Joel Otterson
Bio
Joel Otterson (b. 1959 Los Angeles) is fascinated by the American proclivity to mix styles and genres. Deploying an impressive array of mediums, materials, and methods of fabrication, he pays particular attention to the spaces we live in. His recent quilts, furniture, and objets d’art mix an earnest and adept pursuit of craft with a playful queer sensibility that leads us to consider how both personal and shared experiences inform our aesthetics. Otterson’s hanging soft quilt is made from dozens of found fabrics pieced together using a technique taught to him by his mother. This vibrant textile collage suggests affinities with feminine codes, feminist practices, and queer subjectivity. The softness of the form is one extreme in his arsenal, while hard ceramic and concrete blocks form the ground of another. Inspired by the geometries of overhead shots in Busby Berkeley’s films, each snowflake Hawaiian-style block in Otterson’s elaborate “hard quilt” references a different location or aspect of Los Angeles—from the tall palm trees to the boys walking along Santa Monica Boulevard. His arrangements of lamps, vases, and figurines on embellished end tables refer us back to the domestic space, which he reveals as a site of enormous creativity.
Gallery
Joel Otterson
Works by Joel Otterson. Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, June 2-September 2, 2012. Photo by Brian Forrest.
Joel Otterson
Works by Joel Otterson. Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, June 2-September 2, 2012. Photo by Brian Forrest.
Joel Otterson
Joel Otterson. On wall: My Mothers’ Eyes/Cover, 2012. Patchwork and quilted silk, wool, and cotton fabrics. 120 x 108 in. (304.8 x 274.3 cm). Larger table: Tableau Vivant; Burned and Scarred, 2008–12. Pyrography on pine and purple heartwood, tepee stakes, copper pipe and fittings, antique casters. 30 x 47 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (76.2 x 120.7 x 56.5 cm). My Tiffany, My Tiffany, 2008–12. Earthenware, hand-painted and tie-dyed silk, amber, turquoise, glass beads, lamp parts. 37 x 17 x 12 in. (94 x 43.2 x 30.5 cm). My Favorite Things; Tobacco Road, 2008. Porcelain. 8 1/4 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (21 x 21.6 x 21.6 cm). Allegory of Touch, 2004. Stoneware. 12 x 6 x 4 1/2 in. (30.5 x 15.2 x 11.4 cm). Fashion Plate; Delicious, 2008. Porcelain. 2 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (5.1 x 21.6 x 21.6 cm). Smaller table: Joel Otterson. Tableau Vivant; Garden Table, 2011. Concrete, stoneware, quartz, pyrite, amethyst, turquoise, agate, copper pipe and fittings, rubber wheels. 21 x 28 x 19 in. (53.3 x 71.1 x 48.3 cm). Born Broken, 2011. Pit-fired earthenware, gold leaf. 9 1/2 x 9 x 8 in. (24.1 x 22.9 x 20.3 cm). Courtesy the artist. Photo by Robert Wedemeyer.
Joel Otterson
Joel Otterson. Tableau Vivant; Burned and Scarred, 2008–12. Pyrography on pine and purple heartwood, tepee stakes, copper pipe and fittings, antique casters. 30 x 47 1/2 x 22 1/4 in. (76.2 x 120.7 x 56.5 cm). Courtesy the artist. Photo by Robert Wedemeyer.
Joel Otterson
Joel Otterson. Shooting Star, 2001. Concrete, found and cut ceramic and glass. 144 x 168 x 2 1/2 in. (365.8 x 426.7 x 6.4 cm). Collection of John and Caroline Schiff, Glendale, Ohio.
Joel Otterson
Joel Otterson. The Wall of China Made in America or The Peaceable Kingdom, 1995. Collection of 200 found American ceramics, copper pipe and fittings, steel, rubber wheels. 89 x 106 x 18 in. (226.1 x 269.2 x 45.7 cm). Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati.
Joel Otterson
Joel Otterson invited us to his studio in Lincoln Heights. In this video he discusses decorative arts and shows us the work that is in the Made in L.A. exhibition, which can be seen at the Hammer Museum.