NEWFANE-The Crowell Art Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West Street, will present Ahren Ahrenholz's "Objects" exhibition in May.
Ahrenholtz has been making pottery since 1971, when he ran a pottery studio in Cornwall, England.
After returning to the United States, "we had a 6-month-old baby and no money […] so I opened the pottery studio with my family in Kensington, California, which is just north of Berkeley," he said.
They stayed there until 1981. "I wasn't in love with California and our place came up for sale - I couldn't afford it," he says. "We just decided to move back East. And we ended up in Vermont."
The object-ive of the exhibit
Ahrenholz still makes and sells hand-thrown pots, bowls, and other functional household pottery, but for the past 25 years, he has also expressed his vision as an artist in a prolific body of sculpture and fine art.
He explains that he finds inspiration in the need to ask questions.
"I construct objects," Ahrenholz says. "It is a process of arranging materials and the inquiry into the elements of a visual vocabulary."
He creates his pieces with a range of materials, from paint on canvas to sculptures of wood, iron, bronze, straw, wire, fabric, newspaper, and found objects. One mixed-media sculpture featured on his portfolio includes nine whisk brooms.
By themselves, the materials "are of no iconic significance," he says. Rather, "I'm questioning properties of line, mass, density, texture, color, and the way light is reflected and absorbed."
Ahrenholz emphasizes the importance of asking questions throughout this process.
"What are the visual, tactile elements involved? What exists in perception beyond literal meaning? What is the essence of iconic versus symbolic form?" he asks.
He calls the results the "artifacts of this inquiry."
"The questioning is all important to me," he says. "And one thing builds on another, which expands hopefully my visual vocabulary."
Ahrenholz has advice for aspiring artists.
"Just ask questions," he says. "Follow your needs."
The artist, who will also exhibit his work from October to December at the C.X. Silver Gallery in West Brattleboro, calls it "a real mistake for people to be involved with expressing themselves or trying to come up with a creative process that gives a product."
"I'm not interested in product, I'm interested in process," said Ahrenholz.
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Ahren Ahrenholz's "Objects" exhibit will run from Saturday, May 4, to Friday, May 31, at the Crowell Art Gallery at the Moore Free Library, 23 West St. The private library is supported by the residents of Newfane. Admission is free. A reception will be held Saturday, May 4, 1 to 3 p.m. Hours for the library and gallery: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 1 to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 1 to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Information: moorefreelibrary.org/crowell-gallery/.
This Arts item by Alyssa Grosso was written for The Commons.