|
"For nearly two decades, Jeffry Mitchell has kept the art world perplexed. His work defies categorization, bouncing freely between craft and fine art, high and low, kitsch and the refined. Raised Catholic and increasingly drawn to Eastern philosophies, the artist has assembled an oeuvre that is redolent with allusions to redemption and transcendence as realized through sex, death, and religion. Most well known for his humorous yet sophisticated ceramics and pattern-filled works on paper,Mitchell seamlessly melds Eastern and Western precedents with references to pop culture, repeated floral motifs, and subtle sexual innuendos codified by the history of ceramics.
"Over the years, Mitchell has maintained a steady vocabulary of forms, subjects, and quotidian materials. Evocative of the Greek theory of horror vacui, the fear of empty spaces, his two- and three-dimensional works are driven by a decorative impulse and often incorporate a kaleidescope of compositional strategies depicted in bilateral, mirrored patterns and rhythmic, repetitive structures. Reclaiming a subject suposedly rejected as purely decorative by high art, Mitchell's stylized cherry blossoms and lotus flowers, symbolizing the joy of life and rebirth, are often accompanied by a constant host of animal imagery that includes the artist's signature bears, elephants and turtles. Whether personifications of the self or various states of being, Mitchell's array of animal friends is emblematic of culture's diversity and the richness of life. In his clay works, the artist pokes at the rift between high and low art by crafting his figures from inexpensive terracotta, glazed with white slip that mimics precious blanc de Chine porcelian...."
"Much of Jeffry Mitchell's work is an attempt to make sense of life itself, often by grappling with issues of mortality. Whether reflecting on the devastating AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the joy of matrimony, or the transmigration of the Buddha, his metaphoric and ecstatic imagery is filled with a host of lighthearted cultural references that invite us to reflect on and celebrate the joy in life."
--excerpted from the 2008 Contemporary Northwest Art Awards Catalog, Essay by Jennifer A. Gately
Birthplace: Seattle, WA
Born: 1958
|
|
Biography
Jeffry Mitchell's exhibitions, both solo and group, have drawn critical praise and include the Contemporary NW Art Awards at the Portland Art Museum, 2008, Western Bridge Museum, 2006, the World Ceramic Biennial in South Korea, 2003, the Henry Gallery, University of Washington, 2001, Diverseworks, Houston, TX 2001, White Columns, NYC 1997, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC 1992 and the Seattle Art Museum in 1990. His works are in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the New York Public Library, the Portland Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, and Western Bridge Museum among others.
|
|
|
Associated Exhibitions
February 28 - April 01, 2006
|
|
