For the last six years, Mariah Nielson, daughter of late American artist JB Blunk has been compiling the first comprehensive monograph of her father’s life and work. Designed by Kajsa Stahl of London-based design studio, Åbäke, the book comprises unseen images from JB Blunk’s archive – those he and his friends took from the 1950s-1990s – interspersed with newly commissioned photographs of his work and home.
For more than forty years, the prolific sculptor lived in the house he built for his family, a rural redwood idyll on an acre of land in Inverness, California (W*154), where several prominent designers, including Max Lamb and Martino Gamper, have since taken up residencies. ‘My father made everything in the house from the furniture to the ceramic tableware,’ says Nielson.
#2 Arch, 1976, Redwood. ©JB Blunk Collection
Blunk spent most of his days immersed in his on-site studio, accompanied by a soundtrack of Leonard Cohen and Willie Nelson and had a lifelong friendship with painter and member of the Paris surrealist group, Gordon Onslow Ford. ‘A classic JB Blunk adage was “my time is precious”. He worked hard and was very protective of his time in the studio but he also took breaks for tea every day (4pm) and was an attentive and loving partner and father. It was his determination to create that I remember so clearly,’ says Nielson.
His time living in Bizen, Japan in the 1950s proved formative and he became the first American to apprentice in the country's ancient unglazed ceramic tradition. In woodcarvings that celebrated the material’s inherent qualities, jewellery, painting, bronze sculptures and ceramics, smooth, placid lines are often punctuated by rhythmic, rugged motifs where form and function become almost indistinct. The book traces Blunk’s fluid practice, charged with anthropology, mythology, science fiction and poetry anchored by an innate sense of curiosity and affinity with the natural world.
Penis Stool #1, c. 1975, Redwood.
‘There was a time when the eccentricities of our home (penis stools and carved cypress wood sinks) were embarrassments,’ Nielson recalls. ‘But by my early 20s I began to appreciate what my father had created and now it’s something I’m enormously proud of!’
Blunk’s first wife Nancy Waite building the couple’s California home in 1959, in which they made every element, from the furniture to the tableware. ©JB Blunk Collection
Black Rising Moon, 1970 Acrylic on paper.
This is an extended version of an article that originally featured in the Summer 2020 issue of Wallpaper* (W*255) – on newsstands now and available for free download here
INFORMATION
JB Blunk, $55. jbblunk.com; dentdeleone.com
An exhibition of JB Blunk's sculptures and ceramics will open at Kasmin Gallery, New York this autumn. kasmingallery.com
-
In Monaco, the world’s most famous yacht show up closeThe Monaco Yacht Show is one of the most famous annual celebrations of wealth and ostentation. What’s new in the world of floating ultra-luxury?
-
Studio Job’s House of Delft is the Netherlands’ biggest, craziest artworkDesigner Job Smeets of Studio Job invites us into his atelier to see work in progress for his surreal 2,000 sq m ode to the Dutch city of Delft
-
Fuseproject and Tuux join forces to create a womb-like meditation retreat for the workspaceThe Iris Meditation Pod from OpenSeed is a scientifically driven one-person retreat, designed to increase concentration and overall well-being
-
Jamel Shabazz’s photographs are a love letter to Prospect ParkIn a new book, ‘Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025’, Jamel Shabazz discovers a warmer side of human nature
-
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles launches the seventh iteration of its highly anticipated artist biennialOne of the gallery's flagship exhibitions, Made in LA showcases the breadth and depth of the city's contemporary art scene
-
A life’s work: Hans Ulrich Obrist on art, meaning and being drivenAs the curator, critic and artistic director of Serpentine Galleries publishes his memoir, ‘Life in Progress’, he tells us what gets him out of bed in the morning
-
Ed Ruscha and Ruthie Rogers team up on zingy new cookbookEd Ruscha and friend Ruthie Rogers, chef and River Café co-founder, have teamed up on a cookbook with a difference
-
Thomas Prior’s photography captures the uncanny fragility of American lifeA new book unites two decades of the photographer’s piercing, uneasy work
-
Central Park’s revitalised Delacorte Theater gears up for a new futureEnnead Architects helmed an ambitious renovation process that has given the New York City cultural landmark a vibrant and more accessible future
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
