Untitled (Vase/Stack)
Peter Voulkos American
Not on view
Through his sheer force of personality and an insatiable appetite for material experimentation, Voulkos helped to shift clay from a functional medium to a sculptural one. At the center of a ceramics revolution in California during the 1950s and 1960s, he became renowned for his high-octane live demonstrations, freely formed constructions, and aggressive surface treatments. Although the individual elements of this "stack" have been thrown on a potter’s wheel, Voulkos combines these forms vertically, evoking the architectural assembly of a tower. The dramatic black-blue glaze heightens areas where Voulkos attacked the clay surface—gouging, scarring, and slashing—renouncing the uniformity of traditional, functional ceramic vessels.
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