BG Red
BG Red, 1963, Ken Price. Fired clay with acrylic and lacquer on wooden base. 10 in. high. Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Gifford Phillips. Permission courtesy Ken Price Studio. Photo by Taylor Sherill
On View at the Getty Center: Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970
Ken Price, a student of sculptor Peter Voulkos in the 1950s, was fascinated by craftsmanship, finish, and color, as well as the possibilities offered by industrial techniques. As his work matured, Price eschewed the physical monumentality of Voulkos’s ceramic sculpture, as well as his teacher’s tendency towards earth tones. In the early 1960s, he started to use industrial enamels and automobile lacquers to achieve vibrant, glossy colors and an immaculate finish. The resultant egg-shaped forms incorporate brilliant color combinations that speak, according to curator Walter Hopps, speak of the influence of jazz and be-bop, as well as the Southern California surfing subculture, of which Price was a part. Price was one of the key artists associated with the influential Ferus Gallery and had three important solo exhibitions there.
Exhibition audio: Curator Andrew Perchuk explains Price’s unique approach to ceramics
Exhibition audio: Billy Al Bengston on the studio he shared with Price
Works of Art
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Green and Cream, 1966, Ken Price. Glazed ceramic. 4 x 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. Private collection. Permission courtesy Ken Price Studio. Photo by Zoe Zimmerman
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Avocado Mountain, 1959, Ken Price. Glazed ceramics (2 parts). 24 x 21 x 21 in. James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles. Permission courtesy Ken Price Studio
Explore the Archive
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Poster for The Studs group exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1964. Image courtesy of Hal Glicksman
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Installation view of Ken Price's sculptures in the exhibition New American Sculpture at the Pasadena Art Museum, February 11–March 7, 1964. Photo by Frank J. Thomas. Courtesy of the Frank J. Thomas Archives
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Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, and Ken Price outside Hotel Caesars in Tijuana, Mexico, 1968. Image courtesy of Larry Bell
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Ken Price firing works for his Curio Store at the home of Dennis Hopper in Taos, New Mexico, 1973. Photo by Happy Price. Image courtesy of the Ken Price Studio
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Ken Price at a party in Los Angeles in 1965. Image courtesy of Ken Price Studio
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Ken Price with student work at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1956. Image courtesy of the Ken Price Studio
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Several Los Angeles artists at Culture Day at LACMA (L.A. County Museum of Art), 1968. Photo by and © Julian Wasser.
