ABOUT ME

Josh Wald, is a multi-disciplined artist who works and lives between New York, and Lisbon. His newest collection is focused on medium to large scale painting/ illustrations that play with preconceptions, human identity, and a modern interpretation of what pop art could be. The work weaves a line between elegance, playfulness, and rebellion.

Josh, was raised in Cape Cod, and moved to New York after graduating college and fell into work as an international fashion model in 1998. His quick success pushed him deeper into the fashion industry, signed by IMG, he followed a 26 year long career as an international super model. He traveled the world and working for brands such as Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace, Dolce &  Gabbana, D&G, Carlo Pignatelli, Brunello Cucinelli, Canali, Paul Smith, Gianfranco Ferre, Nautica, Liz Claiborne, DKNY, Esprit, Kenneth Cole, John Varvatos, Victoria Secret, Bloomingdale's, Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, and many more.

He has worked with global icons such as Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Salma Hayek, Christy Turlington, Annie Leibovitz, Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, Bruce Weber, Paolo Roversi, Tim Walker, Terry Richardson, and many others.

Josh has been featured in publications such as GQ, Esquire, Details, Maxim, Vogue, L’uomo Vogue, Vanity Fair, Numero, Men’s Journal, Men’s Health, Forbes, The New Yorker, Men’s Style, Men’s Wear, Out, Playboy, among others.

He is also self-taught musician, he writes, sings, produces, mixes, and plays all of the standard instruments, as well as some unconventional. He owned and ran his own professional music studio in Williamsburg, BK from 2007 to 2020, where he briefly did jingles for; Kenneth Cole, DKNY, The Children’s Place, Macy’s, Ann Taylor, and Clarks Shoes, before deciding to embed himself instead on his own solo projects.

With his first in 2007, Mama’s Boy Goes Digital, Of Hearts. He co-wrote, produced and sang on the project with featured singer and guest, Rachel Platten. Then further released three of his own albums under the name, 'Dream Louise' after his late grandmother, Dream Louise (self-titled), Synth-Etic, and Epiph-O-Matic.

His 26 years spent with music, and skating the streets of New York mixed with a high-fashion career and a love for design has shaped a unique creative narrative—this one has been formed by high society and equally subculture, and the streets. These conflicting influences often battle each other and yet define each other. We see this in the form of question repeatedly surface in Josh’s work. Who are we? In context to modern culture and society. He proposes that it’s a choice that can be made over and over again. “Culture and society, it's human made, we get to choose who we are in this film called “life", and everyone is dressed in costume, everyone.”

His first collection relied heavily on collage, sewing, and “push paintings”  (a type of mono print) In 2018, Josh was asked by an employee of Chuck Close to put together a body of work for a show. Twenty five pieces blessed the walls of the Solo show titled, Misphits. It ran a block long, at the New Stand, on the Bowery in New York, NY (in what was the old Patricia Fields). Wall art, “Push Paintings'', sculpture, multimedia, and an audio/video installation were present in the space. The collection explored the exploitations of subculture through the eyes of punk rock, and grunge, an all-too-familiar subject for the avid skateboarder turned fashion model, musician/artist.

Covid in New York put a pause to Josh’s art career as it did for many. It wasn’t until he moved to Lisbon and found the perfect art studio in the Principe Real area that he began a new collection. A 2025 group show at the, High Field Conservatory, Cape Cod with Jeremy Wagner, and Jiyoung Park Wagner kicked off this new momentum. Josh’s new collection of large-scale works is titled, ‘Becoming’- a visual observance of identity can be viewed in the Lisbon studio.

“A heck of a guy”, says Nicole Hitchins of Source Studios.

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