Time Wave by Joel Rea | MakersPlace Blog

In the work of Joel Rea, the ancient world, the modern world, and the god-like power of the elements come together to create shocking moments of recognition and humility.

Joel Rea is an acclaimed, award-winning artist known for his surreal, allegorical paintings. Rea’s oil on canvas works straddle hyperrealism, photorealism, and virtuosic Renaissance realism. Through impeccable brushwork, Rea has created a unique, socially aware, and introspective style. Inspired by the mysteries of the animal kingdom and the Universe, Rea’s narratives embrace the ageless turmoil of human consciousness and the unwavering survival instinct.

Rea combines contemporary visuals with the sublime to provoke emotional responses through masterful aesthetics. With his rigorous technical practice, Rea produces only three to four paintings per year, with each piece requiring thousands of hours of designing and painting, millions of brushstrokes, and worldwide photo shoots.

Notable Sales by Joel Rea

“Time Wave” follows on the heels of Rea’s genesis drop, “The Gold Tiger” and the followup, “Giant Puppy.” “Gold Tiger” grossed $462,000 in sales across 56 works (a mix of 1/1 and limited edition work). In early 2022, Rea released the 1/1 NFT titled “The Hungry and the Hunted,” which sold for 5 ETH ($13,851 at the sale). The same year, a collector flipped a $1 Rea NFT for $1,762, a price increase of $176,100%.

With a 19-year career behind him and more than 315,000 Instagram followers watching him, collectors are currently on a 2+-year waiting list for Rea’s original paintings, exhibited worldwide and held in prominent university and museum collections.

Rea’s “meatspace” artworks are highly coveted, with high-profile collectors such as Joe Rogan, fashion editor Tim Blanks, beauty CEO Chris Salgardo, and singer Kelly Rowland actively collecting his works. Original paintings have sold for $17,000 AUD (~$14,000 USD), and (more recently) $75,000 AUD (~$58,000 USD) for his piece Crossroads. Rea’s past collaborators include Kelly Rowland, Gary Vee, and KSwiss shoes.

Joel Rea in the News

Time Wave

This series of surreal, ocean-based artworks was created by combining Joel Rea’s immense references from collecting, global photoshoots, and thousands of hours of oil painting.

Intrigued with notions of the oceans’ duality, traversing adulthood, and how dark events changed the artist’s perspective of the sea, Rea attempts to present an original depiction of the scale of time through the juxtaposition of immensely diverse natural elements.

Rea’s narratives celebrate Earth as a life-generating system harnessing mysterious forces while also questioning what drives the complex layers of existence within our ancient planet.