Artist Joan LeMay excavates and communicates the emotional and energetic core of her subjects, herself included, as an act of connection and projection. Whether painting in high-chroma or drawing in greyscale, her work prizes visceral emotionality. Her fragmented figurative compositions, as well as her portraits of loved ones, public-facing artists of all kinds, and herself are all exaltations of humanity. Her art and text book about Steely Dan with writer Alex Pappademas, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan, (University of Texas Press 2023) was called “weird and wondrous” by the New York Times and “one of the sharpest, funniest, and best books ever about any rock artist” by Rolling Stone. She and Pappademas are currently working on two more such books for Random House—the first of which, Friends of the Devil, goes deep on the Grateful Dead.

LeMay’s fine art has been exhibited internationally in galleries, museums, alternative venues, and public spaces in New York City, New York; Los Angeles and Pomona, California; Seattle and Anacortes, Washington; Portland, Oregon, Provincetown, Massachusetts, London, England and Koln, Germany.

Her work has been published in dozens of publications and multiple books, and she has collaborated extensively with independent filmmakers and creative agencies. A lifelong music universe person, her artwork appears on several album covers. She is based in NYC.