Joel Otterson

Professional life and education

Otterson received his BFA at Parsons School of Design, New York, NY in 1982. In 1983, Otterson exhibited for the first time at Gallery Nature Morte in Manhattan. He would have exhibitions with other notable artists together with artists like Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, and Haim Steinbach.

Joel Otterson is a sculptor who for 30+ years has worked his way through the house and remade everything inside it. His hybrid mash-ups of our domestic environment question our relationship to the home and to each other. His work addresses the gender of objects, their place in culture and what it means to be American. Otterson employs a diverse array of materials such as copper pipe, concrete, and blown glass, with techniques such as woodworking, pottery, and needlework.

Selected exhibitions

Otterson has shown his work internationally at venues such as The Museum of Modern Art (PROJECT series, 1987), the Venice Biennale (1993), the Hammer Museum (Made in L.A, 2012), Whitney Museum of American Art (2014 Whitney Biennial) for which he received much praise, and Maloney Fine Art.

Collections

Otterson’s work is in the permanent collections of Cincinnati Art Museum, Israel Museum, The Broad Foundation (by Edythe and Eli Broad), and the Jewish Museum.