PETER VOULKOS 1924-2002
This is the ceramic artist I'm writing on for my lil' diddy due on Monday for Ceramics 250: Beginning Wheel.
Not only do I think Pete Voulkos' heavy, fractured/rough work is visually interesting, but I love his name. Not only do I love his popular name: Pete Voulkos, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE his birth name given to him by his parents who immigrated to the US from Greece:
Panagiotis Harry Voulkopoulos
At first it looks like a tongue twister. Then there is sort of this strange music to it that in no way could I say the name three times fast. Just looking at this name makes me think this is the way to teach beginning writers about assonance and consonance. His parents must have either consciously or subconsciously been in love with the assonance of the A sounds working with and against the O sounds with the repetition of the consonant P. The name makes absolute sonic sense while making me go, Huh? No wonder the boy with such a name became an Abstract Expressionist.
Here's some nuts and bolts on Pete:
Voulkos' sculptures are famous for their visual weight, their freely-formed construction, and their aggressive and energetic decoration. He would vigorously tear, pound, and gouge the surfaces of his pieces. At some points in his career, he cast his sculptures in bronze; in other periods his ceramic works were glazed or painted, and he finished them with painted brushstrokes. He bought some of his metal from Sidney Levinson. In 1979 he was introduced to the use of wood kilns by Peter Callas; much of his late work is wood-fired. Peter Voulkos loved working with an audience. He died of an apparent heart attack in February 16, 2002 after conducting a college ceramics workshop at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, demonstrating his skill to live audience. He was 78.
Some of my favorite pieces by him:
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