[1924-2002]
This exhibition is a tribute to PETER VOULKOS's
legendary contribution in ceramics and sculpture. His artistic legacy will live
on in the vitality of his man-handled plates, buckets and stacks. During the
twenty-two years that the Charles Cowles Gallery represented VOULKOS, he
achieved his most aggressive and ambitious works including his iconic
wood-fired sculptures. The Gallery is pleased to represent the Voulkos Family
Trust.
Known for the vibrance of his workshop
demonstrations, VOULKOS was the consummate showman. In Roberta Smith's New
York Times obituary, "Few artists have changed a medium as markedly or
single-handedly as Mr. Voulkos, a large, muscular man with a charismatic personality
and a voracious appetite for work, learning and experimentation." Sam
Jornlin, VOULKOS's longtime assistant says, "his work is visceral,
edgy and tough but at the same time, delicate and elegant – a dichotomy."
The works in the exhibition highlight these qualities with a selection of
pieces from the last twenty years.
PETER VOULKOS revolutionized ceramics by transcending the boundary between craft and
art. Influenced by New York Abstract Expressionism, VOULKOS emerged in
the 1950s as the first ceramic artist to move his clay forms from a functional
context into the realm of deep personal expression. VOULKOS created an
astounding body of sculpture that quickly gained him international recognition.
In 1959 he won the Rodin Museum Prize for sculpture at the Musée d'Art Moderne
de la Ville de Paris and in 1960 had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern
Art in New York.
VOULKOS's work has been exhibited around the world and is in major
public collections including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC;
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National
Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.
The
exhibition will be on view at the Charles Cowles Gallery at 537 West 24th
Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues in Chelsea. Hours are 10am to 6pm, Tuesday through
Saturday. There will be a reception
Thursday, May 1, from 6-8 pm.
For further information or photographs, please contact the galleries.
Above image:
Untitled (Plate), 1995, wood-fired stoneware, 22 x 21 x 5 inches