Joe Pinkelman Interview

Legs With Decals
ceramics/decals/wire
42 x 21 x 14"
Joe Pinkelman

Destruction and re-creation strike a delicate balance in Joe Pinkelman's three dimensional forms.

Does your own life play a role in your imagery?

Yes it does. Most if not all my life experience plays a role in my imagery. I think that is always the starting point and hopefully it expands beyond self. That allows someone else to share and be empathetic with the form and experience. In addition, ceramics adds an abstract element to the work because it is a pot and not a reference something else.

Who are some artists that are currently producing work that you like?

In the ceramics I like Paul Mathieu, Grayson Perry, and Daniel Kruger. On an international scale I like Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Martin Puryear, and Richard Serra.

Would you collect your own work if you saw it in a gallery? Why or why not?

There are some specific pieces I like and wish I had kept. In general though because I am constantly surrounded by it (I can't sell most of it), it's good to look at work that is opposite of my interests. There is a story of Soutine admiring the works of Rembrandt in the museum yet their paintings are polar opposites.

In your work do you prefer timeless themes or current issues?

All my work has been an attempt at timeless issues and it is just recently since my visiting Jingdezhen, China that I am interested in current issues. I am working on a series of pieces that respond to pedophile catholic priests and the amnesty they receive from the Vatican, and in a new body of work I want to explore the involvement and culpability of the U.S. in regard to Iran, Iraq, and 911.

What is the purpose of art?

I think the purpose of art is to communicate ideas and emotions that have significant and universal meaning. Not to sound crass, but everyone scratches their ass. Even the Queen of England scratches her ass. Yet is that a universal that has significant meaning? The ideas and emotions expressed through art should be about understanding the world and individuals in more complex contexts. The purpose of art allows us to see those contexts and great art gives us the knowledge that we are free in our own lives to direct them as well. Consequently I am not a believer in causality.

Joe Pinkelman's exhibit at TAG opens October 5, 2010.