Joseph Broghammer has given his portraiture an undeniable personality or character; a mask, as it were, that reveals as well as conceals. This persona is then further enhanced by each portrait’s individual iconography that enhances any possible interpretation. Though Broghammer has specific, meaningful events and characters that are represented in each piece, it is ultimately pointless to attempt to decipher them in that manner. His “Flock of Joe” is personal, lyrical, and wonderfully bizarre despite their familiarity. They take advantage of our curiosity and our love of nature. Yet, they have just enough attitude to let us know that we are in his world and on his terms. Created in the private cosmos of the artist, they simply resonate as symbolic and satirical references to a macrocosm of what must be described as the human condition.

Broghammer obtained a B.F.A. from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. He also completed graduate work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He has exhibited his work in more than 100 group shows and has had solo exhibitions around the United States, Holland, Germany and Italy. His work is a part of museums, public and private collections. Broghammer has developed into one of the region’s most original voices whose mark making can be traced from Bosch and Brueghel to Dali and Magritte and linked to the likes of John Graham and Tony Fitzpatrick. Yet, it has only been in the past decade or so that his uniquely imaginative work has received official recognition. Two significant solo shows in the past seven years have won him the Best Visual Artist and Best 2-Dimensional Artist in the annual Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards.