Time Out New York | Mar 18–24, 2010

Jessica Jackson Hutchins at Derek Eller and Laurel Gitlen (Small A Projects)

The announcement for Jessica Jackson Hutchins’s exhibition at Derek Eller shows two towheaded children, presumably the artist’s own, busily drawing and making crafts at a large table. This same table is featured in the gallery, now incorporated into a sculpture titled Kitchen Table Allegory, only the top has been pulled open and a large ceramic bowl painted in earthy shades rests precariously in the gap where the leaf would be. Meanwhile, the table itself looks battered from wear: It’s covered with splotches of paint and has a large hole in its scratched surface. The allegorical message darkly suggests that being a mother and making art at the same time can have a sundering effect. And yet the table not only holds the pot, it seems almost to welcome the added weight.

Furniture as support is a prominent motif in Hutchins’s work—couches, chairs and benches frequently prop up bulbous, awkwardly shaped ceramic sculptures. Often these are anthropomorphic, as in the amusing Couple, in which two lumpen figures get cozy on a love seat while an iridescent blue vessel blooms between their heads.

In a concurrent solo show at Laurel Gitlen, the work seems more focused on the body. Pieces like Figure with Red Bowl echo the sinuous gestures found in Indonesian sculpture. But the artist’s strength lies in her exploration of family as a source of creativity rather than a distraction from it.

To read this article on Time Out's website, click here.

Time Out New York | Mar 18–24, 2010

Jessica Jackson Hutchins at Derek Eller and Laurel Gitlen (Small A Projects)

The announcement for Jessica Jackson Hutchins’s exhibition at Derek Eller shows two towheaded children, presumably the artist’s own, busily drawing and making crafts at a large table. This same table is featured in the gallery, now incorporated into a sculpture titled Kitchen Table Allegory, only the top has been pulled open and a large ceramic bowl painted in earthy shades rests precariously in the gap where the leaf would be. Meanwhile, the table itself looks battered from wear: It’s covered with splotches of paint and has a large hole in its scratched surface. The allegorical message darkly suggests that being a mother and making art at the same time can have a sundering effect. And yet the table not only holds the pot, it seems almost to welcome the added weight.

Furniture as support is a prominent motif in Hutchins’s work—couches, chairs and benches frequently prop up bulbous, awkwardly shaped ceramic sculptures. Often these are anthropomorphic, as in the amusing Couple, in which two lumpen figures get cozy on a love seat while an iridescent blue vessel blooms between their heads.

In a concurrent solo show at Laurel Gitlen, the work seems more focused on the body. Pieces like Figure with Red Bowl echo the sinuous gestures found in Indonesian sculpture. But the artist’s strength lies in her exploration of family as a source of creativity rather than a distraction from it.

To read this article on Time Out's website, click here.

Jessica Jackson Hutchins, "Figure With Red Bowl", 2010