When I visited Betty and George in Italy, the first thing I noticed were all the Betty Woodman’s littered around the garden,
kitchen and studio. We ate off them, she planted in them, and yet, they were inextricably linked to the precious sculptures
I had exhibited in the gallery months prior. For her nearly seventy-year career, Betty battled with functionality, finding joy,
release and infinite inspiration in using the idea of function as source material. In the years since my visit to her home just
outside Florence, I often think of Betty and her fascination with the vessel as subject matter.
Over 13 years of gallery exhibitions and one persistent form has continually appeared as an object of desire; the vessel. In all
its many forms, this subject never tires. This much regarded, revered and studied form is the genesis of many discussions,
exhibitions, publications, and texts, many of which are more scholarly, well researched and surely more responsible than the
one I am presenting here.
This exhibition aims to be of the more varietal sort, a vast and random, densely populated network of artists. A group that
transcends age, race, and in some instances, even life, yet, somehow the artists within it manage to remain in vividly active
conversation with each other. Many consider themselves designers, some architects, some sculptors. Many are dedicated to
one media, one persistent conceptual thread, many are not. All are seekers, connecting via tactility.
adapted from the accompanying exhibition text
Vessels is on display at Nina Johnson in Miami through May 1, 2021.
