Ceramic Sculpture of Robert Arneson's Legacy

Wednesday, 19 October 2005 10:43

STANFORD, CA.-In an exhibition of ceramic art ranging from “funk” to super-realism to post-modernism, the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University explores the legacy of Robert Arneson. The exhibition, entitled Fired at Davis: Figurative Ceramic Sculpture by Robert Arneson. In the early 1960s, Robert Arneson began his tenure as a professor of design and ceramics in a modest temporary building known as TB-9, on the campus of the University of California, Davis. By the time of his death in 1992, Arneson, visiting professors, and students had developed a ceramics program of national prestige. Living and working in the supportive and iconoclastic environment of TB-9, exchanges between faculty and students flourished with Arneson as manager, ringleader, and “old man in shoe,” according to one critic. The offbeat, irreverent, self-referential approach employed by Arneson was shared by many of his peers and students who explored narrative and historical subjects as well as objects from daily life in their imagery. The works in Fired at Davis come from Paula and Ross Turk, who have been collecting ceramics for over 25 years. This selection was chosen from the Turks’ comprehensive collection that includes more than 150 ceramic sculptures and works on paper with a focus on California and particularly Bay Area artists. Featuring some 40 works, Fired at Davis offers ceramics by 19 artists produced over more than four decades.

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