Peter Voulkos

British potter Bernard Leach met with Voulkos in 1953, as did Japanese artist Hamada. Voulkos was inspired by Hamada's artistry and began a a lot more intuitive approach to clay after watching Hamada work. Other things of Japanese pottery also started out to interest Voulkos. Voulkos was really influenced during this period by a couple of of Japan's potters Shigaraki and Bizen, who emphasized the unexpected in their work. Prior to long Voulkos also started out experimenting with rough shapes (Clark 11-12), rustic aesthetics, and one thing that he could believe of to transform conventional clay forms and in addition to their designs.

In 1958, Rose Slivka, editor of Craft Horizons, introduced him to the New York School of painters. From that factor forward, Voulkos began to incorporate some abstract ideas (which were inspired by the New York painters) into his work. Voulkos continued teaching, and quite a few of his students like Ken Price, John Mason and Jerry Rothman went on being innovators in ceramics for the past 30 or additional years (Clark 12-13).

By the end from the 1950s Voulkos had defined a variety of his individual which contradicted certain accepted ideas about taste, structure and form. His pottery reflected his raw ideas, and emerged as the embodiment of Abstract Expressionism in pottery. ahead of Voulkos' jobs over a West Coast, the pot was not applied as a medium for fine art expression. Ind


During the late 1950s and early 1960s, some of Voulkos' students and supporters had been frustrated due to the fact the art establishment did not take him as seriously as they did painters and sculptors, whom the elite within the art world considered true artists. Voulkos, his students and contemporaries during the ceramic field believed that their jobs was just as crucial and worthy of serious consideration as the painters and sculptors. Still, Voulkos was viewed by some as being a mere craftsman, with pottery nevertheless viewed during this time by many art critics as a craft as opposed to an art.

Slivka, Rose. Peter Voulkos: A Dialogue with Clay. New York: Little, Brown, 1978.

In 1959 Voulkos left Otis and went on the University of California at Berkeley, wherever he continued to develop as an artist and teacher. At Berkeley, Voulkos continued influencing students for example Ron Nagle and Jim Melchert who produced "Leg Pots" in 1962, that may be regarded an extreme exploration with the vessel form. By 1964 Voulkos turned from clay to metal sculpture (Clark, 13).

eed, Voulkos' jobs greatly influenced other painters and sculptors, who also started out incorporating a lot more abstract and avant garde issues into their work.

However, Voulkos made a incredibly salient point in this interview, he thinks "a beneficial craftsman is a excellent artist" (Slivka, 133). This really is a extremely useful opinion by the artist who really does not care whether the art globe accepts him as an artist or a craftsman. Voulkos does his pottery and lets the critics worry about what his job description is. The exciting comment reveals Voulkos' attitude about his work, if he completes a piece that comes for the level of getting considered a good piece of craftsmanship, then this particular potter sees no reason why that piece of craftsmanship is not also, simultaneously, considered a good piece of art. Perhaps the artist himself has answered the question better than the art historians and critics.

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