Joshua Enck - Society of North American Goldsmiths

Faceted Landscape Series #9 by Joshua Enck

Abutment Clad and Hewn Tell by Joshua Enck

I create animated abstractions, lyrical yet succinct forms that surprise viewers with complex geometries and jaunty stances. My sculptures capture the tension between the spontaneity of the imagination and the restraint of meticulous craftsmanship. For me, sculpture is problem-solving: engagement with the material world and the resistance and affordances it provides. I enter the studio with sketches but no preconceived solutions; rather, I embrace the unforeseen possibilities that arise when building by hand. My sculptures thus embrace a raw, awkward sensibility that emerges through their making. I complement my intuitive form-making process with great attention to detail. I employ labor-intensive metal fabrication and woodworking techniques to realize challenging compound-complex curves, angular geometries, and the intersection of disparate volumes. I continually experiment with materials and techniques to express new possibilities, creating an eclectic oeuvre united by my engagement with formal abstraction.

Joshua Enck is a sculptor, designer, draftsman, and illustrator who teaches and maintains an active studio practice in Rochester, New York. He trained as an architect and a furniture designer, receiving his MFA in furniture design from the Rhode Island School of Design and his BSAS from the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois. He taught for ten years at RISD: drawing, three-dimensional design, technical drawing, woodworking, and metalworking. He has also taught woodworking at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, sculpture at Williams College, and drawing at the University of Illinois and the University of Rochester. Joshua has exhibited his artwork in solo shows at Simon Gallery and at the University of Maine Museum of Art. His work is currently represented by Space Gallery in Denver, Colorado and Jeff Soderbergh Gallery in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. He has been invited to participate as a woodworking and metalworking artist in the Emma International Collaboration and the Echo Lake Collaboration. The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, and the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia have honored his work. Joshua recently spent five months in India as a Fulbright Nehru Scholar, researching traditional metalsmithing and teaching at the Sushant School of Design.

Education

2003 MFA, Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design (with honors)

1999 BSAS, Architecture, University of Illinois (with honors)

1997-1998, Study Abroad Program, l’Ecolé d’Architecture, Versailles, France

Professional Experience

2003-present Independent Studio Artist, Sculpture and Furniture (woodworking and metalworking)

2016-present University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Lecturer, Department of Art and Art History

Introductory Drawing, Creating Architecture

2005-2014 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Adjunct Faculty, Department of Furniture Design & Division of Foundation Studies

Spatial Dynamics (3D Design), Drawing, 3D Drawing & Design, 2D Drawing & Design, Metalworking for Furniture Makers, Woodworking Dialogues in Sculpture and Furniture

2013-2014 Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Instructor, Department of Art

Three Dimensional Foundations and Cardboard Sculpture & Furniture

2005-2013 University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Versailles, France

Instructor, Five plein-aire drawing courses in Italy & Greece

2003-2005 Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO

Woodshop Manager, Teaching Assistant, and Instructor

(2020) Instructor: Constructed Vessels

Awards, Grants, and Fellowships

2020 Open Studio Residency, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME

2019 Windgate ITE International Residency, Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA

2018 Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, Delhi, India

2014 RISD Part Time Faculty Association Technical Development Fund Award

2013 RISD Part Time Faculty Association Technical Development Fund Award

2012 Professional Development Grant, RISD

2012 New England Art Awards, People’s Choice Sculpture Award

2011 Fellowship in Three Dimensional Art, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA)

2010 Merit Fellowship in Crafts, RISCA

2009 RISD Part Time Faculty Association Technical Development Fund Award

2007 Merit Fellowship in Crafts, RISCA

2006 Excellence in Craft Artist Fellowship, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA

2006 Professional Development Fund Award, RISD, Providence, RI

2003 Award of Excellence, Department of Furniture Design, Providence, RI

Solo Exhibitions

2016 Line Work/A Celebration of Shadows, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ

2014 New Sculptures, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ

2012 Joshua Enck, Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ

2011 The Gesture Contained, University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, ME

2010 Oblique Vantage: Recent Work by Joshua Enck, AS220 Project Space, Providence, RI

2003 New Ideas Generated from the Sketch, M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, RISD, Providence, RI

Two- and Three-Person Exhibitions

2020 Joshua Enck & Duncan Johnson, Jeff Soderbergh Gallery, Middletown, RI

2012 Reconsidering, three-person exhibition at Green Space, T.F. Green Airport, Providence, RI

Curators: Sarah Ganz Blythe (RISD Museum of Art), Amy Horschak (The Museum of Modern Art)

2012 Contour: Reflections on Form, two-person exhibition, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA

2009 Joshua Enck & Gretchen Dow Simpson, two-person exhibition, Chazan Gallery, Providence, RI

2008 Interpreting the Vernacular Landscape, three-person exhibition, Bruce Gallery, Edinboro University, PA

Group Exhibitions

2020 Smithsonian Craft and Design Show, Washington D.C.

2019 allTURNatives: Form + Spirit, Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA

2019 Beyond the Framework, Space Gallery, Denver, CO

2019 Architectural Digest Design Show, New York City, NY

2019 Faculty Exhibition, Harnett Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

2019, 2018 & 2017 Group Exhibition of Represented Artists, Jeff Soderbergh Gallery, Wellfleet, MA

2015, 13, 11, 09, 05 Faculty Biennial, RISD Museum of Art, Providence, RI

2015 Art Prize, Grand Rapids, MI

2014 A Show About Nothing, Saskatchewan Craft Council, Saskatoon, Canada (Curator: Michael Hosaluk)

2012 Small Works, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA

2012 Bigger | Glorious Objects, Jamestown Art Center, Jamestown RI, (Curator: Jesse Smith)

2011 & 10 Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship Exhibition, Westerly & Warren, RI

2011 Cairn Croft Sculpture Exhibition, Cairn Croft Sculpture Garden, Dover, MA

2009 Full Circle, Marwen Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007 New/Now: 10 Makers for the New Millennium, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

2007 RISD Routes, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA (Curator: David Revere McFadden)

2006 Excellence in Craft Artist Fellowship Exhibition, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA

Gallery Representation

Space Gallery, Denver, CO (2019 - present)

Jeff Soderbergh Gallery, Wellfleet, MA (2017 - present)

Simon Gallery, Morristown, NJ (2012 - 2017)

Collections and Commissions

2020 Extempore #15, Private Collection, Washington D.C.

2019 Continuous Line #3, The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia

2019 Dash, Private Collection, Massachusetts

2019 Subduction, Private Collection, Denver

2019 Extempore #8, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21 25, 29, Private Collections, Pennsylvania

2018 Turret, Private Collection, Massachusetts

2016 Piroutte, University of Maine Museum of Art, Maine

2016 Syncline, Private Collection, New Jersey

2015 Trace, Clasp, and Octet Aeration, Private Collection, Maine

2014 Aground and Mary Anne, Private Corporate Collection, New Jersey

2014 Aquamanile, Blue Bird, and Dollop, Private Collections, Michigan

2013 Counterpoise, Private Collection, Michigan

2012 Filament, Lineament and Riven Draft, Auerbach Family Collection, New York City

2012 Optic Splitter, Private Collection, New Jersey

2011 Oxide Shoal, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, sculpture auction, Massachusetts

2010 Cravat, Barnaby Evans and Irene Lawrence, Rhode Island

2009 Wedding Bench, Fidelity Investments, Rhode Island

2008 Canter and Shed, First Prize, Public Sculpture Competition with Nick Hollibaugh, Rhode Island

2007 Weathering Steel Public Bench Commission, Town of Westport, Massachusetts

2006 Dorsal Clad, Flatiron Sheath, and Cairn Poise, Private Collections, Massachusetts

2004 Petticoat Inclusion and Clerestory Askew, Dee and Charles Wyly, Colorado

2004 Chimney Red, Oilcan Snuffer, and Headhouse Vantage, Beverly and Sam Maloof, California

Visiting Artist

2020 Visiting Artist Lecturer, RIT, Rochester, NY

2020 Echo Lake Artist Collaboration, Bucks County Community College, Pennsylvania

2018 Emma International Artist Collaboration, Saskatchewan, Canada

2014 Visiting Artist Lecturer, VCU, Richmond, VA

2014 Emma International Artist Collaboration, Saskatchewan, Canada

2010 Visiting Artist Critic, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI

2010 Visiting Artist Lecturer, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME

Publications and Press Reviews

2020 “Jewelry and Metals Survey 2019,” Society of North American Goldsmiths

2019 “Joshua Enck Abstract Sculptor,” WXXI Arts in Focus

2019 “Sculpting in Metal & Wood: Inside the Studio with Joshua Enck,” Woven Tale Press, Jennifer Nelson

2019 “Inspired by India’s Artisans,” RISD.edu, Simone Solondz

2019 “Fulbright in India,” RISD XYZ, Spring/Summer 2019 issue

2018 “Art and Life with Joshua Enck,” Boston Voyager Magazine

2013 “The 2013 RISD Faculty Biennial, A Wondrous Window,” The Phoenix, Greg Cook

2011 “UMMA Brings RI Sculptor’s Large-scale Work to Bangor,” Bangor Daily News, Aislinn Sarnacki