Art and Artists in the Garden 2: Jerry Kott
But it's been an interesting block. The journey began with designs for small things - perfume bottles and jewelry which were written up in periodicals such as Vogue (American and French) and The New York Times. It progressed to outdoor pieces that are featured in gift shops at he Guggenheim, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and other notable places. And then he scaled up - creating larger works for the home and garden.
As you can imagine, I was a bit nervous in approaching him to talk about garden art - including the tacky stuff. I mean, here we've are talking about concrete gnomes for the past few weeks!
Kott also works in that medium - only he calls it Kottcrete.
Looking through his works - and words - on his web site was also reassuring. The site is dedicated to Saint D' - the patron saint of artists and designers, with this prayer:
"Please grant the people with taste money and the people with money taste."
I knew I was in for an interesting time.
I clicked on the icon labeled "Centerpeace" and what did I see? Something that many of us spend time and effort - not to mention a lot of money - seeking. And here it is, in Jerry Kott's garden. "The Fountain of Youth." Really. (And it's fairly affordable!)
Oh - it's not tacky. Quite the opposite. But it shows a certain tongue in cheek humor that is the real key to using art in the garden. Garden art is to enjoy. Garden art is about self-expression - and beyond.
As Kott says, "That thin line between poor taste and taste can be a challenge for many. Being a trained artist and designer I often find it refreshing to see eccentricity as long as it is genuine. Often I see gardens that are so wrong that they are right. I believe that when you follow your bliss you can't go wrong. After all - who really matters?"
Who indeed but the gardener whose space it is.
Kott's own work is also his bliss. "I do what I love, and love what I do," he says. And what Kott does is sculpture that has its humorous side - but also a much deeper facet. In fact much of his art is also a social commentary on people afflicted with what Kott calls "affluenza" - the disease which causes them to surround themselves with meaningless clutter - which is also the definition many of us might give for yard art that is truly tacky.
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