Artist
Justin Brice Guariglia
Artist
Artist Bio
Justin Brice Guariglia (b.1974, New Jersey, USA) is an American artist whose work explores the relationship between humans and the natural world. Frequently collaborating with scientists, poets, and philosophers, Guariglia’s research-based practice bridges art and science, catalysing vital dialogue around ecological themes. Through methodical investigation and creative translation, his work seeks to challenge viewers to perceive our environment through new lenses. By disrupting everyday life, his work transforms abstract ecological concepts into visceral experiences that seek to plant an “ecological thought” in the viewer’s mind.
Notable collaborations include a series of 2015 missions with NASA scientists documenting Greenland’s rapidly changing ice, images from which were used as foundational source material in his paintings and prints. Guariglia’s recent public artworks, notably his takeover of London’s Somerset House, REDUCE SPEED NOW!, offer a democratic, accessible way to challenge prevailing narratives. By making ecological issues tangible and immediate, his work aims to elevate public consciousness and inspire meaningful action beyond gallery walls.
Artwork Description
WE ARE THE ASTEROID is a public art intervention that focuses our mind on ecological thought. Appropriating a solar-powered LED message board typically used on roadways, Guariglia shares surprising poetry, metaphor, and humour to draw in diverse audiences, breaking down barriers to enable important conversations about our current ecological crisis. Highway signs evoke authority and alertness as they caution passers-by. Recontextualising these, Guariglia plays with viewers’ expectations, and draws attention to our complicit use of unsustainable systems of creation and consumption.
