![Hotchkiss Joy Brown Sculpture]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1736795588/hotchkiss/gnzck4gov9ecc65xkdia/Hotchkiss-The-Art-of-Joy-Brown-Thumb.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1736795588/hotchkiss/gnzck4gov9ecc65xkdia/Hotchkiss-The-Art-of-Joy-Brown-Thumb.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1736795588/hotchkiss/gnzck4gov9ecc65xkdia/Hotchkiss-The-Art-of-Joy-Brown-Thumb.png","width":622}])
Scroll down to view a 3D tour of the exhibit.
As part of Hotchkiss School’s celebration of 50 years of women at Hotchkiss, the Tremaine Art Gallery presents The Art of Joy Brown. An internationally known sculptor, Brown’s larger-than-life human figures are instantly recognizable. And while her bronze sculptures grace public spaces from Beijing to New York City, each piece begins as a clay figure fired at her home studio in Kent, CT. The exhibit will be on display through April 6.
The Tremaine exhibit traces the evolution of Brown’s work, from tiny clay figures to clay-headed puppets, to small statues and wall tiles, to the monumental work found in public spaces. Her pieces reflect her childhood in China and Japan as well as an early apprenticeship in traditional Japanese wood-fired ceramics. She writes, “My pieces speak of that peaceful place within—calm, open, and aware.”
Brown’s work has been exhibited in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China, including a nine-month show on Broadway in New York City. In addition to her figures, Brown creates three-dimensional wall installations. This exhibit will include her drawings, early figures, and wall installations. Three large-size sculptures grace the Hotchkiss campus through May 2025.
An opening reception was held in the gallery on Feb. 22, and the public was invited to Walker Auditorium on March 6 to watch excerpts from the soon-to-be-released documentary, The Art of Joy Brown, followed by a panel discussion with Joy Brown, Christine Owen, instructor in ceramics, Ann Villano, instructor in film, and Eduardo Montes-Bradley, documentary filmmaker. (Watch a recording of the panel below.) Montes-Bradley’s film is “an intimate portrayal of an artist whose passion for simplified human forms and a deeply humanistic view of nature comes alive on screen.”
Brown also worked with Hotchkiss students during a weeklong residency program. She led classes and taught students how to work with clay.
The Tremaine Art Gallery is located on the ground floor of The Hotchkiss School’s Main Building at 11 Interlaken Road, Lakeville, CT. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.
