August 5, 2024
Artists

100 Hooks at JB Blunk estate pays homage to the late artist


For the past decade, Mariah Nielson has been working to preserve the heritage and work of her father, the late sculptor JB Blunk. Having based herself at the Inverness, California, studio for her projects, she has not only been looking at Blunk’s past work, but also explored how his legacy can inspire curations of current and future pieces, through exhibitions and special commissions inspired by the artist’s processes and collaborations.

‘100 Hooks’ at JB Blunk Estate

Wooden hook, part of 100 Hooks exhibition at JB Blunk Estate

‘Nervous Hook’ by Wilkinson & Rivera. ‘The “Nervous Hook” is strategically sculpted from timber off-cuts […] achieved with a carving style that allows for minimal wood waste. The hook is made from a reclaimed ash tree felled in Wiltshire, UK, which succumbed to ash dieback, a fungus running rampant across Europe. It is estimated that 80 per cent of British ash will need to be felled due to the disease.’

(Image credit: Courtesy JB Blunk Estate)

In 2023, the Blunk Space was the background to a series of exhibitions exploring a variety of aesthetics and craft techniques, often shown in conversation with the artist’s work. The latest project (what Nielson admits is the most ambitious to date) is an exhibition featuring 100 hooks, chosen as an example of a utilitarian object with myriad possibilities, between functionality and craft, and made by an eclectic roster of designers that includes industry veterans such as Jasper Morrison, Ilse Crawford and Martino Gamper, and emerging designers, as well as artists from different disciplines, from Minjae Kim to Ido Yoshimoto.

Blue frilly hook, part of 100 Hooks exhibition at JB Blunk Estate

‘Frilly XXX Shape’ by Bethan Laura Wood. ‘A light-hearted tongue in cheek set of hooks, reworked from the ornate decorations that traditionally adorn Venetian mirrors,’ she describes. Working with artisans Barbini Specchi Veneziani from the island of Murano, she has created pop-coloured spotted hooks with a mix of sizes, balls or no balls, fully frilled and partially frilled edges.

(Image credit: Courtesy JB Blunk Estate)

The exhibition nods to a 1981 project by Blunk, dubbed ‘100 Plates’ and shown at Inverness’ David Cole Gallery. ‘The restriction of this one type of object was a chance for him to play around with different modes of expression,’ Nielson says. ‘And even the essential idea of that form: some of the plates were functional and some were sculptural. We’re excited to invite such a wide range of artists to participate, continuing JB’s legacy through this expanding community.’





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