Artist in Residence 2024: Joseph Giri and the Landscape Around Us.

NMR is a shared space among academics, artists, and activists to highlight and discuss their work. The artist-in-residence is chosen each year to share their work with the journal’s readership. Their work will be featured both in the print journal and on the website.

The North Meridian Review’s 2024 Artist in Residence was Joseph Giri. Giri is an Alabama artist perhaps best known for his mural works with the Civil Rights Heritage Trail and National Park Service that commemorate the Freedom Rides of Anniston. His murals and artwork can be found throughout Alabama and the greater United States. His work often focuses on Alabama history, contemporary politics, and the environment.

As Giri describes his career as an artist, “Even though I studied art at three colleges, I never recommend art school when asked for advice from parents or students. Yes, a bit of guidance to hasten the learning curve is potentially good, but many an art professor is a walking wet towel. My senior year of college we drove to Montgomery, Alabama to see an exhibit of southern folk artists. It was then that I realized I’d potentially wasted years of my life. Their work was so spontaneous and alive. It was a blessing to see. Now I had to go about unlearning much of what I’d subjected myself to in school. Just like I had to divest from years of Catholic schooling in the 1960s. History has shown time and again that being a seeker who’s willing to produce work until they find their direction free of convention is paramount. The challenge is surviving in the interim and finding an audience. It’s a fickle pursuit and being in a healthy market really helps. I produce a variety of work in different mediums, and that has been a good survival skill. To me, life is much like being a zebra on the African Savannah. We’re all going to get mauled by a lion or crocodile eventually. If we survive, it’s how we use that experience to fuel our efforts that make or break us. It would be nice to have fewer scars, but I’ve learned to be thankful for mine and for the opportunity to continue the journey.”