Strict Utility Gives Meaning to Pottery by Joe Pintz

Joe Pintz bases both his functional pots and his sculptural objects on everyday, hands-on usable items. This translates into his pottery by way of extremely simple forms that border on mundane and even boring. However, something about these shapes is comforting and warm, willing you to pick them up and put them to use like the tools they are. Pintz’s pots appear ready to serve you, work for you, and create an emotional connection with you. His pots have thick walls, generous rims and handles, and slightly distressed surfaces, which seem to infuse them with sentimentality before they have even come to live in your cupboards. The color palette Pintz uses is both delightful in it’s pastel brightness and reminds you of 1950’s colored kitchen appliances.

His pieces are handbuilt in the most simple way possible, often in a reductive way to emulate wood or stone work. Pintz uses clay from a brick manufacturer, Endicott Clay Products in Fairbury, Nebraska, which adds another level of charm to his utilitarian concepts.

Pintz explains his pots, “The stubborn physicality of my pots forces one to slow down and pay close attention to the meal, the moment, and the company around the table.”

Pintz earned his BA in anthropology and urban studies at Northwestern University and his MFA in ceramics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been a resident artist at both the Archie Bray Foundation and the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program in Roswell, New Mexico. Pintz received the NCECA Emerging Artist Award and the Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. He now works as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri.