"New Line Continued" 2018
Oil on canvas
77' x 101' inches / 196 x 257 cm
Joy Brown
b. 1951
"My figures speak to me of that peaceful place in myself - calm, open, aware.
My art reflects the influence of my childhood in Japan and of the rigorous discipline of my apprenticeship in traditional Japanese wood-fired ceramics. Wood firing and working with clay became a way of life, defining an aesthetic that guides my work and life.
For 40 years, my work with clay has challenged and nurtured me, enriched and transformed my life. The work has evolved from vessels and animal shapes to the human-like forms and abstract wall reliefs of recent years. The changes have come out of my relationship to the materials and process—the clay, kiln, firing, and my changing intentions. For the past 20 years I have also been working in bronze—most recently in China, where I’ve made larger-than-life figures for public spaces.
The forms I make—pots and sculpture, bronze and ceramic—are a tangible expression of my evolving inner self. There is beauty and power in their quiet simplicity."
Education
1978 - Researched kilns and potteries in Korea and Japan
1975-1978- Ceramic apprenticeships, with Ichino Toshio Tamba, Japan
Morioka Shigeyoshi Wakayama, Japan
1972 - B.A. in Fine Arts, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL
1951-1968 - Raised and schooled in Japan
Private and Public collections
Horokan Museum, 20 meter ceramic wall mural, One World, Amami- Oshima, Japan
Western Connecticut State University, large scale bronze figures, Danbury, CT
The Bauhinia (HK Chamber of Commerce), large scale bronze figures Ning Bo, PRC
Horokan Museum, large scale bronze figures and wall mural installation, Amami- Oshima, Japan
Mattatuck Museum, Sitter, Waterbury, CT
Canadian Academy, Earth, Water, Sky, mural commission, Kobe, Japan
Jing’An International Sculpture Park, Large scale bronze figures, Shanghai, PRC
University of North Carolina, Currents, mural installation, Asheville, NC
Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Song of Life, mural commission, Osaka, Japan
Hartford Hospital, One Earth, One Family, mural commission, Hartford, CT
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Shanghai Minhang Park Exhibition, Shanghai, PRC
2018
Joy Brown on Broadway, NY, NY
Morrison Gallery, Kent, CT
Hudson Beach Glass, Beacon, NY
2013 - 2017
Kerry Centre, Shanghai, PRC
2015
Tianjing Hang Lung Gwang Chang, Tianjing, PRC Sara Gallery, New York, NY
2011
Morrison Gallery, Kent, CT
2010
Hudson Beach Glass, Philadelphia, PA Art Within Gallery, Kent, CT
2008
Marie Trichet Gallery, Litchfield, CT Hudson Beach Glass, Beacon NY
2007
Coady Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM 1989–2006
2006
Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
2005
Elena Zang Gallery, Shady (Woodstock), NY
Signature Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Munson Gallery, Chatham, MA
2002
Hiro Gallery, Wakayama, Japan
1994
Kumagai Museum, Tokyo
Au Gallery, Osaka
1994
Paris–New York–Bangkok Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
1993
Galery Gianna Sistu, Paris, France
1988
Paris–New York–Kent Gallery, Kent, CT
1983-1991
Departure Gallery, New York, NY
1981
Mingei Gallery, New York, NY
Animal with rider
Bronze
33H x 28L x 24W cm
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
First Shamian Public Art Exhibition, Shamian Island, Guangzhou, PRC
2020
Shanghai FISH International Sculpture Park, Shanghai, PRC
2012-2017
Leo Galley, Shanghai/Hong Kong, PRC
2010-2016
Shanghai Art Fair, PRC
1997-2016
Elena Zang Gallery, Shady (Woodstock), NY
2014
Hong Kong Art Centre, The Human Conditions, Hong Kong, PRC
2010, 2014
Moon Gallery, Nara, Japan
2010
La Borne Ceramic Center, L’Amour de Feu, La Borne, France
2004-2010
Munson Gallery, Chatham, MA
2002-2010
Signature Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1987-2009
Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, Ct
Boscobel Sculpture Garden, Cold Springs, NY
Tainan University, Taiwan
2008
Heinz Center, Philadelphia, PA
2007
Fuller Museum, Fire and Ash, Brockton, MA
2006
Dubuque Museum of Art, Innovation in Contemporary Clay, Iowa
Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Architectural Echoes in Clay, NC
AKAR, Ohio City, OH
Weber Fine Art, Greenwich CT
2005
Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA
2005
Cheryl Hazan Gallery, NY, NY
2004
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, International Wood Fire Exhibition, IA
2001
Ohio Craft Museum, Clay, Wood, Fire, Salt, Columbus, OH
Worcester Center for Crafts, The Ancient Feminine, MA
1999
University of Iowa Museum of Arts, International Wood-fire Exhibition, IA
Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC
1996
Brookfield Craft Center, Woodfire in America, Brookfield, CT
Northern Clay Center, Clay, Wood, and Fire, Minneapolis, MN
1992
Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT
1990-1992
Wheeler-Seidel Gallery, New York, NY
1991
University of Iowa Museum of Arts, American Woodfire, Iowa City, IA
Professional activity and awards
2015
Clay Art Center, presenter, Divergent Currents, Portchester, NY
2010
La Borne Ceramic Center, presenter, L’Amour De Feu, La Borne, France
2009
Tainan University, presenter, International Wood Firing Conference, Taiwan
2006
Hotchkiss, presenter, Clay - The Art of Earth and Fire, Lakeville, CT
2003
Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen Memorial Outstanding Women of Connecticut Award, Hartford, CT
1998
Founded Still Mountain Center to foster East–West artistic exchange
1986
Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation grant for kiln construction, NY
1981
Wakayama Museum, award for ceramic sculpture, Wakayama, Japan
