STATEMENT
Her kiln broke; her lightweight cement became unavailable and Brody began by taking older clay sculptures and using them as a template for new work in papier mache. Suddenly all the earth colored work became bright, vibrant, filled with images from magazines, textured with mulberry papers and their fibers. Brody moved on to creating totally new pieces, new figures. She began documenting her daily dog walks in photographs– trees, sky, flowers and printed them on a laser printer in multiple sizes. The photos became an inspiration for further work.
Her figures have often been grouped into installations frequently called conversations or dialogs. A few years ago she made a sitting piece in cement with rounded forms and a focus on volume rather than line. This past summer that figure was placed in a park on a bench. A young adult was found on the bench with her arm around the figure, talking to her. Upon questioning she replied that she was talking to her mother! The seated figures here all relate to that seated figure, they were formed for an installation where they sit and talk to each other.
Another series has a background of trees, earth, and sky collaged together with a figure imposed on top. In the last of these pieces, gesture and stance explode though they have always remained of paramount importance.
Jo-Ann Brody, 2022
Education:
| 1976-80 | Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, Clay classes and Workshops, Lexington, MA |
| 1968 | Reed College , Portland, OR B. A. Fine Arts (combined program with below) |
| 1967 | Portland Museum Art School , Portland, OR Certificate of Study in Sculpture |
Selected Solo Shows:
| 2019 | Solo / Duo: Culture and Stance with Liz Ndoye Ceres Gallery, NYC. |
| 2019 | (Off) Balance, Ceres Gallery, NYC. |
| 2016 | Women Forms, Gallery 66 Sculpture garden, Cold Spring NY. |
| 2015 | Family Stories, Ceres Gallery, NYC Musings: Work in Clay, Field Library Gallery, Peekskill NY |
| 2014 | Scar Tissue, Ceres Gallery, NYC. |
| 2013 | Conversations, Studio A Gallery, Tarrytown NY |
| 2012 | Three Steps Forward, Ceres Gallery, NYC. |
| 2010 | Guardians/Watches/Warders, Maxwell Fine Arts Sculpture Garden, Peekskill, NY. |
| 2009 | Fugue Forms, Ceres Gallery, New York NY. |
| 2007 | Sticks and Stones, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY. Clusters, an installation, The Arts Exchange, White Plains, NY. |
| 2005 | Boxes & Foxes: Surface & Stance, Maxwell Fine Arts, Peekskill, NY. |
| 2000 | Gallery Zogei, (with Lisa Breznak) Kyoto, Japan. Dialogs in the Garden; Figures in Cement, Chappaqua Library Gallery, Curator Larry D’Amico, Chappaqua, NY. |
Selected Group & Juried Shows:
| 2021 | Pachamama/Mother Earth, Ceres Artsy Online Exclusive Exhibition Highland Falls ArtWalk, Highland Falls, NY NBOSS North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show, curated by Joe Chirchirillo, N. Bennington VT NBOSS at the Bennington Museum, curated by Jamie Franklin, Bennington VT The Arc of the Viral Universe and the Arc or the Moral Universe, coordinated by Carla Rae Johnson |
| 2020 | The Farm Show, 2020, Collaborative Concepts at Tilly Foster Farm, Brewster NY |
| 2018 | Balance, Curated by Bibiana Huang Mattheis, Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, NY High Contrast: Culture Confronts Chaos, Invitational, In Question curating, Westchester Community College, Peekskill NY The Doll Show, Juried exhibition, curator Liz Ndoye, Ceres Gallery, NYC Local Artist Exhibit, Bethany Art Center, Ossining NY |
| 2017 | Strong as a Woman curated by Carla Rae Johnson and Marcy B. Freedman, Peekskill NY 100!, Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis, Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY |
| 2016 | WORD, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY |
| 2015 | The Farm Project 10th anniversary Show, Collaborative Concepts, Saunders farm, Garrison NY |
| 2014 | Brains, Boobs and Backbones, curated by Carla Rae Johnson, Paramount Center, Peekskill NY 10566 Women: the Rock the Root the Foundation, Bean Runner Café curated by Lisa Breznak, Peekskill NY 10566. My Girl, Its All about Things, Portchester NY Jose Marc Gallery at Affordable Art Fair, NY Hullaballoo Collective at the Fountain Fair, NY Peekskill Open Studios, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY |
| 2013 | Placemaking: Re-Envisioning White Plains, the ArtsExchange, ArtsWestcheter, Curated by Nazanin H. Munroe, White Plains, NY The Farm Project 2013, Saunders farm, Garrison NY, also 2006-2012 |
| 2012 | Sculpture: On and Off the Wall, the Arts Exchange, ArtsWestcheter, White Plains, NY. |
| 2011 | Earth, the ArtsExchange, ArtsWestcheter, curated by Leigh Taylor Mikelson, White Plains, NY. |
| 2009 | Ineffable Woman: A Bi-Coastal Conversation, Ceres Gallery NYC & California Institute of Integral Studios, San Francisco CA. |
| 2008 | Peekskill Project IV, site-specific sculptural installation, Peekskill, NY. The Veil: Visible and Invisible Spaces, curated by Jennifer Heath, a traveling exhibition 10 x 10 x 10, curated by Judy Sigunick, Ellensville NY |
| 2005 | Winter Solstice, The Studio, White Plains and Armonk, NY Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art: A benefit auction of significant works, Robert Miller Gallery, NY. Hold the Line, Peekskill Project, site specific sculptural installation, Peekskill, NY |
| 2004 | Art at War, The Artist’s Voice. Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago IL. Third Biennial Women Book Artists Exhibition, Theresa Prator Curator, Converse College, Spartanburg, SC. |
| 2003 | Art in Nishijin, Kyoto, Japan. Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes, Starr Gallery, Newton, MA. , Curator Judith Hoffberg, |
Panels:
| 2017 | How to Promote Your Art: WORD Artist Panel II, HV Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY |
| 2016 | Artist Residencies in the Schools, First Monday Salon Series, Bean Runner Café, Peekskill NY |
| 2007 | The Feminist Cooperatives in NY, Brooklyn Museum, Sackler Wing, Brooklyn, NY. |
| 2001 | The Japan Experience, Katonah Museum Art Assn, Katonah Museum, NY. |
| 2000 | Slide Presentation to MFA students in ceramics, Seika University, Kyoto, Japan |
Selected Articles:
| Sculptures Big and Small, and All in the Open, ‘The Farm Project 2013,’ at Saunders Farm in Garrison, Susan Hodera, New York Times on line 9/13/13. | |
| “A Global Response to War Rendered in Words and Images,” Victor Alejandro Sorell, NY Arts Magazine. Nov/Dec. 2004, Vol. 9, No.11/12 | |
| “Upfront,” Ceramic Monthly, May 2003. | |
| “Art Reviews/D. Dominick Lombardi: Abstract paintings that create a roller coaster ride,” New York Times Westchester Section, Dec, 15, 2002. | |
| “Office Artwork Brings Out the Critic in Employees,” Tanya Mohn, NY Times, Jan. 31,2001. | |
| Article in Kyoto Shinbun, Oct 18, 2000. | |
| 3 articles in Japanese: Morning Asahi, Mainichi, & Daily Yomieri, Oct. 15, 2000 |
Boards:
| Digital Communication, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY | |
| Secretary, Peekskill Arts Alliance, Peekskill, NY | |
| President, Collaborative Concepts, Putnam Valley New York |