At only nineteen, Joe Maguire's artistic journey has just begun.
Born in Wahiawa, Hawaii, in 2007, Joe Maguire developed an interest in
fine arts at an early age. After his parents realized that neither
public, nor private schools were serving him, they began to homeschool
him at age nine. One of their first hires was professional artist and
NYC School of Visual Arts graduate, Martin Splichal, who taught him
the basics of three-dimensional drawing.
Joe's artistic interests were not limited to painting and
drawing. At age eleven, he began to study ballet, and over the next
six years, he danced leading roles in City Ballet of Wilmington's
productions of Firebird, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night's Dream,
and The Nutcracker. His teachers included prima ballerinas Tina
LeBlanc of San Francisco Ballet, Megan Fairchild of New York City
Ballet, and Tony Award-nominated dancer John Selya.
At sixteen, Joe took his first drawing class at Cape Fear Community
College. The following year he met Vilas Tonape. An internationally
recognized artist with more than forty solo and group exhibitions,
Tonape realized Joe's talent and began to teach him privately. At
eighteen, Joe retired from ballet to pursue a career in drawing,
painting, and film and the media arts. In 2025, he worked with Jose
Padilha, the Peabody Award-winning director of Narcos, on the
documentary film Thai Stick. Later, he traveled to Australia,
and for the next six months, he worked with pioneer underwater
cinematographer and filmmaker George Greenough and painter Gene
Cundith. During his stay in Australia, Joe was hired by the global
action sports brand Volcom to create an animated introduction for
their film "Microwave." Rather than using standard digital
tools, he drew with pencil on paper to create the stop motion
animation. After Joe returned to the U.S., he resumed his training
with Vilas Tonape to study pastel on paper. His drawing, "William
Merritt Chase Study 1," earned him an invitation to the Landfall
Foundation's 27th annual juried art show.
The artists who have influenced Joe the most are Johannes Vermeer,
Georges Seurat, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Akins, and Robert Irwin.
Some of the living artists Joe has met and drawn inspiration from
include: Terry Allen, Joan Tewkesbury, Jose Padilha, Jim Ganzer,
George Greenough, Gene Cundith and Stephen Niles. Joe is presently
working to fund a trip to Cambodia in 2027. In addition to visiting
the temples of Angkor Wat and the forests of Mondulkiri, Joe also
plans to meet with contemporary Cambodia artist Nak Noy, Academy
Award-nominated filmmaker Rithy Panh, and human rights advocate Youk
Chhang.