Today we’d like to introduce you to John Brickels.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Grew up in Akron Ohio which is full of old factories and a variety of interesting architecture in different stages of repair. Grew fond of ceramics while in college and would create sculptures with architectural themes. Was successful enough to be making and selling sculptures my whole life. As I get older the buildings I make show more and more evidence of entropy. I believe they may be metaphors for aging.
Has it been a smooth road?
Creating art as a business is a tad stressful. You go months not selling a thing and then wham, you sell a couple of “whoppers” and you are back in the game. It’s very “up and down”. Starve some months, win the lottery the next.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the John Brickels story. Tell us more about the business.
I make sculptures of what I would want to look at if I walked into a gallery. I create sculptures of old mill buildings and factories. I make houses and barns in different levels of dis-repair. I also make old factory machinery, completely out of clay but they look real. I get in arguments with people at shows sometimes. They try and convince me that I’m a liar. What sets me apart is my craftsmanship and subject matter.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The art world seems controlled by a small group of people who know nothing about beauty and treat artwork like shares of stock.
Contact Info:
- Address: John Brickels
160 Western Ave #124
Lowell MA 01851 - Website: brickels.com
- Phone: 8028258214
- Email: guybarn@usa.net
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