Photograph by Frank Ishman.
“Often I think that it can be very detrimental to sit down and think too much about why we make art,” says William J. O’Brien. “It will only lead towards more doubt, self-sabotage, disillusionmen and neurosis.”¹ This is a characteristic comment from an artist whose works, by his own account, are like wrestling matches with private demons. Yet if there is something fragile and awkward about his objects, they also express a particular kind of joy, as if amazed by the sheer fact of their own existence. This aesthetic of startled self-discovery has prompted O’Brien to work in numerous disciplines, among them drawing, painting, and assemblage.
He has made an especially indelible impact through his ceramics, as one of the leading exponents of an approximate, hyperexpressionist idiom that does not rely on traditional skill sets. This “sloppy” approach has been controversial in the ceramics community, with accusations of naive amateurism, or a lack of respect for the discipline’s historical achievements. Yet, like other artists working in this way—among them Woody De Othello and Jesse Wine—O’Brien shows that a personal and willful vision can result in potent objects, despite (perhaps even because of) the absence of conventional craftsmanship.
Untitled vessel in ceramic. Designed and made by William J. O'Brien, USA, 2017.
16.25" L x 15.5" W x 6.5" H
41.3cm L x 39.4cm W x 16.5cm H
SC806
Courtesy of Boesky Gallery