Joe Rush (born 1960) is a British artist. He is the founder of

Mutoid Waste Company The Mutoid Waste Company are a performance arts group founded in London, England by Joe Rush and Robin Cooke in collaboration with Alan P Scott and Joshua Bowler. It started in the early 1980s, emerging from Frestonia's 'Car Breaker Gallery'. The ...

, a performance arts collective that has performed at Glastonbury Festival.

Early life

Rush was born in 1960 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England.

Career

In 1980, Rush exhibited at The Car Breaker Gallery in

Frestonia Frestonia was the name adopted by the residents of Freston Road, London, when they attempted to secede from the United Kingdom in 1977 to form the Free and Independent Republic of Frestonia. The residents were squatters, many of whom eventual ...

, London. In 1984, he founded the Mutoid Waste Company, an underground travelling collective of artists. That same year, he launched the first "Installation Party" in the disused Kings Cross coach station. From then on, he produced installations of his pieces in environments he mutated, occupying derelict warehouses and factories. Throughout the 1980s, he built techno-industrial sculptures at parties and

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

, and then travelled across both Western and Eastern Europe to continue the work. From making a "car henge" at Glastonbury (stone circle made out of cars), he progressed to using armoured personnel carriers and fighter planes in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. After leaving Britain for many years, Rush returned to the UK where he and his crew became involved with robotics and animation, as well as organising Mutoid Waste Company projects around the world. He has displayed his art aroun the UK, for example 'X-Ray Ted Mosquito' as part of Liverpool Discovers 2011. In 2001, Rush participated in Art-Tube, a month long exhibition on a Piccadilly Line

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

train. In 2012, Kim Gavin entrusted to Rush the art direction and creation of the vehicles, mobile stages and props of the London Paralympics Closing Ceremony. The aesthetics of the show were praised. In July 2018, he opened his first solo exhibition entitled 'Stories From the Wasteland' at the Bruton Art Factory in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. In June 2021, Rush created an installation entitled 'Mount Recyclemore', depicting world leaders attending the G7 conference in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Collaborations

Rush has collaborated with

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

and

Vivienne Westwood Dame Vivienne Isabel Westwood (née Swire; born 8 April 1941) is an English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Westwood came to public notice when she m ...

Gallery

File:War-horse-2011-by-joe.jpg, War Horse installation File:Blunderbird Moa Bike.jpg, Blunderbird Moa Bike File:Rush at Burning Man .jpg, Joe Rush at Burning Man

References

External links

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Mutoid Waste Co.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rush, Joe 1960 births Living people British sculptors 20th-century squatters