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Joanna Powell

@joannaleepowell

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After a bit of an absurdly long amount of time, I have finally edited the installation images for the exhibition “Crying is Just Wet Laughter” at our Deep Ellum location—3002A Commerce St. Dallas, TX. Find more on our website! And come and see the show! It is up through next Saturday, October 24 and features works by The Art Guys, Stephanie Boone, Steven Charles, Carrie Cook, Joanna Powell, Chris Retsina and James “Son Ford” Thomas.

Gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday 12-5 & by appt :-)

Stay tuned for a Halloween party announcement SOON 🎃💀👻

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JOANNA POWELL ARTIST TALK that took place on September 27 is now available on our website! Thank you @kehalulie for allowing us to use these brilliant images of @joannaleepowell dressed as her alter ego for the current exhibition CRYING IS JUST WET LAUGHTER (on view until October 24).

Excerpt from Joanna:
“This clown character is my alter ego. You can be anything you want when you put on a mask, and you can feel different things or be who you want to be. So I got dressed up, drove to Anaconda, and posed. A lot of it is about grief….within the last 10 years, all of my family has passed besides my siblings.

My dad was a junk collector... he found so many beautiful things. A lot of trench art, you know the bullet casings that were made into vases— that’s the kind of thing I’m interested in: awkward beauty, or beauty comes from something horrible.

My dad also made crown and bridge work, so our basement was just filled with plaster models of people’s teeth. He never threw them away like someone else would. There was just a pile of all of Dallas’ mouths. And we’d go down there and mix up plaster and play with it… and my mom had this balloon business in the basement, too.

We would also just eat as much candy as we could consume while we were down there. It was such a charmed but dysfunctional childhood, I guess. Maybe it’s the dream, but it’s kind of fucked up.”

Read the full talk online!

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I don’t know what the meaning of life is, but it felt like something pretty close to last night- thank you to everyone who participated and attended in our “closing reception” (deception! Ha, it stays open til October 24th now) for the exhibition CRYING JUST WET LAUGHTER!

We had a nice chat with Joanna Powell, a Dallas native in the exhibition who now lives in Montana - our talk will be transcribed and published on the website for all who missed out!
Siobhan Crummey shared her lists and lists and embarrassing and hilarious very life-like moments.
Bill and Basil Baird (father and daughter duo from San Antonio) sang a duet about the wall being built in the Rio Grande, and then we heard Basil’s Bill of Rights and a few poems from her zine that she made when she was 12 (she is now 14) (#7 is never stop loving, #8 is be yourself).
Bill performed a song about leaf blowers as a heavy metal soundtrack to a city, and a song from his new album “Life Creates Itself” which was about Pantheism and a couch having a conversation with a loveseat about bong water stains, etc.
And then Steven Charles gave us some hard-hatted mad-hatted poem after opening with a mumbly Rimbaud.
Jacob, the Deep Vellum bookstore manager, read the chorus of Euripides “Bakkhai” and Tessa from “A Confederacy of Dunces” and all the while @chuckandgeorge emceed.

Lots of love, thanks for being here. And there!

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Good news! CRYING IS JUST WET LAUGHTER has been extended until October 24!
Come for the “closing reception” this Sunday, but fear not if you can’t make it, there will be more time to see the show!

Featuring works by The Art Guys, Stephanie Boone, Steven Charles, Carrie Cook, Joanna Powell, Chris Retsina, and James “Som Ford” Thomas.

Address: 3002A Commerce St. Dallas, TX

Image: Joanna Powell, taken by Keha McIlwaine

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The first image is from Joanna Powell’s studio in Helena, Montana. And the others are of her work “Green Cat” in the current exhibition. Joanna is originally from Dallas and will be joining us this Sunday for the closing reception of “Crying is Just Wet Laughter.”

“I believe humour is integral to the work. I play all the time in my head with misunderstandings of language that I experience on a day-to-day basis, which comes out in the work. I feel humor is just as important as embarrassment in my work. I sometimes feel like I don’t fit anywhere and would just as soon run out into a field until I can’t run anymore. This anxiety, it’s a human feeling that is awkward, strange and funny all at the same time.“
- Joanna Powell, from an interview with Metal Magazine

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Join us this Sunday, September 27 from 5-7pm for a closing reception of CRYING IS JUST WET LAUGHTER
Co-hosted by @deepvellumbooks

Address: 3002A Commerce St. Dallas, TX (above Deep Vellum Books)

Reading (& zine release) by Basil Baird
Performance by @siobhan27_
Artist q&a with @joannaleepowell
Music by @blondebill

Event Emcees @chuckandgeorge

Followed by an OPEN MIC!! Bring something to read or perform that’ll make us laugh or make us cry (or both)!

Light snacks & bevvies to be provided

Flyer made by @blondebill 💕💕

🤡🎪🎡🤹

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On view in the exhibition CRYING IS JUST WET LAUGHTER

JOANNA POWELL
Black Cat, 2025
Earthenware, majolica
12.5 x 5.5 x 4”

3002A Commerce St. Dallas, TX
On view until September 27, 2026
Our regular hours return this week! Thursday - Saturday 12-5pm

Joanna Powell (b.1981, Dallas, TX) received a BFA in ceramics from the University of North Texas (2008) and received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Colorado at Boulder (2012). Powell has exhibited her work throughout the United States including The Archie Bray Foundation, The Clay Studio Philadelphia and Greenwich House Pottery in New York City. From 2013-2015 she was a long term-resident at The Archie Bray Foundation. In 2015, she was named an NCECA Emerging Artist. Powell currently lives and works in Helena, MT.

@joannaleepowell

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“Crying is Just Wet Laughter” @texas_granowski does it again!!!! #texasart #comedyandtragedy #groupshow #theartguyshouston #jamessonfordthomas

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“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to inform the public. They thought it was a jest and applauded. He repeated his warning, they shouted even louder. So I think the world will come to an end amid general applause from all the wits, who believe that it is a joke.” - Søren Kierkegaard, from “The Either” of “Either/Or”

Nature of Things is pleased to announce the upcoming group exhibition “Crying is Just Wet Laughter” which will open on August 29 (1-4pm) at 3002A Commerce St. in Dallas, Texas, featuring works from The Art Guys, Stephanie Boone, Steven Charles, Carrie Cook, Joanna Powell, Chris Retsina, and James “Son Ford” Thomas. This exhibition will explore the dual nature of human experience—at once a comedy and tragedy.

Photo Credit: Joanna Powell, shot and styled by Keha McIlwaine @kehalulie (thank you for letting me use!)

The Art Guys @diddlyaha
Stephanie Boone @sbtv_
Steven Charles @stevencharlesstudio
Carrie Cook @carriecccook
Joanna Powell @joannaleepowell
Chris Retsina @cretsina
James “Son Ford” Thomas #sonfordthomas

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The Bray Bash is one of my favorite Helena traditions and this year’s Bash felt just like the good ol’ days! My first full summer in Helena was spent helping with the 65th anniversary of the Bray and it feels so special to have celebrated the 75th with so many of my first Helena friends and colleagues who successfully convinced me to never leave this town. Cheers to the @archie_bray for another incredible event 🥳🫶🏼

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Another colorful piece in the auction lineup!

Artists: Joanna Powell and Iva Haas
Title: Coco
Dimensions: 12" x 7" x 9"

@joannaleepowell
@ivahaas

Purchase your ticket and register to bid today using the link in our bio! 🔗

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Now, Next, Always: The Bray, 2000-2025; this is about half the show, thank you, artists! Couldn’t have done it without your work!

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