Richard Jolley was born in Wichita, Kansas 1952 then moved in his youth to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1970, the artist began his studies at Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee,studying glass under Michael Taylor. Taylor was then invited to create his next program at George Peabody College in Nashville (now a part of Vanderbilt University) where Jolley later completed his B.F.A. In the fall of that year, Jolley further polished his technique at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina under the instruction of Richard Ritter. Jolley continues this teaching tradition by frequently returning to Penland and through unique programs designed to involve at-risk students in the Knoxville community with professional working artists.
Building and maintaining a glass studio in Knoxville since 1975, Richard Jolley has participated in over 65 solo museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the country as well as Europe and Japan. Early in his career, Jolley had been included in some of the most important glass exhibitions at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporro, Japan, and the International Exhibition Glass in Kanazawa, Japan, as well as Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey and Laumier Sculpture Park in Missouri. Over the next decade the artist continued to be included in important museum exhibitions surveying contemporary glass and sculpture such as the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Carnegie Museum of Art and most recently in the Wornick Collection exhibited at the Museum of Fine Art, Boston.
After numerous solo exhibitions Mark R. Leach of the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, organized the first cohesive exhibition of Jolley’s mature glass sculpture works in 1997. Then in 2002Richard Guber, then Director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Stephen Wicks,Curator of the Knoxville Museum of Art, organized the artist’s first major retrospective exhibition that traveled to 14 museums in the US over five years. Richard Jolley’s extensive body of work along with the glass work of Tommie Rush, his wife, will be re-examined by the Mobile Museum of Art in April of 2011.
Since 1973, the artists’ work has been extensively collected both privately and by public institutions. Found in over 33 public collections, notable establishments including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass, Knoxville Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC and the Frederick Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles.
Richard Jolley has additionally been honored for his art through a variety of awards, commissions, and invitational workshops in Tennessee and abroad. In 2007 Jolley was the youngest visual artist to ever receive the Tennessee “Governor’s Distinguished Artist Award” and acknowledged with the 2010 “Individual for Outstanding Accomplishment in the Field” by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. In 1998, the Tennessee Arts Commission selected the artist to participate in a Tennessee/ Israeli Cultural Artist Exchange, and in 2009 started exhibiting his work at the Litvak Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel. Then in 2011 the artist was invited to complete a new series of art at the Berengo Studio, Murano, Italy, and will exhibit the work at Venice Project, Venice, Italy, in May of 2011.
Richard Jolley has received several private and public commissions including “Absolut Statehood: Tennessee” 1993 national ad campaign for Absolut Vodka followed by the creation of a custom martini glass for Bombay Sapphire Gin international ad campaign.
Current prominent sculpture commissions include “Everything and the Cosmos” (2007)installed in the Seven World Trade Center, New York City and the forthcoming largest glass installation at the Knoxville Museum of Art to be completed in 2013
Born November 21, 1952, Wichita, KS
Lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee
EDUCATION
1974 Graduate Studies, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
B.F.A. George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, TN
1970-73 Undergraduate Studies, Tusculum College, Greenville, TN
AWARDS AND GRANTS
1998 Governor’s Award in the Arts, Distinguished Artist Award
1988 Tennessee Individual Artist Grant
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007
Mitchell Art Gallery of St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
Leo Kaplan Modern Gallery, New York, New York
2006
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama
Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, Michigan
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Alabama
2005
Paine Art Center and Gardens, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Simmons Visual Art Center, Brenau University, Gainesville, Georgia
Leo Kaplan Modern Gallery, New York, New York
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
2004
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA (Traveling exhibition organized by Knoxville Museum of Art) (catalogue)
2003
Tennessee State Museum, Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, Nashville, Tennessee
2002
Leo Kaplan Modern, New York, NY
Knoxville Museum of Art, Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, Knoxville, Tennessee; Traveling (Catalogue)
2001
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1998
Habatat Galleries, Chicago, IL
Leo Kaplan Modern, New York, NY
Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
1998
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
1998
Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
1998
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Sanske Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
1995
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Maureen Littleton Gallery, Washington DC
1994
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Gall Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN
Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1993
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1992
Arthur Roger Gallery, New York, NY
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Ga
1991 Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1990
Sandra Ainsley Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
1989
Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1988
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Zimmerman/Saturn Gallery, Nashville, TN
1987
Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Fine Arts Museum of the South, Mobile, AL
Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
Galerie Angela Hollings, Hameln, West Germany
1985
Narrative Imagery, Portfolio Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1982
Alliance Museum Shop, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
1979
Spring Street Enamel Gallery, Soho, NY
1976
Alpha Gallery, Knoxville, TN
1974
Centennial Art Center, Nashville, TN
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010
Speak for the Trees, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA and Sun Valley, ID
2007
Habatat Galleries 34th International Glass Exhibition, Boca Raton, Florida and Royal Oak, Michigan
2006
International Shoebox Sculpture Triennial, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii [Catalogue, traveling thru 2008]
2003
Art of Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Tennessee
2002
Contemporary Directions, The Maxine and William Block Collection, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
2001
The Best of Tennessee, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN (catalogue)
Passionate Collectors, Gallery of Art and Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (catalogue)
The 29th Annual International Glass Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Pontiac, MI (catalogue)
2000
Contemporary Works from the Palley Collection, Low Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami, FL (catalogue)
Millennium Glass: An International Survey of Studio Glass, Kentucky Art and Craft Gallery, Louisville,KY; Traveling (catalogue)
1999
XX/MM, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Inaugural Group Exhibition, Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
Glass Glorious Glass, Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
International Glass Masters Invitational, A.N. Bush Gallery, Salem, OR (catalogue)
1998
Venezia Aperto Vetro 1998, Murano-Venezia, Italy
1999
Hsinchu Cultural Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Glass Today by American Studio Artists, Boston Museum of Fine Art, MA
Masters of Contemporary Glass: Selections from the Glick Collection, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
The 25th Annual International Invitational, Habatat Gallery, Pontiac, Michigan
1998
Figurative Sculpture, Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO
The 24th Annual International Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Pontiac, Michigan
East Tennessee Art Currents, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Glass, A Regional Survey: From Maryland to Louisiana, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
A Touch of Glass, Explorers Hall, National Geographic Society Museum, Washington DC
Dancing in a Sea of Light, Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, Virginia Beach, VA
1994
The Figure, Grounds for Sculpture, Johnson Atelier, Mercerville, NJ
Landscape, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
The Aesthetics of Athletics, Charles A. Wursturn Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI (catalogue)
Dancing in a Garden of Light, Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, North Carolina; Traveled (Catalogue)
A Passionate Perspective, The Spiezer Collection of Art, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois (Catalogue)
1993
Spirit House, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
Figurative Sculpture, Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1992
Hokin Kaufman Gallery, Chicago, IL
The International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa ’92, Kanazawa, Japan (catalogue)
Glass Now ’92, Tokyo, Japan (catalogue)
1998
Fishman Collection, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Museum, Milwaukee, WI (catalogue)
Chicago International Art Exposition, represented by Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
Stockholm International Art Exposition, represented by Nielsen Gallery, Malmö, Sweden
Los Angeles International Art Exposition, represented by Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
1989
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Joan Robey Gallery, Denver, CO
Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI
Glass Now ’89, Tokyo, Japan (catalogue)
1988
World Glass Now ’88, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan, traveling exhibition (catalogue)
Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI
Erlesenes Kunst Museum, Bad Pyrmont, West Germany
1998
Glass ’87 in Japan: Quest for New Creation, Odakyu Grand Gallery, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (catalogue)
Glass America ’87, Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Liquid Light, Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc., Winston-Salem, NC
1998
Glass and Wood Invitational, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Special Editions, The Associates of the American Crafts Museum, American Crafts Museum, New York, NY
Art and Function, Public Art Trust, Washington, DC
New American Glass Focus 2 West Virginia, Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV (catalogue)
1985
Exhibition 280, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
Glass America ’85, Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Southern Studio Glass: New Directions, Kingsport Fine Arts Center, Kingsport, TN (traveling exhibition)
The Figure in Glass, Snyderman Gallery, Philadelphia Glass America ’84, Heller Gallery, New York, NY
1984
Earth, Wind and Fire, Contemporary Glass Works, The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT
Gather of Glass, Mindscape Gallery, Chicago, IL
Glass America ‘84, Heller Gallery, New York, New York
1983
Rebirth of a Medium, The Gallery of the University of Texas, San Antonio, TX
Five Approaches to Glass, Kurland/Summers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Group Show, Perception Gallery, Houston, TX
1981
The Early Eighties Exhibition, Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN (catalogue)
American Crafts ’81, League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH (catalogue)
1980
For the Tabletop, American Crafts Museum, New York
New Glass Review 1, Corning Museum of Glass, New York, NY
The Elements, New York, NY
Rare Color/Surface Design, The Hand and The Spirit Crafts Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1979
13 State Exhibition, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN
1978
Seventh Annual National Glass Exhibition, Habatat Galleries, Dearborn, Michigan
1976
Exhibition 280, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia (Catalogue)
1975
Mississippi River Show, Brooks Memorial Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
Glass Gems International, Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tennessee
Middle Tennessee State University Invitational, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro,Tennessee
1974
Fifth Bicentennial Art Show, Memphis, Tennessee
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
2007 “Everything and the Cosmos” World Trade #7, New York, New York
2003 Magic Flute, Stage Set for Opera, Knoxville, Tennessee
2002 “Bud” Knoxville Convention Center Knoxville, Tennessee
1996 Aviary, Park Grill Restaurant, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Bombay Sapphire, Carillion Importers Ltd., Teaneck, New Jersey
1993 Absolut Statehood: Tennessee, Carillion Importers Ltd., Teaneck, New Jersey, (Book , “Absolut Statehood 51 Painters”)
1992 Atlantic Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
1988 Governor’s Awards, State of Tennessee
James Agee Society Awards, East Tennessee Foundation, Knoxville,Tennessee
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2007 Morgan, Robert, “Richard Jolley at Leo Kaplan Modern”, Review, Glass Magazine
2006 Rosenwasser,Ruth “Master of Glass: Richard Jolley’s Fragile Creations”, Key Biscayne Magazine
2004 Ruhling, Nancy A. “Glass Acts”, Arts & Antiques
2004 Mack, Tom Dr. “Morris Museum Highlights work of noted glass sculptor”, Aiken Standard Aiken, South Carolina
2003 Bougard, Jenni. Artist Profile, Vanderbilt Magazine
2003 Knowles, Susan W. Review, Arts Papers
2003 Bostick, Alan. “Head of the Glass,” The Tennessean
2003 Squires, William T. “Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass,” Tennessean Homes and Gardens
2002 Mansfield, Duncan. “Poetry Under Glass,” Associated Press
2001 Angel, Donna. “Richard Jolley,” Opulence
2001 Waggoner, Shawn. “Mysteries of Human Experience,” Glass Art
2001 Leir, Peters, Wallace. Contemporary Glass, Color, Light and Form
2000 Yelle, Richard W. Contemporary Art from Urban Glass
1997 Byrd, Joan Falcomer. “Richard Jolley: Reflection of a Classical Ideal,” American Craft
1997 Rodgers, Joan S. “Figuring It Out,” Winston-Salem Journal
1996 Layton, Peter. Glass Art, Publisher A & C Black LTD., London, University of Washington Press, USA
1995 Knapp, Rebecca. “November Looks Awash in Color,” Art & Antiques
1995 Purcell, Janet. “Grounds a Winter Wanderland,” Trenton Times
1995 Barrett, Chris. “Bearable Lightness,” Metro Pulse
1994 Wibking, Angela. “Art Under Glass,” Nashville Business Journal
1994 Knowles, Susan W. “Works by Richard Jolley,” Nashville Scene
1992 Leonard, Pamela Blume. “Artist Manages to Elevate Ordinary,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1992 Simak, Ellen. “Collection Focus: Richard Jolley,” Hunter Museum of American Art publication, Chattanooga, Tennessee
1992 Parker, Lin C. “Museum Talk at Hunter,” Chattanooga News Free Press
1988 Shea, Al. “Proscenium,” Gambit
1988 Green, Roger. “Arthur Roger has a Birthday,” The Times Picayune
1987 Siegal, Roslyn. “Art of Glass Explored,” The New York Times
1987 Del Sisto, Cristina. “A Modern Twist,” The Washington Post
SELECTED ESSAYS
2005 Gochenour,Anne, Richard Jolley Glass Sculptor, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas
2003 Hunter, Sam, Richard Jolley: Transformations, Published by Skira, Milan, Italy
2002-2004 Nichols, Sarah and Taragin, Davira S., Contemporary Directions, Glass from the Maxine and William Block Collection, Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
2002 Morgan, Robert C., Richard Jolley: Dream Narratives, Diversions, Anatomies Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
2002 Gruber, J. Richard, Richard Jolley: A Critical Balance, Richard Jolley: Sculptor of Glass, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
1997 Lynn, Martha Drexler, Masters of Contemporary Glass: Selections from the Glick Collection, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
1997 Leach, Mark R., ArtCurrents 22: Richard Jolley, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
1994 Knowles, Susan W., Richard Jolley: Sensual Articulator, Richard Jolley, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
1994 Pepich, Bruce W., The Aesthetics of Athletics, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, Wisconsin
1990 Hayes, Jeffrey, The Collection of Janet and Marvin Fishman, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Art Museum
1989 Lynn, Martha Drexler, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Richard Jolley: A Rural Sophisticate, Richard Jolley, Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1987 Pintauro, Joe, Richard Jolley: Recent Glass Sculpture, Maurine Littleton Gallery, Washington, DC
1986 Hollister, Paul, New American Glass, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Asheville Museum of Art, Asheville, North Carolina
Atlantic Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
Baton Rouge Art and Humanities Council, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Carillon Importers Ltd., Teaneck, New Jersey
Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia
Coburg Museum, Coburg, Germany
Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan
Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
International Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee
Künstmuseum, Düsseldorf, Germany
Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles, California
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, Florida
Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, North Carolina
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama
Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design, New York, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts
North Carolina State University Museum of Art and Design, Raleigh, North Carolina
Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, Tennessee
The Dayton Art institute in Dayton,OH
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
University Hospital of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
Frederick Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, California
