Ken Price

Ken Price studied at the Chouinard and Otis Art Institutes in Los Angeles, before earning his BFA from the University of Southern California in 1956 and an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Price was greatly influenced by the progressive ceramist Peter Voulkos, who taught him at Otis. The pair bridged the gap between “fine art” and “craft” through their unprecedented application of contemporary styles to the medium of ceramics. An avid surfer, Price was influenced by the ocean and by the Mexican pottery he saw while on surfing trips in Southern California. Price’s works became larger, more sensual, and increasingly abstract as his career progressed. Throughout his life, he adamantly refused to provide any explanation of the meaning behind his works, instead insisting that viewers discover their own meaning in his complex, abstract forms.

Text © Smithsonian American Art Museum