Clay Art Center is pleased to present Made in Earnest: Ceramic Work by Jon Townley. This solo exhibition presents handmade ceramic sculpture and pottery, and is the inaugural exhibition in Clay Art Center’s Curator’s Choice series.
In presenting this exhibition concurrently with Finding The Center, which highlights work from Clay Art Center’s archive collection, Exhibitions Director Regina Farrell-Fagan says, “Jon’s body of work has evolved into a perfect synthesis of form, technique, and mastery of ceramic media, without ever leaving behind that which inspired him from the earliest of days of his career. The work resonates with the Mid-Century aesthetics of Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Ruth Duckworth, Brancusi, and others, where form comes first. Jon’s contemporary artistic voice speaks to the same forces that compelled artists in the earliest days of Clay Art Center to make, and to pursue a line of creative enquiry that can only be answered in clay.”
Artist Bio
Jon began throwing pots in high school at the age of fifteen and went on to receive his BFA in ceramics from Ohio State University, where he developed an understanding of form and technique through studying the Japanese ceramics tradition. Since 2010 he has maintained his studio in Katonah, New York, developing an original body of decorative and sculptural ceramics using the techniques of throwing and altering, coil construction, innovative slab forming, and carving. Jon has taught multiple workshops and currently teaches hand building and advanced throwing classes at Clay Art Center, Port Chester, New York.
Artist’s Statement
“Nearly everything I make has certain core themes in common. These include my fascination with how the forces of wind, water and erosion sculpt stone, my wonderment at the forms inside sea shells, my curiosity about the growth patterns of trees and plants, and my delight in the convolutions and articulations of bones. While I’ve spent much of my life working as a professional illustrator and designer, in my ceramics I rarely apply traditional decorative effects or graphic imagery, preferring instead to enliven my pieces primarily through form and sculptural gesture.”
Please join us for an Opening Reception on Saturday, April 25th, from 5:00-7:00pm.
Concurrent Programming: Signature Techniques with Jon Townley
During this five-day workshop from Monday, July 6th to Friday July 10th, John Townley will demonstrate his throwing and altering techniques, as well as his unique handbuilding approaches, and guide students through the processes he uses to create original functional and decorative work. Demonstrations will include creating expressive wheel-thrown forms, including using alterations and added sculptural gestures, handbuilding extensions, reshaping with darting, integrating a graceful handle, Jon’s version of “kurinuki” (carving out) using wire carving from solid clay, and his cloth “sling Mold” method for making sculptural serving trays.
About Curator’s Choice Exhibitions at Clay Art Center
Clay Art Center aims to support regional artists by offering gallery and shop opportunities, including smaller, concurrent exhibitions that complement our focal exhibitions, as well as cultural programming. These initiatives highlight the work of regionally based artists, particularly those from the lower, middle, and upper Hudson Valley, as well as the broader Tri-State area. Through these opportunities, we aim to raise awareness of regional talent, strengthen connections within local ceramics communities, and promote critical appreciation of the ceramic arts.
Gallery Mission
The Clay Art Center Gallery provides a platform for emerging and established artists to explore a wide range of topics that address materials, processes, and techniques, and to engage in critical dialogue through clay. We are committed to exhibiting a variety of work from artists around the country with unique and diverse backgrounds, as well showcasing our Clay Art Center artists and students.
