My work is an exercise in indulgence. It stands in the face of austerity that frames pleasure as a frivolous, valueless pursuit. My studio practice is deeply rooted in process; everything is constructed using wheel-thrown parts, from the entirety of a bar to the small switch that accompanies a lamp. This process has allowed me to generate a visual vocabulary determined by very specific ways of manipulating material. The works themselves often function as furniture: table, lamp, stool. They possess a certain theatricality, both as animated characters in and of themselves and as invitations to anticipate the happenings that surround them. My work has a strong relationship to the body. The process engages my own body very physically and, in their rounded volumes, the objects are themselves bodily. While much of the work alludes to the domestic or private space, it also references public furnishings—a bar, for example—and the starkly different rules of engagement that accompany the public context. One particular public context dominates my thinking: the Queer Club. Queerness frames pleasure as something valuable despite the absence of conventional productivity and the Queer Club is a space where it is bountiful and prioritized. This work confronts a culture that relentlessly positions labor over life, productivity over pleasure.—Joël Brodovsky-Adams
About the artist
Having recently completed his MFA in ceramics at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Joël Brodovsky-Adams is now based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Joël took up ceramics in 2013 at a studio called L’aluminé in Montreal, Quebec and later, in 2021, completed a post-bachelor’s certificate at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Joël has international exhibition credits, including a group show at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario; a two person show in Halifax which represented the culmination of his work from a residency at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Skælskør, Denmark; and a group show at Sculpture Space in New York City. This past fall, he completed a residency at Sculpture Space.
