Don Porcella

Last updated
Don Porcella
Don Photo.jpg
Don Porcella in Brooklyn, photo by Rich Henricks, 2012.
NationalityAmerican
Known forpipe cleaner sculptures, encaustic paintings
Stylefolk art, uses mass-market craft materials
Websitedonporcella.com

Don Porcella (born December 30, 1963) is contemporary American multimedia artist, most known for his pipe cleaner sculptures and encaustic paintings [1] Don Porcella is best known for elevating low-brow, [2] mass-market craft materials into high art. Porcella's subjects are usually inspired by consumerism, nature, the human condition, science fiction and folk art with humor.

Contents

Early life

Don Porcella was raised in Modesto, California, the United States of America, youngest son of Robert.S.Porcella, doctor and  Yvonne Porcella, [3] a celebrated fiber and textile artist. He got a bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, and bachelor's degree in Fine Art from California College of Arts (and Crafts) and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Hunter College (CUNY) in New York. He moved to New York in 2001, to pursue his art career, working with prominent artists such as Miriam Schipiro, and David Salle.

Work

Inspired by nature, human evolution, and science fiction, Porcella's work is highly-reflective of his upbringing; his artist mother and physician father who made almost everything by hand, while also celebrating folk art and outsider art. His handmade quality and non-traditional modes of art making are displayed in his drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations that highlight his inventive tools and skills.  

Porcella often references art historical movements, makes fun of absurd consumer culture, the human condition and alien conspiracy theories that allow the subjective and strange to penetrate humorous representations of a wildly imaginative reality. [4]

His most notable contemporaries are Misaki Kawai, Folkert De Jong and Supercraft [5] artist, Nick Cave.

Encaustic paintings

Early in his career (2002), Porcella's encaustic paintings were evoked by his childhood memories, suburban pop culture, and comic books. His inventive use of tools and materials of direct application in his encaustic paintings "[...]comical paintings, images like Sasquatch lounging in a pink recliner by a wilderness lake and a mobile home trailer on a fire are embodied in a thick, sensuously waxy medium." [6] First important exhibition was Nick Payne and Don Porcella (2005), reviewed by the New York Times.

Sculpture

Pipe cleaner sculptures, Don Porcella's studio. Don Porcella's Studio.jpg
Pipe cleaner sculptures, Don Porcella's studio.

Porcella is best known for his pipe cleaner sculptures and installations using popular craft materials. The hands-on approach, inspired by his mother's [7] fiber art techniques, created an opportunity to invent a weaving technique using pipe cleaners from miniature to large scale textured surfaces of colorful and playful characters. Prominent exhibitions include: his first solo show was Art We There Yet? (2008), Stux Gallery, [8] New York; Don Porcella: Top Flight Projects (2014) Swatch Exhibition Shanghai; The Games We Play, [9] [10] (2018)   Hermès, New York, New York; Creatures in Wonderland [11] (2016) Hermès Maison Shanghai, China.

Collaborations

Collaborations with other artists play a key role in his creative pursuits, including Arts in Motion (1989 -1992), he invented paper bag hats, [12] famous collectors of these hats are Ben & Jerry's and Wavy Gravy; The Drawing Club (2000-2002) East Hamptons, a male art collective making posters, art for social change;  Bonac Tonic Art Collective [13] (2002 - 2009) East Hampton, New York, Make a Wish Foundation art exhibition (2013) New York.

Collections

Porcella's work is part of various private and public collections such as the Swatch Art Collection, The West Collection, [14] Jean Pigozzi, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Eli Broad, Mary Boone, Jeffrey Deitch, and Morgan Spurlock, Kevin Hearn, Minnesota Museum of American Arts, Tucson Museum of Art, Nishiji Collection of Japan, Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece and the NYC Industries for the Blind, New York.

Music

Don Porcella co-wrote the song "Vacuum", [15] a collaboration with Iranian artist Salome MC during the Swatch Art Peace Residency in Shanghai. The music video was later featured in the 2015 Venice Biennale.

His artworks are featured on the album covers of Canadian musician Kevin Hearn (member of Barenaked Ladies): Cloud Maintenance (2011) that is also named after Porcella's painting "Cloud Maintenance Workers" and Dreaming of the 80's (2023), and his art installations also formed the sets in Coming in for the cold (2023) music video, directed by Philip Harder. [16]   Porcella is in a long running band of 25 plus years called Face Urchins and recently formed EDF Syndicate, an art band with long time collaborators Russell Ives and Patrick Dintino.

Exhibitions

Don Porcella's self portrait and George Clooney at the Swatch Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China, 2014. Mini Me and George Clooney.png
Don Porcella's self portrait and George Clooney at the Swatch Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China, 2014.

He has participated in numerous solo exhibitions, his shows include: Don Porcella: Cave Dwellers (2011) Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island;  Fiber in the 21st Century (2011) at the Lehman Art Gallery, Bronx, New York; Don Porcella: Top Flight Projects (2014) Swatch Exhibition Shanghai; Creatures in Wonderland [17] (2016), Hermès Maison Shanghai, China; The Games We Play (2018)   Hermès, New York.

He has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including one at the London Art Fair (2007), Art Miami at Art Basel Fair (2008), Robert Miller Gallery (2009), Museum of Art and Design (2010). His work has appeared in Brooklyn Museum (2012); Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (2012); Torrance Art Museum in California (2014), Rockbund Art Museum in China (2014), and Arizona Biennial (2018).

His works have been exhibited internationally at galleries and museums around the world including the United States, China, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Colombia and Mexico.

Grants, Awards, & Residencies

Porcella has received grants from the Council on the Arts and Humanities:

Media Coverage/ Published

Poreclla's work has been featured in the Arts Magazine, CRAFT, Elle, Museum of Art and Design, New York Press, The New York Times, NY Arts, Fiber Arts Magazine, Chelsea Now, San Francisco Magazine, The Village Voice and the Los Angeles Times.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Dali</span> Chinese graffiti artist

Zhang Dali is an artist based in Beijing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenore Tawney</span> American artist

Lenore Tawney was an American artist working in fiber art, collage, assemblage, and drawing. She is considered to be a groundbreaking artist for the elevation of craft processes to fine art status, two communities which were previously mutually exclusive. Tawney was born and raised in an Irish-American family in Lorain, Ohio near Cleveland and later moved to Chicago to start her career. In the 1940s and 50s, she studied art at several different institutions and perfected her craft as a weaver. In 1957, she moved to New York where she maintained a highly successful career into the 1960's. In the 1970s Tawney focused increasingly on her spirituality, but continued to make work until her death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José María Cano</span> Musical artist

José María Cano Andrés is a Spanish visual artist, musician, composer, and record producer. From 1982 to 1998, he was a member and principal composer of the Spanish pop-rock band Mecano. Since 1998, he works primarily in the visual arts.

Piero Golia is a conceptual artist based in Los Angeles.

Ming Fay is a Shanghai-born and New York City-based sculptor and professor. His work focuses on the concept of the garden as a symbol of utopia and the relationship between man and nature. Drawing upon an extensive knowledge of plants both Eastern and Western, real and mythical, Fay creates his own calligraphic floating forest of reeds, branches and surreal species. He is most well known for his sculpture and large scale installations and he currently teaches sculpture at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liu Bolin</span> Chinese contemporary artist

Liu Bolin is a contemporary artist born in China's Shandong province, who specialises in self-portraits where he is disguised to match his surroundings. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Shandong College of Arts in 1995 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2001. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world. Also known as "the invisible man", Liu's most popular works are from his "Hiding in the City" series, photographic works that began as performance art in 2005 in response to the artists' village in which he worked in Beijing being demolished in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Lester Johnson was an American artist and educator. Johnson was a member of the Second Generation of the New York School during the late 1950s. The subject of much of his work is the human figure. His style is considered by critics and art historians to be in the figurative expressionist mode.

Sanford Biggers is an American interdisciplinary artist who works in film and video, installation, sculpture, music, and performance. A Los Angeles native, he has lived and worked in New York City since 1999.

Roland Conrad Petersen is a Danish-born American painter, printmaker, and professor. His career spans over 50 years, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area and is perhaps best-known for his "Picnic series" beginning in 1959 to today. He is part of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Christopher</span> American painter

Tom Christopher is an American painter known for his expressionist urban paintings and murals, mostly of New York City. Christopher began as a commercial artist, and has become internationally recognized with galleries and exhibitions in France, Germany and Japan.

Rachel Feinstein is an American artist who specializes in sculpture. She is best known for baroque, fantasy-inspired sculptures like "The Snow Queen", which was drawn from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. There have been over two dozen group and solo showings of her work in the United States, Europe and Asia. She is married to painter John Currin. In 2011 the New York Times described them as "the ruling power couple in today's art world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimitar Lukanov</span> Bulgarian-American artist

Dimitar Lukanov was an internationally renowned Bulgarian-American artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Murillo (artist)</span> Colombian artist

Oscar Murillo is an artist working within the painting tradition. He currently lives and works in various locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maren Hassinger</span> African-American artist and educator (born 1947)

Maren Hassinger is an African-American artist and educator whose career spans four decades. Hassinger uses sculpture, film, dance, performance art, and public art to explore the relationship between the natural world and industrial materials. She incorporates everyday materials in her art, like wire rope, plastic bags, branches, dirt, newspaper, garbage, leaves, and cardboard boxes. Hassinger has stated that her work “focuses on elements, or even problems—social and environmental—that we all share, and in which we all have a stake…. I want it to be a humane and humanistic statement about our future together.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Beer (artist)</span> British artist

Oliver Beer is a British artist who lives and works between London and Paris. He makes sculptures, installations, videos, and immersive live performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Françoise Grossen</span>

Françoise Grossen is a textile artist known for her braided and knotted rope sculptures. She lives and works in New York City. Grossen’s work has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Makoto Azuma is a Japanese flower artist, botanical sculptor, and co-founder of JARDINS des FLEURS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Cowan</span> American artist and educator

Amber Cowan is an American artist and educator living and working in Philadelphia. Cowan creates fused and flameworked glass sculptures from cullet and recycled industrial glass.

Torkwase Dyson is an interdisciplinary artist based in Beacon, New York, United States. Dyson describes the themes of her work as "architecture, infrastructure, environmental justice, and abstract drawing." Her work is informed by her own theory of Black Compositional Thought. This working term considers how spatial networks—paths, throughways, water, architecture, and geographies—are composed by Black bodies as a means of exploring potential networks for Black liberation. She is represented by Pace Gallery and Richard Gray Gallery.

Nadema Ivania Agard, who also uses the name Winyan Luta Red Woman, is an American visual artist, educator, illustrator, poet, storyteller, museum professional and an activist for Indigenous rights. Agard also works as a consultant on repatriation, multicultural arts, and Native American arts and cultures. Additionally, Agard owns and directs an art production and consulting enterprise, Red Earth Studio.

References

  1. Hewitt, Lonnie Burstein (2016-07-20). "Artist's pipe-cleaner sculptures are a hit in Shanghai". La Jolla Light. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. "Juxtapoz Magazine - Pipe Cleaner Eroticism by Don Porcella". www.juxtapoz.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  3. "THE ART AND WIT OF DON PORCELLA | East County Magazine". www.eastcountymagazine.org. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  4. "Don Porcella". madmuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  5. Supercraft: The New Insider Folk Art by Noah Sudarsky, NY Press, NY, NY April 2008.
  6. Nick Payne and Don Porcella Galleries: Chelsea The New York Times Saturday, July 15, 2005, p. E 23.
  7. 'Cave Man', Michael J. Fressola, Staten island, January 30, 2011, C1, C3.
  8. "Don Porcella - Exhibitions - Stux Gallery". www.stuxgallery.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  9. Spellings, Sarah (2018-11-16). "The Most Delightful Holiday Windows Are Made With Pipe Cleaners". The Cut. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  10. "Playing Through: Hermès Holiday Windows by Don Porcella". Whitewall. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  11. "汉唐文化". www.acmedynasty.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  12. "Hats off to Bag Man", Rusty Coats, Living, Section 1, Friday, April 3, 1992.
  13. "Masters of Spin and Other Light Arts", Carissas Katz, The East Hampton Star, September 20, 2007 ppC, C 4
  14. "West Collection". db.westcollection.org. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  15. "Vacuum (خلاء) feat. Don Porcella on Vimeo". 2015-05-08. Archived from the original on 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  16. "Kevin Hearn "Comin' in From the Cold" music video - Phil Harder". 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  17. "Creatures in Wonderland", Vogue Magazine, Beijing, China, June 2016.