Ehrlich Steinberg is pleased to present a selection of new and recent moss agate works by Los Angeles-based artist Joel Otterson for Post Fair 2026. The series centers on the naturally occurring stone, moss agate, whose mineral formations resemble landscape imagery historically associated with nineteenth-century Romantic painting. Housed in ornate silver, copper, and bronze frames handmade by the artist, the works draw upon Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, early Modern, and Folk Art aesthetic traditions. For the series, Otterson employs ancient and specialized metalsmithing techniques including repoussé, chasing, granulation, and mixed-metal fabrication. Recent examples incorporate hinges, ornate hanging mechanisms, and a fragment from a sixteenth-century Tudor artifact.

The presentation coincides with the historic survey exhibition Nature Morte, 1982–1988 taking place at Ehrlich Steinberg from February 24 - April 18 2026, where Otterson’s 1986 sculpture Euro-Chic is currently on view.

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For the past forty years, Joel Otterson has made artworks which combine aspects of domestic handicraft with traditional sculptural materials. Using copper pipe, bronze, wood, pottery, porcelain, china, earthenware, concrete, stained glass and lacemaking, the artist employs varied techniques such as sewing, quilting, casting and welding in combination, continuously reevaluating and transforming supposed artistic hierarchies. Through this endeavor, Otterson explores various cultural, art historic and political phenomena such as aesthetics, the sublime, Rock- N-Roll, Baseball, the domestic, and the inherited and invented legacies of American art.

Joel Otterson received his BFA from Parsons School of Design, New York in 1982. Previous exhibitions include The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (PROJECT series, 1987); the Venice Biennale (1993); the Hammer Museum (Made in L.A., 2012) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (Whitney Biennial, 2014). Otterson’s work is included in numerous permanent collections such as Cincinnati Art Museum, the Hammer Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.


Installation view. Joel Otterson at Post-Fair 2026 with Ehrlich Steinberg. Photo: Moe Wakai.


Joel Otterson, Precipice of Awe, 2025. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 4 x 3.5 x 3.25 in. (10.2 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, Rite of Spring, 2026. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 4.75 x 3.75 x 2.25 in. (12.1 x 9.5 x 5.7 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, The Search for God, 2026. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 3.5 x 4.75 x 3.25 in. (8.9 x 12.1 x 8.3 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, Forever and Forever, 2026. Sterling silver, bronze, moss agate, chrysoprase, sixteenth-century Tudor artifact, 3 x 4.25 x 2.75 in. (7.6 x 10.8 x 7 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, ....on the beach or in the dunes...., 2026. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 3.25 x 4.5 x 2 in. (8.3 x 11.4 x 5.1 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, Thicket in a Glade, 2025. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 6.75 x 4.75 x 3.25 in. (17.1 x 12.1 x 8.3 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, Pretty Rock, 2024. Sterling silver, bronze, moss agate, 1.75 x 1.75 x 2 in. (4.5 x 4.5 x 5.1 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.


Joel Otterson, Beneath the Trees, 2025. Sterling silver, copper, bronze, moss agate, 6.5 x 5.5 x 3.75 in. (16.5 x 14 x 9.5 cm). Photo: Evan Walsh.