search  current discussion  categories  history 

ceramic art history questions

updated wed 12 nov 08

 

Lee Love on thu 6 nov 08


On Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 5:29 PM, Laura Boyce wrote:
> Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on ceramics
>since 1950.


Check out the clay work of Isamu Noguchi, student of Brancusi. He
was the most influential American working in clay, in Japan. Look up
Louise Cort's book about him and his impact on Japanese ceramic
sculpture.


--
--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://togeika.multiply.com/journal
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/

"Myth is cultural DNA, the software, the unconscious information, the
program that governs the way we see 'reality.'" --Sam Keen

Paul Lewing on thu 6 nov 08


On Nov 6, 2008, at 3:29 PM, Laura Boyce wrote:

Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do
research on ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and
"abstract expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty
figuring out who else I should be looking at for the presentation I
need to put together for class. Can anyone suggest some other
artists from that era? Any names or book suggestions would be
greatly appreciated!

Laura, it's hard to talk about Voulkos (note the spelling) without
also talking about Rudy Autio. They started out together and were
working together at the Archie Bray Foundation when they started that
whole revolution.
Paul Lewing
www.paullewingtile.com

Laura Boyce on thu 6 nov 08


Hello All=2CI am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on=
ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract expressio=
nist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else I should b=
e looking at for the presentation I need to put together for class. Can an=
yone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book suggestio=
ns would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura=20
_________________________________________________________________
Get 5 GB of storage with Windows Live Hotmail.
http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=3DTXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_5gb_=
112008=

Donna Nicholas on thu 6 nov 08


I think if you spell 'Voulkos' correctly, you will find a lot of
material on him when you do your search.
Good luck.
Donna Nicholas

Loren JOnes on fri 7 nov 08


An excellent source would be American Ceramics The Collection of the Everson Museum of Art. Robert Arneson should definitely be on your list. Have fun!, Loren Jones http://www.lojoclayworks.com




________________________________
From: Laura Boyce
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Sent: Thursday, November 6, 2008 4:29:04 PM
Subject: Ceramic Art History Questions

Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else I should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for class. Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book suggestions would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura
_________________________________________________________________
Get 5 GB of storage with Windows Live Hotmail.
http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_5gb_112008

Snail Scott on fri 7 nov 08


On Nov 6, 2008, at 5:29 PM, Laura Boyce wrote:

> Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research
> on ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract
> expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who
> else I should be looking at...


You said, "ceramics since 1950". That's half a century of work
from the most diverse era of ceramics practice ever! Any trip
to the library or the internet will give you more information
than you can possibly assimilate! Consider focusing your
search a bit.

If you look up Peter Voulkos (note spelling), almost any
reference will direct you to other artists doing related work.
Some eventually drifted from the expressionist mode, while
other did not. Try Jim Leedy, John Mason, Don Reitz, and
others. 'Mainstream' Ab-Ex artists like Helen Frankenthaler
also experimented with clay as a medium.

Ab-Ex ceramics were not the only thing happing 50's and
60's, either. Studio pottery was in the midst of the Leach/
Hamada craze, with a heavy Bauhaus influence on the side,
and a resurgence in interest in indigenous folk pottery
around the world. Marguerite Wildenhain, Viveka & Otto
Heino, Lucy Rie and others share in the European-Modern
pottery direction.

After the period of 'big and brown', things diversified even
more in the 60's and 70's, with people like Ken Price and
Ron Nagle doing colorful, slick stuff more akin to the
Finish-Fetish movement, and the Funk style was also
coming out of California in this period, with flippant, rude,
and sometimes political stuff in modes that put less
emphasis on craftsmanship. Robert Arneson is the big
name in this era, but there are many more.

Low-fire earthenware, 'retro' techniques like china paint,
and industrial processes like mold-forming began to gain
fine-art (and even fine-craft) credibility in the 70's and 80's.
Howard Kottler, Patty Warashina, Betty Woodman - huge
diversity; too many to mention.

Since then, it's been hard to really state any dominant
trend in ceramics. Every art movement has had some
corollary in clay, while certain things (figuration, for
instance) have found particular emphasis in the clay
world. A look through any issue of Ceramics Monthly
will give you names from any year that interests you.

You should also look at the better online resources.
CriticalCeramics.org has excellent articles, and lots of
good links. CeramicsToday.org is another good one.
InterpretingCeramics.org is more theoretical, but with
good international writing on ceramic art. Many, many
museums and galleries also have online images.

We could probably come up with thousands of names
of worthwhile ceramics artists since 1950 without even
pausing for breath, so without having a particular goal
in mind, it's hard to be more helpful. All I can really
suggest is start reading, and looking!

-Snail

Bill Jones on fri 7 nov 08


Laura

Many of the icons of the ceramic art studio movement of the 20th century
were written about by Elaine Levin in Ceramics Monthly. These articles were
collected into a book titled "Movers and Shakers in American Ceramics:
Defining Twentieth Century Ceramics" and published as part of the Cerramics
Monthly Handbook Series. She covers Binns, Robineau, Baggs, Lukens,
Andreson, the Scheiers, Grotell, Sanders, Bacerra, the Heinos, Glasgow,
Voulkos, Soldner, Chicago, DeStaebler, Quezada, Natzler, the Wildenhains,
Levine, Roloff, Rothman,and Saxe. There's more information at
http://www.ceramicartsdaily.org/books/bookmoversshakers.aspx

Hope this helps.

Bill Jones
Editor, Pottery Making Illustrated
Art Books Program Manager
The American Ceramic Society

Frank Gaydos on fri 7 nov 08


Laura,
A simple google search for "abstract expressionist ceramics"
yielded many references.
http://www.google.com

http://karaart.com/collections/fred.marer/

"During the mid 1950s the ceramics department at Otis Art Institute (then
Los Angeles County Art Institute) was a place of artistic vitality and
innovative energy. At Otis, Peter Voulkos led a "revolution in clay" by
questioning the tradition that ceramic forms must be utilitarian and by
creating instead nonfunctional, sculptural works that gave the medium a new
freedom of expression. Voulkos attracted a group of talented students to
Otis - which included Billy Al Bengston, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Mac
McClain, Ken Price, Janice Roosevelt, Jerry Rothman, Paul Soldner, and Henry
Takemoto - who began their own searches for new forms of expression in clay.
Although most did not fully develop their mature styles until after they
left Otis, it was there that they absorbed many of the attitudes that shaped
their thinking as artists.
The ideas that informed their art are reflected in the collection of Fred
Marer, who was their principal patron."

You also can use this as a starting point and serach each name above.



Frank Gaydos

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: [CLAYART] Ceramic Art History Questions


Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on
ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract
expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else I
should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for class.
Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book
suggestions would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura
_________________________________________________________________

The Fuzzy Chef on fri 7 nov 08


Laura Boyce wrote:
> Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else I should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for class. Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book suggestions would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura

You could easily just do a general paper on Peter and his students,
including Paul Soldner, John Mason, Kenneth Price, and their students,
at Otis, Berkeley, Scripps and Bozeman.

On the other hand, it might be fun to pick someone less covered-to-death
than Peter, such as Ron Nagle, Patty Warishina (sp?), or Viola Frey.

--Josh Berkus

Sherron & Jim Bowen on fri 7 nov 08


I would think you couldn't talk about Voulkos without talking about Soldner
and the Otis College of Art and Design.
JB

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Lewing"
To:
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 8:38 PM
Subject: Re: Ceramic Art History Questions

Tony on fri 7 nov 08


Hi Laura
I just did an essay on Joan Miro, a Spanish artist who worked with LLoren
Artigas in Gallifa in Spain in the 1940's to 1970's.
An article in Craft Horizon in 1957 promoted much discussion both for and
against the new ceramics.
For the first time in America, people were reading about ceramics that had
new forms and went beyond the "kiln-to-kitchen-to-table" genera.
The book I found most interesting was 'Miro Playing with Fire', edited by
Anne McPherson. This was the catalogue for an exibition held in The George
Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.
The chapter 'Miro, Artigas and the new American Ceramics' you should find
most helpful. In it, Edward Lebow mentions Voulkos as well as Kenneth Price.
Good luck with your presentation.
Tony Schlosser
Tafe student in Sydney Australia


--------------------------------------------------
From: "Laura Boyce"
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 10:29 AM
To:
Subject: Ceramic Art History Questions

> Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on
> ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract
> expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else
> I should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for
> class. Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or
> book suggestions would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get 5 GB of storage with Windows Live Hotmail.
> http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_5gb_112008

Vince Pitelka on fri 7 nov 08


Laura Boyce wrote:
"Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on
ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract
expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else I
should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for class.
Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book
suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Laura"

Laura -
The best book out there to date is "American Ceramics," by Garth Clark and
Marjorie Hughto. It is out of print, but you can find it in libraries.
Peter Voulkos responded to New York Abstract Expressionism and opened up a
world of possibility for contemporary ceramic artists, and he deserves
credit for that. Robert Arneson was the "grand master" of California Funk,
which opened up another world of possibilities responding to New York Pop
art and Dada. Other important pioneers of the 50s and 60s were Ruth
Duckworth, Viola Frey, Stephen DeStabler, Daniel Rhodes, Ted Randal, Robert
Turner, Marilyn Levine, Richard Shaw, Ron Nagle, Paul Soldner, John Mason,
Ken Price, Clayton Bailey, Robert Sperry, Patty Warashina, Fred Bauer,
Howard Kottler, Ken Ferguson, Jim Leedy, and on and on. It was an amazing
period of time in the maturation of 20th century ceramics.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka@dtccom.net; wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka

Frank Colson on sun 9 nov 08


Yes, I am pleased to say that I was there and I was a part of all that
explosive breaking new fronts in the world in clay in .L.A.! I was taking
classes at Otis before Peter arrived, and I helped Paul Soldner build his
first kiln at Scripps! When we built the first "power" wheel, using a 2
horse motor and then center l00+lb. wedged hunk of clay with our pecks, not
our hands or arms! Ha! Those were the day's my friend. It was gutzie like
no-one had ever seen! The rest IS histrory.

Frank Colson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Gaydos"
To:
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 9:31 PM
Subject: Re: Ceramic Art History Questions


> Laura,
> A simple google search for "abstract expressionist ceramics"
> yielded many references.
> http://www.google.com
>
> http://karaart.com/collections/fred.marer/
>
> "During the mid 1950s the ceramics department at Otis Art Institute (then
> Los Angeles County Art Institute) was a place of artistic vitality and
> innovative energy. At Otis, Peter Voulkos led a "revolution in clay" by
> questioning the tradition that ceramic forms must be utilitarian and by
> creating instead nonfunctional, sculptural works that gave the medium a
> new
> freedom of expression. Voulkos attracted a group of talented students to
> Otis - which included Billy Al Bengston, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Mac
> McClain, Ken Price, Janice Roosevelt, Jerry Rothman, Paul Soldner, and
> Henry
> Takemoto - who began their own searches for new forms of expression in
> clay.
> Although most did not fully develop their mature styles until after they
> left Otis, it was there that they absorbed many of the attitudes that
> shaped
> their thinking as artists.
> The ideas that informed their art are reflected in the collection of Fred
> Marer, who was their principal patron."
>
> You also can use this as a starting point and serach each name above.
>
>
>
> Frank Gaydos
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: [CLAYART] Ceramic Art History Questions
>
>
> Hello All,I am a young ceramics student who has started to do research on
> ceramics since 1950. I have heard of Peter Vulkos and "abstract
> expressionist ceramics" I am having some difficulty figuring out who else
> I
> should be looking at for the presentation I need to put together for
> class.
> Can anyone suggest some other artists from that era? Any names or book
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated!ThanksLaura
> _________________________________________________________________

Frank Colson on mon 10 nov 08


I cut the brick! Paul put them in the arch! Then we went over to Alpin
Kiln corp to get burners from them - and instructions for firing, of course!
Frank-
----- Original Message -----
From: "The Fuzzy Chef"
To:
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: Ceramic Art History Questions


> Frank,
>
> ... and I helped Paul Soldner build his
>> first kiln at Scripps! ...
>
> *you* built *that* kiln? Ok, I'm coming over to your house to beat the
> %^%@#$ out of you with a warped platter.
>
> --Fuzzy
>
> ;-)

The Fuzzy Chef on mon 10 nov 08


Frank,

... and I helped Paul Soldner build his
> first kiln at Scripps! ...

*you* built *that* kiln? Ok, I'm coming over to your house to beat the
%^%@#$ out of you with a warped platter.

--Fuzzy

;-)