Peter Voulkos is known for his abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.
15 Facts About Peter Voulkos
2.
Peter Voulkos established the ceramics department at the Los Angeles County Art Institute and at UC Berkeley.
3.
Peter Voulkos was born the third of five children to Greek immigrant parents, Aristovoulos I Voulkopoulos, anglicized and shortened to Harry John Voulkos and Effrosyni Peter Voulalas.
4.
In 1943, Peter Voulkos was drafted into the United States Army during the Second World War, serving as an airplane gunner in the Pacific.
5.
Peter Voulkos earned his MFA in ceramics from California College of the Arts and Crafts, in Oakland.
6.
In 1953, Peter Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina.
7.
Peter Voulkos moved to the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959, where he founded the ceramics program, which grew into the Department of Design.
8.
Peter Voulkos became a full professor there in 1967, and continued to teach until 1985.
9.
At a New York auction in 2001, a 1986 sculpture by Peter Voulkos was sold $72,625 to a European museum.
10.
Peter Voulkos died of a heart attack on February 16,2002, after conducting a college ceramics workshop at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, demonstrating his skill to a live audience.
11.
Peter Voulkos is among those who raised ceramics to the non-utilitarian, aesthetic sphere.
12.
Peter Voulkos is most commonly identified as an Abstract Expressionist ceramist.
13.
Peter Voulkos's sculptures are known for their visual weight, their freely-formed construction, and their aggressive and energetic decoration.
14.
Peter Voulkos is memorable for the live ceramics-sculpting sessions he would lead in front of his students, demonstrating his intense and even unforgiving manner of working with the material, while simultaneously showcasing his refined mastery of the nuances of the craft.
15.
Peter Voulkos is survived by his first wife, Margaret Cone, and their daughter, Pier, a polymer clay artist; his wife, Ann, and their son, Aris; and his brother and two sisters.