Excepts from Pamela Joseph's Sideshow of the Absurd catalogue:

“Immersion in Pamela Joseph’s Sideshow of the Absurd, with its paradoxes, ambiguity, and biting humor, offers a curious tension between nostalgic reminiscence and allegories of contemporary life.” —Barbara Bloemink, 2001.

“The images are sexy and erotic. She likes to use cats in her work. Some people pump weights; Pamela pumps large house cats… Looking at her things gets to be like disco strobe lighting but with recognizable reminders of the cheesy but attractive in contemporary life, be it TV, rock and roll, vaginal stimulation, and bad habits of smoking, salsa, etc.” —Larry Rivers, 2001.

“Anthropologists, among others, tend to regard carnival as a social pressure valve: let the populace blow off some collective steam. Sleep it off. Then it’s back to work, more productive than ever for having relieved the stress of suppressing some of the flip-sides of human nature—at least for a day…But in Pamela Joseph’s Sideshow of the Absurd, the carnival continues day–in and day–out, …part of the female protagonists rollicking work–a–day world.

We are drawn into the orbit of [Pamela Joseph's] dangerous images—decapitation, human monstrosity, being buzz–sawed or stabbed—that all resolve themselves as fun possibilities, since the women in charge (including the artist) are all clearly in charge. ”—Ingrid Schaffner, 2001.

“What’s being stretched here are the sexual stereotypes within which we imprison ourselves, what’s being flexed is ar’’s power to overturn the institutional assumptions that so often blind us in the face of injustice. Joseph’s notion of the absurd comes suddenly close to home.” —Buzz Spector, 2001.

“The inventive mind of Pam Joseph is a wonderful place to explore...scratch the surface and many things emerge....all of them wild...and wicked and dense...” —Gladys Nillson, 2000.