Potter and designer Jonathan Adler’s creative life didn’t unfold in a straight line—it swerved early on and occasionally skidded on Rollerblades.
His mid-century modern-inspired ceramics have enjoyed front-and-center placements in retail stores for more than 30 years. The hands-on ceramist imbues his work with his signature wit, glamour, and an energy that makes each piece infinitely collectible.
Growing up in Bridgeton, Adler discovered this love for the craft at age 12 in summer camp at Appel Farm in Elmer. “It was the most hippie-dippie place on Earth: We slept in converted chicken coops, grew our own vegetables and worked the fields. It felt like a kibbutz,” he says.
Pottery wasn’t a phase. “From the moment I first touched clay, it was on,” Adler says. “I am not a spiritual person, but I felt an immediate connection.” He remembers rushing to the mailbox every month to retrieve his copy of Ceramics Monthly.
Later, while studying at Brown, Adler spent as much time as he could across town at Rhode Island School of Design, immersing himself in the craft. After graduation, a master of fine arts seemed a reasonable next step, but he was met with a startling rejection. “I was told I had no talent and should move to New York City and become a lawyer,” he says. That discouragement became fuel.
He moved to Manhattan and, within three years, was not taking the bar, but rather producing his first ceramics collection. The dedicated potter spent long days in his studio fashioning every mug, every handle, every detail himself. “I would Rollerblade to my studio in the morning, listen to NPR all day, Rollerblade home late at night, and wake up the next day and do it all again,” he says. His exuberance paid off when Barneys department store in New York placed an order. Proof that the retail business was, for Adler, a necessity rather than a motivator, he waited months for payment from that order, finally calling to inquire. “They said, ‘Oh, you’re the guy who didn’t send us an invoice,’” Adler recounts. “To which I replied, ‘What’s an invoice?’”
These days, the entrepreneur has significantly more business acumen. His creative empire includes a store in London and eight others across the United States, including one at American Dream in East Rutherford.
“From the moment I first touched clay, it was on,” Adler says. “I am not a spiritual person, but I felt an immediate connection.” Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Adler
Still deeply hands-on, Adler designs or selects all of the brand’s offerings. The potter/designer no longer makes each piece by hand, which has given him the freedom to successfully expand into furniture, lighting, rugs and accessories. Acquired by a private-equity firm last year, Adler remains at the company’s helm as founder and chief creative officer, with a fount of ideas that seems to never run dry.
When he does need a reset, he turns to nature. One afternoon, paddleboarding near his Shelter Island, NY, home, he says he spotted “the perfect cloud—a cloud’s cloud.” Fast-forward to the studio, and the best-selling Esther Cloud settee was born.
Adler credits his Cumberland County upbringing as a contributor to his success. “I couldn’t be more South Jersey,” the artist says, pointing out he was an hour from Philly, an hour from the beach, and 45 minutes from the nearest highway. “I was isolated and spent my Jersey years stewing and thinking and developing my sensibility, cut off from the rest of the world.”
“The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Photo: Jenna Bascom/Courtesy of Museum of Arts and Design
Adler’s latest venture is as curator of the exhibit “The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, which runs through April 19. “Curating the show was a great opportunity to reflect on my work and to understand my creative odyssey in dialogue with my ceramic heroes,” he says.
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