Jonathan Prince

From a young age Jonathan Prince knew he was an artist. Prince is now known for his monumental steel sculptures, often seen in-situ in public environments and prestigious private collections. But, Prince’s path towards a large-scale practice was a journey of risk, luck and realization.  

When Prince was a teen, he found himself spending weekends in the studio with Jacques Lipschitz where he learned the language of sculpture in bronze and  stone. Just as the mind and hand can impress upon elemental materials to mold new forms, Prince, too, was forever shaped by Saturdays with Jacques. 

But life had other plans for Prince—at least for the first few decades. Prince initially pursued the family trade–maxillofacial surgery –a mismatched fit, with the reaction leading to producing films in Hollywood. Through his time in the movies, Prince was connected to the then-budding digital sphere. Soon he was directing companies into the internet revolution, developing media and digital technologies that have helped to shape our digital world today.

Life was fun and exciting; but Prince knew there had to be something else. That something was art, and Prince could no longer deny the artist inside of him. About twenty years ago, he relented by leaving the corporate carousel for the full-time pursuit of his art practice.  

It’s essential to Prince that his inquiry of monumental sculpture goes beyond just form. Prince's practice is a commitment to scientific study, spiritual exploration, and a profound reverence for the human condition. Prince has developed his own language that arrived from the many thousands of hours he's devoted to fabricating these works at his studio in the Berkshires, Massachusetts.

Prince remains one of the only sculptors to fabricate each piece by hand with his dedicated team in his own studio. He runs his eponymous 20,000 sq. ft. studio from inside an early 20th-century barn in the Berkshires, filled with state of the art, operating machinery allowing Prince to make at the heightened scale that his inquiries demand. His studio is a part of the universe he’s built as Berkshire House, the artistic compound, home and intimate exhibition space for creative collaborations. 

In fractured geometries and material improbabilities, there is balance and resolve—a life-lesson and artistic motivation that inspires Prince everyday.