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Aaron Faber Gallery presents a selection of works from our changing exhibitions and shows throughout the year. This is a virtual room, devoted to showing works of jewelry art to share the constantly changing and inspiring works being made by contemporary studio artists.
CURRENT SPOTLIGHT: TWO GENERATIONS: The Work of Earl and Tod Pardon
“Two Generations: The Work of Earl and Tod Pardon” looks at the complex artistic relationship of two generations, the diversity and similarities, the influences that flow from father to son, and from son to father. Toni Greenbaum notes “Father and son Earl Pardon and Tod Pardon share the titles of artist, craftsman, painter, jeweler, originator, and thinker. In some instances they’re alike; yet each is remarkable singularly, and their oeuvres are inevitably interconnected.” This special exhibition which opened at SOFA Chicago presents the work of both artists, with modernist work by Earl Pardon dating from 1951 to 1991, and Tod Pardon’s work from 1992 to the present. Tod Pardon will be present at the December 1 reception at Aaron Faber Gallery.
Earl Pardon (1926-1991) was an extraordinarily inventive jewelry artist whose explorations of color, form, pattern and texture in precious metal have set a standard in the United States for contemporary art jewelry. The artist’s delight in his materials – sterling silver, enamel, gold and gemstones – led him to create an unparalleled collection of art jewelry for over thirty-five years. Pardon’s jewelry is comprised of many series of works, dating from the 1950’s to the 1990’s.
Toni Greenbaum notes in her essay ‘Crisscross: Jewelry by Earl Pardon and Tod Pardon’ that “Earl worked concurrently on painting, sculpture, and jewelry…he fabricated relief sculptures inspired by his acknowledged mentor, Harry Bertoia. One may also detect the influence of Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso in Earl’s formal structuring, along with the caprice of Paul Klee and kinetics of George Rickey.”
Earl Pardon received a BFA in painting from the Memphis Academy of art and an MFA, also in painting from Syracuse University. His work is in many private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Arts & Design, the Renwick Gallery, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Yale University Gallery.
Tod Pardon (1952 - ) creates jewelry that reflects the myriad intellectual and visual influences for the artist of the twenty-first century. His anthropomorphic brooches and sculpture are strongly influenced by African sculpture, imagery and color; by contemporary pop culture, including video, music and computer graphics; by the influences of Modernism and Surrealism; and directly or indirectly by the artistic career of his father, Earl Pardon.
Tod’s brooches are fabricated in sterling silver and then inlaid with a variety of materials, including glass resin, exotic woods and gemstones. A wooden stand accompanies each brooch so that it may function as a sculpture in situ when not being worn. Each one is individually numbered and titled. Pardon sometimes includes earrings or rings in his oeuvre, but most of the works are one-of-a-kind sculpture/brooches.
Toni Greenbaum notes that “Tod’s work is more intuitive than his father’s, and almost exclusively figural…in lieu of the non-objective, one finds expression and profound emotion…His anthropomorphic agents combine the formal simplicity of the Colima figures he admired in his parents’ art collection, with the colors, patterns, and pageantry of the Samburu people of Kenya and Balinese Barong dances, especially that of Rangda, Queen of the Leyaks, the cannibalistic mistress of black magic.”
Tod Pardon received a BFA from Alfred University and an MFA from Syracuse University. His work is in many private collections and the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery; the Museum of Art & Design; the Arkansas Arts Center; the Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York; and the Samuel Dorskey Museum of Art, New Paltz, New York.
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