Ben Medansky Lunch & Lecture: Thursday, February 9, 2017

Join us for Ben Medansky’s presentations on his work. Free with Admission. Feel free to bring your lunch.
Ben Medansky is an orchestrator of controlled chaos, a sculptor of hard edges in naturalistic worlds, a refiner of industrial aesthetics that retain rough and human qualities. Ben Medansky is a ceramicist.
Ben’s desire to make forms was forged by the bright blue skies and soaring mineral formations of his home state of Arizona. It was further informed by his studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he experimented in a variety of mediums from fibers to furniture design, and was especially drawn to the world of ceramics. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Ben worked under a number of prominent artists until, at the age of 24, he began Ben Medansky Ceramics.
The varied environments of Arizona, Chicago and Los Angeles – both natural and manmade – are the foundation to Ben’s creative inspiration. He is especially influenced by Brutalist and Modern architecture and industrial design; specifically by the strong and diverse architecture of downtown LA and it’s seemingly uninterrupted construction. Ben is also drawn to themes and motifs of technology and space exploration and the industrial aesthetics they employ. Much of this work explores variations on radial symmetry and grids while utilizing a limited color palette. It is an appropriation of aesthetics employed by the mechanical world; an experiment in mimicking strong forms out of a fragile material. The output is a meditation on minimalism and mechanics, re-mastered in earthen and eternal material.
Ben Medansky believes in the purity of his process: manipulating extrusions and the timeless performance of wheel-throwing. This practice cultivates a preciousness, one that is to be enjoyed with careless abandon, and a timelessness. Clay becomes cup, clay becomes sculpture and both become the history of the future.
Since starting his own studio, Ben has created exclusive work in collaboration with Herman Miller, the legendary Bergdorf Goodman, and world-renowned designer Kelly Wearstler, as well as creating coveted cups for the LA coffee champions G&B and Go Get Em Tiger. Ben Medansky Ceramics are collected worldwide and include Sculptural Objects, limited run daily wares and Instruments of Peace.