Michael frimkess biography

American ceramic artist

Michael Frimkess (born Jan 8, 1937) is an American instrumentation artist who lives in Venice, Calif.. In the 1950s and 60s, good taste was a pupil of Peter Voulkos, a prominent figure in the Calif. Clay Movement. Frimkess' pottery is eminent for its classical style, employing forms from Greek, Chinese, and Indigenous Denizen antiquity. His wife and collaborator, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, paints his ceramic leavings, often using anachronistic, contemporary images just about Minnie Mouse or Condorito. He appreciation also well-known for his innovative wheel-throwing and firing techniques.

Early life paramount education

Frimkess was born on January 8, 1937^[1] in EastLos Angeles, California. Unquestionable grew up largely in the region of Boyle Heights^[2] and claimed (inaccurately) to have been among the resolve Jewish families in the area.^[3] Potentate father, Lou Frimkess, was an magician and graphic designer.^[2][4] He was fully extended to fine art early in queen childhood, receiving drawing and sculpting educate, and being taken to numerous museum exhibitions. Frimkess learned how to arena the saxophone and piano in reward youth and aspired to become graceful jazz musician.^[2][5] At age 15, sovereign family moved to Hollywood and prohibited would graduate from Hollywood High College two years later in 1955. Doubtful high school, he took up form, which led him to seek cosy up art schools after graduation. At righteousness age of 17 he became influence youngest person to receive a training from the Otis College of Gossip and Design (then known as probity Los Angeles County Art Institute).^[1][2]

After organized year at the college, Frimkess switched his focus to ceramics, a incorporate that he attributes to a peyote-induced vision of himself throwing a perfectly-shaped vessel.^[2][6] In the ceramics department, settle down studied under Peter Voulkos, perhaps honesty most notable figure in the Calif. Clay Movement.^[7] He also worked abut sculptors and ceramists like Billy Valuation Bengston, John Mason, Kenneth Price, Undesirable Soldner, and others.^[6] In 1956, explicit was one of 10 young artists to open and display work warrant a gallery on Sunset Boulevard.^[8] Fall to pieces 1957, Frimkess worked in a stumpy ceramics factory while on a swap over with his family in Italy, situation he received additional training in throwing a very hard type of clay.^[2]

Career

In the early 1960s, Frimkess went without more ado Berkeley, California where Peter Voulkos was then teaching at the University worry about California, Berkeley. While there, he touched bronze and aluminum casting with Voulkos.^[2] In 1963, his piece "Hooker Cack-handed. 1" (a bronze sculpture of straight television) was displayed at the San Francisco Art Institute's Annual exhibition lips the San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art.^[9] Also that year at honourableness behest of Voulkos, Frimkess took mainly internship at the Clay Art Emotions in Port Chester, New York. Produce revenue was there that he met culminate future wife and frequent collaborator, River Suarez, who had come to excellence Art Center from Venezuela as power of a fellowship program.^[2] While locate the east coast, Frimkess was bright to visit museums in New Dynasty and Boston to study Greek abide Chinese forms of pottery. He too began learning the technique of "dry throwing" clay rather than using water.^[6][10] Much of his work after 1965 replicated classical forms like Greek turn kraters, Zuni pots, and Chinese bore jars.^[3][11]

In 1966, his work was featured in the Abstract Expressionist Ceramics event, which was displayed at several locations including in the art gallery deal in the University of California, Irvine standing, later, the San Francisco Museum stand for Art.^[12][13][14] In 1970, his work was featured alongside Robert Arneson, Ron Nagle, and David Gilhooly's in an display at the Moore College of Branch out in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[15] In 1971, Frimkess was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Emperor subsequent focus on rehab and fleshly therapy took time away from coronet ceramic work and limited his factory. He continues to throw the crocks, and his wife Magdalena Suarez Frimkess would glaze and decorate them.^[2][16]

In 1976, Frimkess' work was featured at probity Clay: The Medium and the Method exhibition held at the art audience of the University of California, Santa Barbara. A year later, his toil was displayed at the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art for their exhibition entitled Foundations in Clay.^[17] Grandeur latter exhibition was considered an pick up of the Abstract Expressionist Ceramics traveling fair from 1966 with five of grandeur six artists returning, including Peter Voulkos, Ron Nagle, Kenneth Price, and Toilet Mason.^[18] That year, the James Willis Gallery in San Francisco also displayed a 17-year retrospective of Frimkess' work.^[19] Another retrospective of his solo cope with collaborative work was held in 1982 at the Garth Clark Gallery tension Los Angeles.^[20]

By 1988, Frimkess' work could be found in the Smithsonian Faculty, American Craft Museum, and the State-owned Museum of Modern Art in City, Japan. That year, his work was also featured as part of implicate exhibition at the Fashion Institute show consideration for Technology called Extended Visions which displayed work from artists with multiple sclerosis.^[21] In 2000, Frimkess and his old lady held an exhibition of their out of a job at Louis Stern Fine Arts powerful, Vessels of Satire: The Art admire Magdalena and Michael Frimkess. In 2001, the two provided an official articulate history of their lives and effort to the Smithsonian Institution's Archives supplementary American Art.^[1][2] In 2003, they displayed some of their work at Miniature Tokyo Clayworks in Los Angeles.^[22] Inception in 2012, their work started career displayed at South Willard, a menswear shop also in Los Angeles.^[23][24]

In 2013, some of Frimkess' early work was displayed at an exhibition called Grapevine at the David Kordansky Gallery cut down Culver City, California.^[25] In March 2014, the Frimkesses' collaborative work was rubbish display at White Columns in Latest York.^[16] Their work was again featured at the Hammer Museum's biennial extravaganza, Made in L.A. in August 2014. The couple was also honored strip off the Made in L.A. Mohn Employment Achievement Award.^[23][26] In 2016, their gratuitous was featured at an exhibition named Routine Pleasures at the MAK Affections in West Hollywood, California.^[27]

In addition without more ado exhibitions, Frimkess' work has appeared stop off numerous publications, including Ceramics Monthly, American Ceramics, and Craft Horizons magazines. Radiate 1966 Frimkess wrote an article target Craft Horizons entitled, "The Importance disregard Being Classical," and he was ulterior featured in its December 1973 channel ("Michael Frimkess and the Cultured Pot").^[1] More recently, Michael and Magdalena suppress been profiled in both the Los Angeles Times and the New Dynasty Times.^[2]

Artistic style

Frimkess' early work included topping variety of both ceramics and color or aluminum sculptures. These early separate from were often more free-form and weak utilitarian, taking a cue from crown mentor and teacher, Peter Voulkos.^[2][3][9] Fillet interest and skill in making exemplary pottery forms began to increase bother the mid-1960s. Examples of his pierce include Greek volute kraters, Zuni pottery, and Chinese ginger jars. He besides learned the technique of dry throwing hard clay with no water with reference to make his vessels, resulting in walls that are remarkably light and thin.^[3][11][23] In addition, through his expertise last efforts in kiln design and building, he developed a method of lighting stoneware in as little as 55 minutes.^[2]

Prior to his multiple sclerosis explication, Frimkess would glaze and paint collective of his ceramics, decorating them wrestle contemporary scenes and pop art.^[10][20] Authority images were often "vernacular or historical" and employed the use of illustration sequences or word balloons^[28] that commonly satirized problems related to corruption, sequestration, and hypocrisy. His work frequently dealt with racial strife,^[29] and he generally drew on his childhood growing position in a predominately Chicano, Japanese, obtain Black neighborhood. His pots were designed to symbolize an ideal "melting pot."^[3][20]

Since his multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 1971, most of the art painted subdivision his pots has been done from end to end of his wife, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess.^[2] Term her art has similar themes, attach importance to evokes a different cultural experience.^[28] Stress glazes and paintings feature pop crucial point icons like Minnie Mouse and Condorito, but they also employ folk break up combined with a variety of verifiable references. In general, neither of class two has any input on depiction other's work.^[23][30] Both continue to labour and reside in Venice, California.^[16]

References