Johnny Poux
Upcoming Shows
Concrete On Main Street
Modern Design Exhibit & Rosendale Retrospective
Saturday, May 16th @ 3 PM -- Willow Kiln Park, Rosendale, NY
*Funded by a grant from the Ulster County Cultural Services and Promotion Fund
Rosendale, a picturesque town in the Hudson Valley, is here because of what is beneath it. In 1825, the discovery of Natural Cements made Rosendale, NY famous and for a century Rosendale mined, cooked and sold its cement at a furious pace to a growing country that was ravenously expanding.
Rosendale Cements became world renowned and used in the construction of some of the most enduring landmarks of the nation: The Brooklyn Bridge, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the wings of the U.S. Capitol, the lower 152' of the Washington Monument, the Croton Aqueduct and dams, the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels, the New York State Thruway, and thousands of other public works projects. By the early 20th Century, Rosendale Cement was replaced by Portland Cement. The canal that ran though town transporting coal and cement closed, and Rosendale's economy slowed.
On Saturday May 16th, 2009 @ 3 pm, Rosendale resident and modern designer, Johnny Poux, will use the material that made Rosendale famous in uncommon ways in the exhibit, Concrete on Main Street. While concrete exudes the ancient quality of stone it also references this town's history and the industrial flavor of modernism, making it a fitting material for this show. Poux will design and fabricate sizable cast concrete primitive shapes and forms, totems and pillars, which will be installed into Rosendale's Willow Kiln Park amidst a backdrop of old cement kilns.
The industrial archaeology of Rosendale is everywhere. Giant stone and brick cement kilns haunt the hillsides and abandoned quarries as they slowly degenerate. In town, the abandoned train trestle is a prominent presence, looming approximately one hundred feet above the Rondout Creek, which runs parallel to Main Street. The architectural relics that hover in this town are reminders of diligent people, steamrolled by an economic boom and bust. They were not heroes, just citizens surviving. This project will create a monument of sorts for this town with a past, a present, and a future, and its ordinary hardworking people.
A graduate of Pratt Institute (PI) Johnny Poux began his relationship to modern design and, in particular, concrete in 1985 when he attended PI as an Industrial Design student. As a modern designer he was part of the early movement to use concrete in the design and fabrication of tables, pedestals, counters and seating.
Currently, the designer and sole proprietor of johnny poux design, Poux has worked in the design field creating modern furniture, interiors and lighting for industry as well as innumerable custom pieces for private clients. Prior to this, he was the head restoration carpenter and designer for Ashwood Restoration in Tarrytown, New York, where he restored many historical landmark buildings in Westchester County, New Jersey and Connecticut.
In 1999 Poux launched his first furniture line at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City, when the Chicago Tribune said:
"The real showstoppers came from a young upstart named Johnny Poux. The 33-year-old New York designer, who worked as a carpenter specializing in historical restoration for the last 10 years, introduced a line of small tables and seating pieces along with a look he calls "21st Century primitive with flavorings of Modernism."
Since this time, johnny poux design has been featured in the New York Times Home Section, the Wall Street Journal, Paper Magazine, Journal News, Home Style, Interior Design, Upstate House, and Trendsetter Magazine in London. Twelve years later, his designs are characterized by subtle curves and volume that have grace, balance and soul.
Over the years Johnny's many custom design clients have included notables like, Ann Klein, Boris Klapwald (Westchester, NY), David Ripp Interior Design, (NYC), Dick Clark Architecture, (Austin, Texas), Tricomi Salon, (NYC), and Citrus Restaurant, (NYC), where he created their cast concrete bar tops.
In 2008, Poux reinterpreted the uses of concrete when he produced the three-dimensional public exhibit and retrospective, Concrete on Main Street. Funded by the Ulster County Cultural Services and Promotion Fund, the exhibit included Poux’s sizable cast concrete primitive shapes and forms, totems, pillars, and furniture which were installed into Rosendale’s Willow Kiln Park amidst a backdrop of old cement kilns. The exhibit’s sculptural elements juxtaposed minimal modern form and Rosendale, NY’s industrial roots. Poux’s kinetic concrete sculpture, “The Machine”, was invited to be exhibited at the Unison Arts’ 11th Annual Invitational Sculpture Exhibit.
A member of Hudson Valley Furniture Makers, Poux will exhibit some of his new furniture line at the annual HVFM Exhibition over Columbus Day Weekend, 2009.