love, religion and a willing exploration of his psyche through scenes and symbols.
Carways rectangular paintings on board have that same sense of play, but this is seen through the linework, gesture, and gaze. His subjects explore the container, rather than break from it – as in the shaped panels. The subject matter is diverse as well, exploring more formal elements, such as weight, line, expression, movement, and action. The intentional weathering and varnishing creates a push and pull, into and from the pictorial plane; still exploring 3 dimensional space within a more traditional container.
Joseph Carway lives in Norwich, England, where he paints from his home in the Norfolk countryside, alongside his work as a tattooist. Carway’s first solo exhibition was in 2025 at Giant Runt, Fort Worth, Texas. His work has entered important collections in the United States and abroad during his emergence as a painter in 2025. Carway will exhibit with Galleri Urbane at Felix Fair, Los Angeles, February 25th - March 1st, 2026.